Any true
fusion in music represents a delicate negotiation. It requires both respect for
the different genres in play, their traditions and codes and a 'why not?'
attitude. Cutting-and-pasting is one
thing, translating the approach, technique and sensibility of one tradition to
another demands a special talent and commitment.
On Nora
La Bella, her debut recording, New York-based Bolivian soprano Gian-Carla
Tisera makes bold, daring crossings between opera, jazz and Latin American folk
music, art song and political song, experimentation and roots music.
Throughout
the recording, she sings in English, Spanish, Italian and Quechua. Co-produced
by Tisera and Grammy-nominated Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca, Nora La Bella
includes original songs, provocative versions of two works from the classical
vocal repertoire and several pieces from the Latin American songbook, including
a couple from the socially committed Nueva Canción.
But this
is not a lab project. Rather, it's an expression of her experience and her
personal search.
"I
had this idea for a new kind of opera, something different, accessible and
fresh," says Tisera. "I love opera and that's my training, and while
I am not a jazz singer or a traditional folk singer, both genres have been an
integral part of my life and my musical experience. And I also thought: how can
I express my immigrant experience? How can I speak of my perspective as a
Bolivian woman, as an American woman looking back at my country from a
distance? All of that came into play when working on Nora La Bella."
Accompanied
by a quartet featuring Villafranca at the piano and guest artists such as
trumpeter Diego Urcola and five-time Grammy Award-winning bassist John Benitez,
Tisera's music includes nods to Bolivian folklore, opera and Latin jazz.
Tisera
will celebrate the release of Nora la Bella tomorrow night (Thursday, August
21) at Joe's Pub in New York at 7:30 PM. Accompanying the vocalist for the
performance are pianist Elio Villafranca, bassist Carlos Mena, drummer Franco
Pinna and percussionist Paulo Stagnaro. The performance will also feature guest
trumpeter Manuel Jr. Romero.
Born to
a Bolivian mother and Italo-Argentine father, Tisera was raised in Cochabamba,
a city surrounded by mountains located in the center of Bolivia. She studied at
the Instituto Eduardo Laredo, in Cochabamba, and later moved to Los Angeles,
CA, where she completed her Masters Degree in Opera Performance at the
University of Southern California.
She
worked in the United States and Bolivia, performing with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia and the Pasadena
Symphony, among others, and for five years she toured with the Bolivian Baroque
Project, performing 17th century music found in the Jesuit missions of the
Bolivian jungle - a project that showcased her voice on the world's greatest
concert halls. But once in New York, Tisera also started collaborating with
visual artists and dipping her toes in the murky waters of jam sessions.
For
those who see her approach as avant-garde, Tisera says she is "pushing the
vanguard but to bring audiences to experience the greatness of opera as it
relates to modern themes of love, politics and culture. I long to present opera
not like an old, precious form but instead, as a vibrant, contemporary style
that speaks to our concerns now. That's why there are operatic moments in Nora
La Bella - but they might include improvisation, or the musical treatment might
include Bolivian or Afro-Latin rhythms, and elements of Rock or Spoken Word. I
remember during the recording we were listening to the second take of 'Ernesto
in the Tomb,' with its Afro-Cuban groove and my operatic voice soaring above
the music. The musicians heard it and said 'Wow, it works!' and I had to laugh.
'Yes guys, of course it works'."
Upcoming
New York City Performances:
August
21 @ Joe's Pub - 7:30 PM
(w/ Elio
Villafranca, piano; Carlos Mena, bass; Franco Pinna, drums;
Paulo
Stagnaro, percussion; w/ guest trumpeter Manuel Jr. Romero)
joespub.publictheater.org
September
30 @ Americas Society - 7:00 PM
featuring
Bolivian Folklore Dancers
(w/ Elio
Villafranca, piano; Carlos Mena, bass;
Franco
Pinna, drums; Reinaldo de Jesus, percussion)
as-coa.org
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