Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kat Parra was born on January 13, 1962 in San Francisco, California and spent part of her teenage years in Chile. Upon her return, she move to southern California to attend University of California at Los Angeles where she studied classical flute and voice for a year. Moving to the Silicon Valley area she shifted her educational focus to jazz, studying voice at San Jose State University alongside singer Patti Cathcart of Tuck & Patti, who was a major influence.
Kat spent five years as a lead vocalist for the Bay area salsa band Charanga Nueve, and they opened for the likes of Celia Cruz and Los Van Van of Cuba. But despite all that musical activity, she still had a “day gig” working for the tech giant Cisco Systems. In 2006 she left Cisco to be a full-time singer and concentrate on music exclusively.
That very same year Parra recorded her first solo album, Birds In Flight produced by Bay Area-based trombonist Wayne Wallace on JazzMa Records. After that, she signed with Wallace’s indie label, Patois Records, releasing her second solo album, Azucar de Amor (Sugar of Love) in 2008.
Kat is a flexible and broad-minded jazz vocalist who has very strong Latin leanings but has also been affected by Middle Eastern, Arabic, and North African music as well as greatly influenced by Afro-Cuban jazz. She has also combined jazz with everything from Brazilian samba to Afro-Peruvian music. She plays flute, guitar, and piano, and continues to perform in several different languages, including English, Spanish (which she speaks fluently), Portuguese, French, and Ladino, which is the language of Sephardic Jews and is considered one of the romance languages.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
Hollywood On 52nd Street
You Brought A New Kind of Love is the theme song from the 1963 romantic comedy film a New Kind Of Love starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward with supporting cast Thelma Rita, Eva Gabor, George Tobias and Maurice Chevalier. Frank Sinatra sang over the credits with music written by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal.
The Story: A womanizing American reporter assigned in Paris (Paul Newman) mistakes a cynical fashion copycat designer (Joanne Woodward) for a prostitute after she receives a makeover. He decides to interview her for a series of articles, and then falls in love with her. The girl goes along with it, first out of revenge as he snubbed her during a past encounter, then out of feelings of her own.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Juul Johansson, better known as Mads Mathias, was born on January 9, 1981 in Silkeborg, Denmark and grew up partly in Tanzania. Growing up in a musical home, his exposure to music began at infancy, picking up the saxophone as his main instrument by age 11. A car accident at seventeen left his right hand injured, losing his index finger and half of two other fingers. Afraid that his days of playing the saxophone were over, he started singing and writing songs instead.
Inspired and influenced by the great jazz vocalists of the past and present from Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra to Harry Connick Jr, and with a deep respect for the crooner tradition, Mathias is nevertheless an original talent with a unique and effortlessly charming vocal delivery and a skill for writing catchy and memorable, stylishly crafted tunes.
Fortunately the rehabilitation of his hand made him able to play the saxophone again and at age 20 he was entered the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, graduating in 2007.From an early age, Mads Mathias was a part of Jutland jazz scene and today is part of the Danish music scene: As a studio musician, he has contributed to several record releases and frequently used live dates.
In 2012 released debut solo album Free Falling which won him a Danish Music Award for “Best New Danish Jazz Artist of the Year”, He also won an Honorable Mention Award at one of the world’s largest songwriting competitions for his song “Fool for Love” and Kvintet with the addition of Espen Laub in addition to critical reviews and airplay on Danish radio.
Besides his own Mads Mathias Orchestra, Mads formed Mads Mathias Kvartet with Peter Rosendal, Regin Fuhlendorf and Morten Ankarfeldt and appears with The Danish Radio Big Band, Tivoli Big Band and Six City Stompers. The vocalist, songwriter and saxophonist continues to perform and record.
Put A Dose In Your Pocket
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Maya Nova was born on January 8, 1974 in Bulgaria. The soulful jazz vocalist earned her BA Degree from the Popular Music Department of National Music Academy in Bulgaria and pursued the live music stage with several leading jazz and funk groups.
Maya was a finalist at two Voice Competitions for young talents: “Golden Orpheus” and “Star Moments”, where she performed with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band. After making several appearances at Sofia Jazz Fall Festival with her Jazz Quartet that led her to appear on the popular TV program “Todor Kolev’s Night Show” with the National Music Academy Big Band.
In 1998, Nova toured Europe: Denmark, Norway, England and Cypress and in 2002 she moved to Singapore. For the next 10 years she became one of the sought after jazz vocalists at concerts, festivals and clubs not only in Singapore but also in Malaysia, India, China and South Korea.
In 2009, Nova was a semi-finalist in the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition at the 43rd Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. She released her debut album “Open” in 2010 with a concert at the Late Nite Show series at Esplanade Recital Hall, Singapore. The following year she performed with her jazz quartet at Bansko International Jazz Festival and Nisville Jazz Festival in collaboration with saxophonist Rick Margitza.
Vocalist Maya Nova moved to New York in 2012 and currently shares her artist schedule between performing and teaching.
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
Makin’ Whoopee! and My Baby Just Cares for Me are jazz classics. The former, a jazz/blues song with lyrics written by Gus Kahn and music by Walter Donaldson was first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!, and then reprised the role in the 1930 movie. Kahn and Donaldson also wrote the latter for the musical comedy film in 1930.
The title is a euphemism for sexual intimacy and the song itself has been called a “dire warning”, largely to men, about the “trap” of marriage. Makin’ Whoopee begins with the celebration of a wedding honeymoon and marital bliss, but moves on to babies and responsibilities, and ultimately on to affairs and possible divorce, ending with a judge’s advice.
The Story: In California Sheriff Bob Wells and the daughter of a rancher Sally Morgan are getting married. She, however is in love with Wanenis, whose part-Indian heritage presents difficulties. Sally abandons Sheriff Bob and their wedding, catching a ride with Henry Williams. Henry has problems of his own, being a hypochondriac, but Sally adds to his problems when she leaves a note saying they have eloped. A chase ensues, with the jilted Bob; Mary, who is Henry’s nurse and is in love with him; and a cast of others. Along the way they arrive at the Indian Reservation where Wanenis lives.
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