Jazz Articles about Venissa Santi

About Venissa Santi

Album Review

The high art of Bienvenida is no accident. This is because its principal performer is the miracle behind it all. Venissa Santi is one of those supremely talented new vocalists who blazes--comet-like, across the musical horizon--but once in a lifetime. She joins the likes of Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, Sheila Jordan, Elis, Rosa, Celia and Flora Purim as the highest practitioners of the art of vocal music. Santi is a sublime artist whose voice floats on the ...

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In the Artist's Own Words

Venissa Santi: Reflections on the Cuban Roots of Bienvenida

by Victor L. Schermer
April 24, 2009

Singer Venissa Santi's debut, Bienvenida (Sunnyside, 2009) offers a satisfying hybrid of straight-ahead jazz with rhythms from her family's homeland, Cuba. The music is highly listenable and, in many ways, speaks for itself--even to an English-speaking audience. However, the ethnic flavorings may stimulate for some a desire to grasp the meaning of the Spanish lyrics and define the rhythmic variations that occur in the Cuban-based music. To fill the information gap for All About Jazz readers, Santi agreed to offer ...

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Album Review

Venissa Santi: Bienvenida

Read "Bienvenida" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer

by Victor L. Schermer
April 24, 2009

Bienvenida is the debut CD of a singer already attracting attention in the music world. In addition to her finely attuned voice, musical intuition, and grasp of the jazz idiom, Venissa Santi is a Cuban/American who has cultivated the music of her family's country of origin. By immersing herself in Cuban music, Santi has developed a style that is unique yet familiar, specifically ethnic yet reflecting an eclectic mix of styles and motifs. Bienvenida is a welcoming view into a ...