Ejazz con Jota (Fol, 2014)
The jota is ancient Spanish folk dance and passionate song style from the Aragon region in northern Spain. It’s popular music from the heartland that is receiving new attention from some of Spain’s finest female vocalists. The new recreations of jota come in the form of a jota-jazz hybrid recorded by Carmen Paris.
Carmen Paris has an outstanding voice and is a Spanish world music sensation who has been involved in cross-cultural projects involving the jota and other global sounds. Her latest album is Ejazz con Jota and here she combines traditional and original jota songs with a big bang jazz sound. Most of the album was recorded in Boston with additional sessions in Madrid.
In Boston, Carmen Paris recorded with the Greg Hopkins Concert Jazz Orchestra, a big band featuring internationally renowned musicians. On Ejazz con Jota Carmen Paris transforms jota into an engaging hip style using her charm and prodigious voice.
“Ejazz with Jota” represents how love and creativity – not technological but human and feminine, can synch together and dance harmoniously with two music forms, a priori, as different as Jota and jazz,” says Carmen Paris about the album. “This project began its course in 2011 and the songs reflect my life experience and my perception of the world in the past few years, selecting popular songs mixed with my lyrics to tell my story. Ejazz Con Jota is the result of the joyful convergence of circumstances and people that have firmly believed in this project”.
The lineup on Ejazz con Jota includes Carmen Paris on vocals; Greg Hopkins on trumpet; Scott DeOgburn on trumpet; Don Gorder on trumpet; Paul Perfetti on trumpet; Bob Patton on sax, flute and clarinet; Ben Whiting on sax, clarinet; Shannon LeClaire on sax, flute and clarinet; Allan Chase on sax and clarinet; Rick Stepton on trombone; Angel Subero on trombone; Ido Meshulam on trombone; John Garniss on trombone; Tim Ray on piano; Keala Kaumeheiwa on drums; Egui Castrillo on percussion; Joe Santerre on electric bass. Special guests include George Garzone on tenor sax; Melissa aldana on tenor sax; Gordon au on trumpet; and Jason Rosenblatt on drums.
In 2014, Carmen Paris received the most important music award in Spain, the National Award of Music granted by the Ministry of Culture and Education.
Ejazz con Jota showcases the music of one of Spain’s greatest singers exploring traditional jota and big band-style jazz.
Buy Ejazz con Jota
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
