Tango - Jazz Group Appears at Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center

Featuring Katie Viqueira - voice; Nando Michelin - piano; Bertram Lehmann – drums; Fernando Huergo – bass.

The Katie Viqueira Group will make its debut appearance at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center on Friday, October 25th at 8:00 pm. Mr. Viqueira will present ‘A Night of Argentine Music’, featuring her regular band of pianist/musical director Nando Michelin, bassist Fernando Huergo, and drummer Bertram Lehmann.
Mrs. Viqueira will be performing music from her most recent CD El Otro Lado/The Other Side, offering a fresh approach to the well-known classic Tangos of the past, reinterpretations of Nuevo Tango masters such as Astor Piazzolla, as well as premiering original compositions by some of Argentina’s best contemporary Tango composers and by musical director Nando Michelin.

The CMAC is located at 41 Second Street, East Cambridge, near the Lechmere T-Stop. The show starts a 8:30 and tickets are $12/$10 for CMAC members. For information call (617) 577-1400, or go www.cmacusa.org.

Artist website: www.katieviqueira.com

“ ‘The Other Side’ . . . is arguably the only recording in existence which successfully juxtaposes modern improvisational influences with an awareness of the dramatic and poetic elements of Argentine tango and folklore . . .” – JazzNow

“Without sensationalism, without fake emotionality, but with just the right amount of passion and highly sophisticated arrangements, ‘El Otro Lado’ in fact offers the other side of ‘Latino-hype’ and pseudo-folklore . . . clever, competent, and very atmospheric music . . .” - Jazzpodium (Germany)

Katie Viqueira has been hailed as one of the “divas” on Boston’s current Latin music scene by the Boston Globe, a recognition founded in a long and successful career that started many years ago in her hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina and soon earned her national acclaim. She was twice awarded prizes in the prestigious OTI Festival (Contest of the Iberoamerican Television Organization), and for a number of years presented the successful solo-show “Entre la voz y el alma en Buenos Aires.” She also worked with the U.S. group Air Supply on tour in Argentina.

While Mrs. Viqueira’s recent musical activities so far have made her “the most visible Tango singer on the local scene” (Boston Globe), they also include the music of lesser known folkloric styles from Argentina’s interior countryside, such as the Zamba and Chacarera. Having recorded three albums in Argentina, her first stateside CD “The Other Side – El Otro Lado” finds her tracing the musical influences of her native country in the context of a Jazz-influenced setting. Supported by Nando Michelin’s uniquely imaginative arrangements and the ensemble’s vibrant musical interaction, a new sound emerges that effectively blends the lyrical forms and poignant rhythmic articulation of its South American heritage with the textural looseness and harmonic language of its North American sibling. Yet throughout the recording, the voice takes centerstage and remains the focal point of the music.

For many years, Katie Viqueira has delighted audiences in Latin America, Europe and the U.S. She has recently performed at various venues in New England area such as Ryles, Johnny D’s, the Providence Waterfront Festival, the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center, The Peabody Museum, Berklee College of Music, and Tufts University. She has also been active in New York City with appearances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Knitting Factory, and was recently featured as soloist in the U.S. premiere of Astor Piazolla’s Tango-oratory “Pueblo Joven” at Town Hall, receiving highest accolades for her performance with the Cosmopolitan Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Pablo Zinger.