Sofia Rei Koutsovitis & Avantrio - Live in Davis Square

[Microfundo]

Last night I saw a great show. Tuesday night in Davis square can be a pretty quiet experience. And it was COLD here in Boston!! I'd just got out of my Tuesday night Samba class (at the Green Street studio in Cambridge) and stopped by Johnny D's just in time to catch Sofia Rei Koutsovitis in one of her most adventuresome music projects: Avantrio.

This was not the crowded bar thing - rather an intimate acoustic showcase among friends of the musicians and this music. Just Sofia's voice, stand up bass, played by Jorge Roeder, and Cajon percussion, played by Jorge Perez Albela. Lot's of space!!

Now I tend to hear a LOT of music so that now it's becoming more challenging to find something I get REALLY EXCITED about -- but here it is. Sofia is the kind of singer who doesn't need to get anywhere near the microphone and yet her clear voice fills up the room. And against Jorge Reder's bass stylings it made for a spare but rich pairing. Avantrio is Peruvian music for the adventurous listener!

They have carefully selected traditional Peruvian music from the coast ("Música Criolla" and "Música Negra") and the works of Peruvian composers such as Chabuca Granda, Felipe Pinglo, and Nicomedes Santa Cruz -- well-kept secrets to international audiences. But Jorge also brings an American jazz influence to his playing and I found myself on a musical journey up and down the coast of Peru, through the streets of Lima, to a place where Jazz mingles with Peruvian Waltz, Landó, Festejo, Zamacueca and Argentinian Zamba. I LOVED it!!

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