Cecilia Zabala of Buenos Aires, Argentina is a rising star on the global music scene. With 10 CDs and close to 20 years international touring experience to her credit, Zabala’s music personifies the deep soul of the acoustic guitar, from its Iberian and North African roots, to its versatility as a worldwide voice of modern musical expression.
Cecilia Zabala’s distinction as a performing artist is multi-dimensional. She is a master singer and instrumentalist, conservatory trained, and a respected guitar instructor in the cosmopolitan capital of Buenos Aires. But her musical vision is far from staid. Her music bridges genres from the European classical guitar tradition to Brazilian bossa nova and Musica Popular Brasileiro, from Chilean Nuevo Cancion and its Argentine relative, Nuevo Cancionero, to global jazz. Her music combines many elements of global folkloric music, in a synthesis that bridges so many styles and genres that it can fairly be described as “sui generis,” or without comparison. In one respect, the essence of her artistic identity is as a singer songwriter, but with a poetic rather than narrative character that is distinctly South American. Her music is dreamlike, and steeped in the deep soul of her native Argentina, and by extension, Spain. In performance, whether solo or with an ensemble, Zabala is mesmerizing, from start to finish. As an instrumentalist, her performances are hypnotic. As a singer and presenter, she’s both seductive, and a bit of a sorceress, or as they say in Argentina, a “bruja.”
As with her last performance at Nova Arts, Cecilia will perform solo, and with accompaniment by pianist and Vermont Jazz Center director Eugene Uman, and Manchester NH multi-instrumental wind and reed player Don Davis.
Wendy Eisenberg is an improviser and songwriter who uses the guitar, the tenor banjo, the computer, the synthesizer, and the voice. Their work spans genres—from jazz to noise to avant-rock to delicate songs—and their performances span venues, from international festivals to intimate basements. Though often working solo as both a songwriter and improviser, with acclaimed releases on labels like Tzadik, Ba Da Bing, VDSQ, Out of your Head, and Dear Life, Wendy also performs in the rock band Editrix, with the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, in a free jazz country trio with Ryan Sawyer and Lester St. Lewis, and in many other collaborations including with Caroline Davis, David Grubbs, Carla Kihlstedt, and John Zorn. They also write about music and other things, and have published essays on music in Sound American, Arcana, and the Contemporary Music Review.
more eaze is the project of brooklyn-based sound artist and multi-instrumentalist Mari Maurice. Ranging from ambient pop to deconstructed sound collage, her numerous solo and collaborative releases weave mundane, everyday sounds, acoustic orchestration, and electronics into adventurous textural compositions. Her music explores themes of intimacy, yearning, and the transformation of abstract feeling into intense living through sound design that moves seamlessly between the banal and the ethereal. She has recently released work with Longform Editions, Leaving Records, Ecstatic, and Orange Milk.
San Antonio-born drummer Ryan Sawyer honed his craft through academic orchestra and marching band and was quick to find the colloquial conjunto, zydeco, and punk rock music of his hometown equally inspiring and freeing. Ryan plays and records with an ever-growing group of improvisers and bands: Oso Blanco (members Colin Stetson, Nate Wooley, C. Spencer Yeh), Boredoms, Cass McCombs, Thurston Moore, Matana Roberts, and Rhys Chatham, among others.
Doors are 7pm and music will start around 730. Seating is limited and first come first served. All ages!