Tanja Maritsa at All About Jazz

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart …”Judy Garland

Beguiling, and timeless are just some of the words that have been used to describe singer songwriter Tanja Maritsa.

Born to an English mother and Croatian father and raised in Paris and London there have undoubtedly been a number of different cultural influences on her musical development and whilst her music has its roots in jazz and folk its conception also draws from other musical styles.

Tanja inherited her singing talent from her mother, and grew up listening to the great jazz and classical divas ‘My mum always used to sing round the house and had a great voice. She used to love all sorts of singers like Ella Fitzgerald, and Edith Piaf and so I developed my passion for singing from an early age’. In her teens Tanja started her classical singing lessons but despite catching the eye of musicians like Rick Wakeman in a regional competition, she decided to pursue the sciences and moved to Brighton yearning to one day return to her love of music. Back in the big city, fate took a hand when she met Colette Meury (teacher to many a famed singer: Beth Gibbons and Liz Frazer to name but a few) who recognized, and encouraged her talent. In 2005 Tanja formed her own jazz folk band (Bluebird) with guitarist Paul Sogaard and released a home-produced album of jazz and folk covers. Tanja then went on to create her own project and in 2007 recorded her debut album ‘Child in My Heart’ with renowned producer arranger Richard Niles. Originally intended to be an album of covers after hearing her own material Niles strongly encouraged Tanja to write more and ‘thats how I caught the writing bug’ . Promoting her music largely over the internet Tanja's music has already attracted a lot of fans and overwhelmed by the response she was eager to get back into the studio and start recording her second album ‘Fragile’. The result is a truly stunning album including 10 tracks of her own material and two covers, with superb arrangements from Niles. It opens with the light hearted jazzy chanson Single ‘Live for Today’ (Just released!!) and takes us on a journey of love and life from jazz (‘No More the Blues’, ‘Wont You Dance’) folk (‘The Other Side of the World’, ‘La Catrina’) and world music (‘Fragile’, ’In Love Again’ ‘Libertango’), ending with Tanja’s beautiful melancholic song ‘Fading Grace’. Tanja is backed by some truly wonderful musicians (Richard Cottle, Sam Burgess, Gary O’toole) and has again teamed up with the masterful pianist Gwilym Simcock, and the highly esteemed oud player Naseer Shaama. Fragile will be available in the new year and marks Tanja out not only as a truly talented songwriter but an exceptional singer who sings with her heart and continues to touch ours.