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Vocalist Magos Herrera to Perform at Joe's Pub on September 11 in Support of Recent Release "Distancia"

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Vocalist Magos Herrera
To Perform at Joe's Pub on September 11
In Support of Recent Release Distancia

“The Mexican-born Herrera sings in Spanish, English and Portuguese. But
really, what she does on Distancia transcends language. Blending elements
from various traditions, she's stretching the very notion of jazz singing,
pushing past the diva pleasantries into a sound that's bold, thrilling and
effortlessly global" - Tom Moon, NPR

Vocalist Magos Herrera will perform with her group at Joe's Pub on September 11 in support of her most recent release, Distancia (May 5 on Sunnyside Records). The performance, which also features special guest Tim Ries on saxophone, is a part of the citywide festival Celebrate Mexico Now, showcasing the vanguard of contemporary Mexican art and culture.

If you listen to “Salt of the Earth," the sensational track from saxophonist Tim Ries' Sunnyside CD, Stones World, you'll hear a sensuous and thrilling contralto voice that swings and sighs, like no other. That voice belongs to the brilliant and beautiful, Mexican-born, New York-based singer, Herrera. Like Luciana Souza and Claudia Acuna, she is a world-class jazz vocalist in the literal sense of the word: She's fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and is likewise proficient in deciphering and delivering the syncopated science of jazz, and Afro-Hispanic musical genres. Her gifts are on full display on her Sunnyside debut, Distancia, supported by an exceptional rhythm section featuring guitarist Lionel Loueke, pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Ricky Rodriguez, drummer Alex Kautz, with background vocalists Ingrid and Jennifer Beaujean. Buoyed by that stellar lineup, Herrera delivers a delicious, dancing and diverse ten-track potpourri of original songs, and standards by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, and Cesar Portillo de la Luz.

Magos' love and thanks come through loud and clear on this disc - co-produced by Tim Ries. Her self-penned songs “Reencountro" “Tu Ojos," “Staying Closer," “Alegria," are pulsed by scintillating vocal percussion, interlocking, Pan-Afro/American rhythmic structures, tinges of Joni Mitchell-style rock timbres, and flamenco-flavored handclaps. Magos reinterprets the works of master composers with equal verve. She updates Caesar Portillo De la Luz's famous bolero “Tu, Mi Delirio," with a kind of “quiet storm" vibe. Nascimento's “Vera Cruz" is resurrected with a deep groove, which morphs into a spirited Tower of Babel-style vocal beat box. And Jobim's “Retrato em Blanco E Preto," “Inutil Paisaje," and “Dindi" are rendered in impassioned ballad, bossa nova-scat, and John Coltrane-ish settings.

If, as the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child," then it takes an musician open to all of the world's musical hues and grooves to produce an artist like Magos Herrera. Born in Mexico City, Magos graduated from the Musicians Institute of Technology, and studied at Mannes College of Music, the New England Conservatory, and privately with opera teacher Konstantin Jadan. She moved back to Mexico City in 1998, where she released her first CD, Cajuina (Independiente, 1998), followed by Orquideas Surrantes (JM Distributors, 2000), Whispering Orchids(Opcion Sonica, 2000), Mexican Divas II/III (Opcion Sonica, 2001-2002), Pais Maravilla (JM Distributors, 2003), Magos Herrera Compilacion (Mecca Records, 2004) and Todo Puede Inspirar (EMI Music, 2005). She's toured Latin America, India, Japan, and the United States and performed and recorded with Jerry Gonzalez, Diego el Cigala, Tim Ries, and Ute Lemper.

Magos Herrera has evolved into a global-centric musician, capable of expressing herself in a multiplicity of languages, and vocal settings; from straight-ahead, ballads, scats, and the various dimensions and invention of Afro-Latin music. As Distancia, proves, no style of music is distant from her.

Click here to read Tom Moon's NPR story on Magos

“... [S]he forges new paths in her repertoire ... Afro-Latin, pop, and Brazilian influences - all perhaps unifying the Latin experience in a contemporary sense - yet most of all - brilliantly meshing and resonating with Mexico's vast, diversified cultural legacies"
-Evangelina Kim, New York Times

“Though jazz long ago embraced Afro-Cuban influences that ought to make
Mexico a logical bastion of the music, there are few well-known players
from Mexico. But here is a brilliant singer, Magos Herrera, with a US
debut on Sunnyside Records, recording with a top-flight band (Aaron
Goldberg's piano, Lionel Louke on guitar, among others) and making Mexican
jazz sound as obvious as chocolate ice cream."
- Will Layman, PopMatters


Magos Herrera at Joe's Pub
with special guest Tim Ries

Friday, September 11, 9:30pm

Magos Herrera,vocals
Aaron Goldberg, piano
Ricky Rodriguez, bass
Alex Kautz, drums
Ingrid Beaujean, vocals
Jenny Beaujean, vocals
Time Ries, saxophone

Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
phone: 212.967.7555

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