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| Mar Creation's 2010 Tri-Star Holiday Concerts Mar Creation presents to us, for its 2nd year in a row, a lovely package of holiday sparkle with enough ribbons and bows to put a smile on any music lover's face. This year, the ladies take center stage with music from Japan, Brazil, and Finland – and all with that unique synthesis of genres that Mar is known for here and in Japan! Yumi Kurosawa knows how to get to Carnegie Hall and beyond! She and her kotos (13- and 20-string) have been there and all over the world since her multiple competition debut wins in Japan in 1989 and '92 and permanently landing in New York in '02. At home she's appeared at the Apollo, Joe's Pub, and on WNYC radio, among other iconic NYC venues, also continues playing in Japan, performing her own compositions as well as the works of others. Ms. Kurosawa combines the best of traditional and contemporary styles and glides between genres with the power and grace of an elegant champion figure skater on her '09 debut album aptly titled, Beginning of a Journey (16 tracks, available on CDBaby, includes haunting intonations of Michel Legrand-like jazz, Indian overtones, and a compelling title track with violin and cello), and most recently completed a tour of Central America sponsored by the Japan Foundation NY. The coolest of cool and the smoothest of smooth, pianist, vocalist, composer, and arranger MIKA combines her love of the sounds of Jazz, Samba, and Bossa Nova learned and shared over the years in Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, Paris, India and right here, with the support of her MIKA Samba Jazz Trio and MIKA Group. She moved her studio to NYC in '08 and has been continuing to go global. Her lineage comes through the likes of genre greats such as Fernando Motta and Amilton Godoy. MIKA's successful collaborations with artists such as Armando Marcal (Pat Metheny Group), Ricardo Silveira (Herbie Mann), Sergio Barrozo (Elis Regina), Jesse Sadoc (Marcos Valle), Andrei Vasconcellos (Djavan), Jorge Helder (Caetano Veloso) and Rafael Barata (Eliane Elias) have brought audiences new musical palettes to marvel at, from Sao Paulo's and Rio's clubs, and all over Japan. She performed in Japan to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Japan-Brazil immigration in 2009. Finnish songstress Paula Jaakkola certainly has her sisu going on (with a strong will a Finnish woman can walk through gray stone), which brought her to this granite island in '99 and she fell in love with it and has been here ever since. She's sung with progressive rock, soul, and jazz bands, though her original training was in opera, and has played famous Village clubs such as The Lion's Den and C-Note. In 2004 her projects evolved into the band Kaiku ("echo"), performing original songs inspired by the Finnish Epic Kalevala tales with elements of pop, jazz, world, and Latin rhythms for which she received Performer of the Year from the Finlandia Foundation in '06. Their hip, smart, and playful sound garnered rave reviews: "listening to something this beautiful, it's easy to believe that myths are rooted in truth." - Popmatters.com. Now as a solo artist and songwriter, her goal is to have complete artistic freedom as her songs explore existential themes, expressed in her own words, borrowed from folklore, inspired by contemporary music from Joni Mitchell to Lady Gaga. Music that passes through stone to touch hearts. Mar Creation is an independent record label and concert producer featuring a diverse lineup of talented international artists, spanning the genres of jazz, rock, pop, World music and electronica. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |