Music
Music
Listen: Latin, Brazilian, Jazz Standards
View: Video coming soon...
Musica
About PuraLinda
Born and raised in New York City in a multilingual and multicultural home, I was blessed; my culturally rich upbringing -- Italian, Latin American, Catholic and Jewish – launched my musical soul in a context of polyrhythm and global harmonies.
My love affair with music began, at age three, with Manuel de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat and Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid. By six, I was hooked on mambo, cha-cha and merengue grooves, plus classical ballet which I'd already studied for three years. At seven, I began milking the Show & Tell possibilities of jazz tunes, Glenn Miller and other big band greats being another staple on our Victrola. At ten I started my lifelong participation in choral singing, along with my passionate study of classical piano.
Years later, I expanded to jazz piano, studying with Mike Longo in New York, having fallen in love with the sounds and rhythms of McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, and others. Later still, I included jazz choir in my life, notably the Kindred Spirits Jazz Choir in New York, backing up Tito Puente, Lionel Hampton and Jon Faddis in Anne Phillips' Bending Toward the Light, A Jazz Nativity at Lincoln Center.
In more recent years, my work in Senegal introduced me to the intoxicating mbalax sound and African polyrhythms. At the same time, my voice study took on primary importance as I worked with master Somatic Voicework teacher, Cate Frazier-Neely.
I've never been without piano or singing. Nurtured in the magic of musical diversity, from Gregorian chants to Bach fugues, from Latin boleros to folk songs of Italy to the electricity of John Coltrane...my music is indeed the air I breathe.
About
About Improvisation and CircleSinging
My fascination with improvisation began in my teenage years with yearly attendance at the Newport Jazz Festival. I quickly became an avid listener of the jazz masters, beginning in the 60’s, into the 80's and beyond.
In 1984, when I discovered Bobby McFerrin's magical vocal inventiveness, I was a goner. Mesmerized by McFerrin's musical thinking and vocal prowess, I continued to follow his work, listening, always listening. My son, born in the 80's, was quieted and cheered daily in his baby-distress by the musical magic of Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau, along with the lilting lullabies of his Mamma.
In 2015, following my first study with McFerrin and his remarkably skilled and inventive colleagues in Rhinebeck, New York, I began attending workshops in improvisation. My first was with Roger Treece, brilliant composer, improviser, and co-creator of the Grammy-nominated VOCAbuLarieS album featuring Bobby McFerrin and his stunning Voicestra. I then began studying, both in the US and abroad, with master singer and improviser, Rhiannon, a 35-year colleague of McFerrin. In 2017 I devoted myself to Rhiannon's All The Way In program, her year-long master-level training in vocal improvisation. I continue to study privately with Judi Vinar, another Bobby McFerrin co-singer of many years.
Circlesinging captured my heart years ago when, at a Bobby McFerrin workshop, I first felt the exhilaration of spontaneous musical connection with others through voice. Knowing the joy Circlesinging brings to my life and to the lives of others, I've joined forces with another singer to found CircleSinging Alexandria, a local Meetup open to all and devoted to improvisational group singing based on the teachings of Bobby McFerrin and Rhiannon.
Why do I love improvisation? Improvisation is the transcendent realm where we take flight, joining each other in vocal unity, creating magical sounds that have never before been and will never be again.
About GraceNote CircleSinging
Circlesinging is a musical form of community communication and celebration as ancient as humanity. As we come together in song, we incorporate the familiar and fundamental musical concepts of rhythm, melody, harmony, and form.
Circlesinging is part vocal jam, part vocal orchestra, and all created-on-the-spot music. Groups gather all over the world to share in this exhilarating form of community connection and community-building.
GraceNote CircleSinging offers singers the opportunity to learn and practice the musical components of CircleSinging. We use this form as developed by acclaimed singer and vocal improviser Bobby McFerrin. We also integrate the approach of composer/arranger Roger Treece (arranger and producer of Bobby McFerrin’s VOCAbuLaries album), and we incorporate teachings of master improviser, Rhiannon, as described in Vocal River, her autobiographical book on deep vocal improvisation and exploration.
It is exciting to join forces with master vocal trainer, Cate Frazier-Neely, to offer singers the chance to learn and gain skill in this magical, deeply satisfying, and dare I say thrilling, musical form through GraceNote CircleSinging.
When and Where: GraceNote CircleSinging Pilot Project will meet weekly on Saturday mornings, 11-12:30, from January 18 - February 22, 2020. Classes will be held in Kensington/Silver Spring, MD.
Our sixth and final session will be a Community Pot Luck and Performance in the Silver Spring/DC area. (Addresses will be sent upon registration.)
Investment: $195 + PayPal fee, total: $201 for all 6 sessions.
Unfortunately, due to the ongoing nature of this workshop, we are unable to offer refunds.
Note: GraceNote CircleSinging is designed for experienced, adventurous singers, and is not a drop-in class.
Come join us!
Resources
Teachers
Cate Frazier-Neely: www.catefnstudios.com/
Roger Treece: www.rogertreece.com
Bobby McFerrin: www.bobbymcferrin.com
Rhiannon: www.rhiannonmusic.com
Judi Vinar: www.judivinar.com
Musicians
Alex Martin: www.alexmartinmusic.com
Dave Marsh: www.davidwmarsh.com
Bruno Lucini: www.facebook.com/brunolucinimusic
Production
Photography, Tim Coburn: www.timcoburnphoto.com
Music Production, Blue House Productions/Jeff Gruber: www.bluehouseproductions.com
Website, AzkaWEB: www.azkaweb.com
My love and gratitude to all of you!