Artist description Along her career Katie Viqueira has developed a highly personal interpretative style as a soloist. When performing she creates a delicate but energetic atmosphere--intimate yet powerful--as well as an emotional connection with the audience, that spectators recognize and reward at every performance. The Boston Globe has called Katie Viqueira one of the "divas" of the Latin Scene in Boston (Tanya Prez-Brennan, 7/1/99) who is "supported admirably on the CD by . . . bassist Amarante and . . . drummer Lehmann" (Bob Blumenthal, 7/16/99). "Katie Viqueira has a beautiful voice which she knows how to use, articulate and graduate, quite suitably, according to different styles in her singing . . . She sings with all her soul . . ." (Buenos Aires Herald.)

Music Style Tango-Jazz

Musical Influences A fusion of Argentina's traditional rythms with strong jazz influences

Similar Artists Astor Piazzolla

Artist History Katie Viqueira's singing career started in her hometown, Buenos Aires, where she performed and recorded for a number of years. In 1997 she moved to Boston, where she met Uruguayan jazz pianist and composer Nando Michelin. From this artistic encounter it was born what would later become The Other Side / El Otro Lado: a fusion of Argentina's traditional music, both tango and folklore, with jazz overtones. The idea took its definitive form with the incorporation of the other members of the trio: Bertram Lehmann (drums & percussion) and Gustavo Amarante (bass), who brought along their creativity and unique style. The CD features songs by great Argentine composers, such as Astor Piazzolla, Eladia Blazquez, Mariano Mores, Peteco Carabajal and others.

Group Members The band features Katie Viqueira (vocals), Nando Michelin (musical direction, arrangements and piano), Gustavo Amarante (bass) and Bertram Lehmann (drums and percussion.)

Albums The Other Side - El Otro Lado

Press Reviews James D. Armstrong Jr., Jazz Now, Vol. 9 No. 10, March 2000. The Other Side is a most distinctive and thoughtfully designed session and is arguably the only recording in existence which successfully juxtaposes modern improvisational influences with an awareness of the dramatic and poetic elements of Argentine tango and folklore. The leader's beautiful, commanding voice is featured throughout, with contrasting, modern arrangements by the gifted Uruguayan pianist Nando Michelin. The results are fresh, the antithesis of the hackneyed Latin Jazz blowing session. "Como Pajaros en el Aire (Like Birds in Flight)," an original composition by Peteco Carabajal, easily serves as a theme for the session. As in the vocal music of Enrique Granados, the great Spanish composer, the powerful, poetic lyric is of central importance and is exploited for maximum emotional effect. Carabajal's verse is sentimental, and in translation loosely reads,"The hands of my mother are like birds in flight; the hands of my mother represent an open sky." Thomas Wortche, JazzPodium. Berlin, No 1, January, 2000. Right now Katie Viqueira might be living in Boston, but she belongs to her native Buenos Aires. At least musically. That is because her CD 'The Other Side - El Otro Lado' contains 12 Tangos and Milongas from Buenos Aires in idiosyncratic interpretations, which are inspired by this city at the La Plata. Together with her Trio (Nando Michelin, piano; Gustavo Amarante, bass; Bertram Lehmann, drums), she presents a quiet, affectionately made homage to her home. Without sensationalism, without fake emotionality, but with just the right amount of passion and highly sophisticated arrangements, 'El Otro Lado' in fact offers the other side of "Latino-hype"and pseudo-folklore.

Location Boston, MA - USA

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