Featuring
Camila Meza (guitar & vocals), Sachal Vasandani (vocals on "Away"),
Shai Maestro
(piano, Rhodes, wurlitzer, mellotron, pump organ, ampli-celeste),
Matt Penman
(bass), Kendrick Scott (drums), Bashiri Johnson (percussion),
Jody Redhage
(cello), Matt Pierson (producer).
Vocalist, guitarist and composer
CAMILA MEZA is a rarity, a glorious triptych of an artist. She
possesses a gift for composing brilliant musical landscapes, a captivating,
soulfully pure vocal instrument, and a consummate prowess on guitar, ablaze
with irresistible melodies and improvisations. Camila Meza, originally from
Santiago, Chile, has garnered rapt attention from her colleagues, the press,
and audiences in South America, New York City, and internationally, for her
distinctive ability in blending jazz with her broad musical world (that
includes Latin American, Brazilian, folk and pop), and for the emotional depth
of her music. This rising star on the global jazz scene has been described by
The New York Times as, "a bright young singer and guitarist with an ear
for music of both folkloric and pop intention," and called, "a
natural multi-talent, an improvising singer-guitarist who is one of the finest
in the world in both creative realms," by pianist Aaron Goldberg. He added that, "she unites North and
South America in a multilingual mega-continent, a pangaea of swing and
harmony." Being called to join your peers on stage and in the studio
remains one of the true tests that any NYC jazz musician will face, and Camila
has passed, summa cum laude, staying very busy as an in-demand side musician,
working with the likes of Ryan Keberle, Fabian Almazan, Aaron Goldberg, Sachal
Vasandani, and many others. On February 26, 2016 Sunnyside Records proudly
releases Camila Meza's debut recording for the label (and her fourth overall),
Traces, produced by Matt Pierson and featuring Shai Maestro, Matt Penman and
Kendrick Scott, with special guests Bashiri Johnson, Sachal Vasandani and Jody
Redhage.
At the
inception of creating and crafting the music on Traces, Meza had a vivid dream
of a seashore full of colorful, precious stones, each of them with their own
size and particular design. She wandered through this beauty, wanting to carry
every stone back home with her. But then she looked closer, and decided to take
only the ones that she really loved, those that made her feel something
special. "This dream was the beginning of my journey to the core of
myself, getting closer to what moves me, accepting my own truth and embracing
my intuition. This album represents the path traced, the moments, hopes and
melodies that have marked my journey," said Meza. Traces is comprised of
eight new original compositions, plus "Green Finch and Linnet Bird"
(Sondheim), "Amazon Farewell" (Djavan), "Luchin" (Victor
Jara) and "Little Person" (Jon Brion).
A songbird
takes flight . . . Traces opens with the
Meza composition, "Para Volar," on which she sings these words in
Spanish (she also sings beautifully in English): "let the wind take you,
fly free until you find truths with no fear or time, freedom in its essence,
let the wind take you, fly and dream again." Camila writes about a failed
attempt to rescue an injured bird, but these sentiments also speak of new
beginnings, and of embracing your dreams. Traces was born from her joyous journey
from a young, accomplished musician in Chile (inspired by Wes Montgomery,
George Benson, Pat Metheny, Led Zeppelin, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Bjork,
Elis Regina and Chet Baker), to becoming part of a new generation of
adventurous jazz musicians in New York who are fearlessly imposing their
disparate influences and experiences on jazz, with glorious results.
Up next is
Camila's wonderful duet with vocalist Sachal Vasandani, "Away," also
featuring Jody Redhage on cello. Camila and Sachal sound as if they were born
to sing together, and the sparks fly on this song about how romantic love can
come and go, but true love doesn't fade away, but transforms into something
else in our lives.
The title
track, "Traces," expresses themes of finding space and beauty,
especially as a respite from city life. Also, how small, conscious acts can
change your life and make the world a better place. Or, as Camila sings,
"It's a blessing to do little things and feel that they can change the
world around." This song, and "Away," also features some of
Camila's most compelling guitar solos on the album.
Camila was
moved to sing Djavan's "Amazon Farewell" from Betty Carter's powerful
version of the song performed at The Nice Jazz Festival. Camila and her band
offer up their own robust version on which you can feel how much the lyrics
resonate with Camila. She elaborates, "I remember I couldn't stop watching
this video of Betty after I discovered it, she absolutely inspired me to no
end, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment. I think it's important to
address in my music the things I care about. In this case the injustices, the
destruction of nature, and the unconsciousness towards native people."
"Mar
Elastico" is dedicated to Camila's loved ones. "This song conjures up
imagery and memories of afternoon games with my sisters, an orange light
following their steps. There's this idea of brief meetings, telling each other
where we're going, but then their steps become larger and we're apart again.
But after all, a realization of the elasticity of our relationships; that
distance just makes us come back stronger when we meet again," said
Camila.
Other
highlights on Traces include the lullaby-like "Luchin," a beautiful,
powerful Chilean song written by singer/songwriter Victor Jara, an emblematic
figure in the history of Chile. This song represents the higher hopes of
justice through the story of a little boy named Luchin living in harsh
conditions; Sondheim's "Greenfinch and Linnet Bird" (from "Sweeney
Todd"). "It felt very interesting to use a more contemporary Broadway
song and do my own 'jazzier' treatment on it, with no reference of another
version. The lyrics totally grabbed me, and it fit into the recurring theme of
flying on this album, with the lyric, 'if I cannot fly, let me sing'",
explained Camila; and "Little Person," the closing theme from the
movie "Synecdoche New York" (starring the late Philip Seymour
Hoffman), which Camila fell in love with for its beautiful heaviness.
On the
breathtaking "Emerald," Meza sings, "I've decided to stay, stay
in this open place, here's where my heart sings, here's where there's no
mistake." Camila explains, "this was one of the last songs written
for the album, and it became like a hymn about actually having found the place
I was looking for; the openness, the reassurance, the freedom, the passion and
love for what I am and what I do."
Throughout
Traces Camila offers the listener a remarkable gift; her true self and her
abundant talents, as expressed through these songs, with no less than
luminosity, passion, honesty and love.
