ARTIST: Lucía Pulido
COUNTRY: Colombia
GENRE: Traditional Colombian Music, World Music, Jazz, Cumbia, Bullerengue, Currulaos, Joropos
ABOUT: Lucía Pulido is a Colombian singer with one of the richest voices on the international Latin American musical scene today. She has an experimental style marked by a distinct vocal sophistication, and has participated in various projects, ranging from traditional Colombian music to jazz and world music. Raul d’Gama on Latin Jazz Network says “Pulido inhabits the music with body and soul. She alone commands what it will do to the senses – all six of them, which are at once her prisoner until the song becomes the epiphany.”
With her ensemble she pays homage to Colombian music. Traditional genres such as cumbia, bullerengue, currulaos as well as joropos are the point of departure for musical creativity. Lucía’s vocal sophistication is enhanced in genres such as herding songs (cantos de vaquería), funeral laments (alabaos) and harvest chants (cantos de zafra) which give the singer the liberty to explore her voice fully.
She is currently working on several projects with musicians in New York City and in different countries in Latin America. Some of these include her New York based LUCIA PULIDO ENSEMBLE (QUARTET and TRIO), performing experimental arrangements of Colombian traditional music as well as newly composed songs written for her; the classic repertoire of Latin American songs of broken love (“despecho”) performed with musicians based in New York; an experimental project based on Latin American traditional songs with Argentinean guitarist Fernando Tarrés; and a project called “América Contemporánea – um Outro Centro” with Brazilian pianist Benjamim Taubkin and several musicians from different countries in Latin America. Her active career includes performances in Europe, Canada, United States, and Latin America.
In New York she has been invited to sing and record with different jazz musicians such as Ed Simon, Dave Binney, and Erik Friedlander, and in Vienna, Austria, with experimental and electronic musicians such as Christian Fennesz, Burkhard Stangl, and Martin Siewert. In the United States, Lucia has promoted her music in private theaters, universities, and in well known venues of the New York City area (Joe’s Pub, Lincoln Center Out Doors, Queens Theatre in the Park, the Stone, Knitting Factory, Roulette) and has been part of the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood concert series organized in the city. In 2000 she received a grant for New York City resident artists from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Foundation LMCC, and in the summers of 2007 and 2008 she was an Artist in Residence in Krems, Austria.
Lucía’s musical compass after her arrival in New York in 1994 has been focused on an experimental approach to traditional Colombian rhythms and songs. In 1995 she recorded her first solo CD “Lucía” with the Colombian recording company Sonolux, distributed in the USA by Sony; in 2000, together with the Japanese percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, she recorded a CD for the German label Intuition (Religious and Pagan songs from Colombia); in 2004 she recorded “Dolor de Ausencia”, a selection of classic Latin American songs of heart-broken love released by the label FM in Colombia; in 2005, together with Argentinean guitarist Fernando Tarrés, she recorded Songbook I and II for BAU Records; and in the Fall 2008 her latest work “Waning Moon – Luna Menguante”, based on traditional Colombian music, was released by the label Adventure Music. Songbook III with Fernando Tarrés will be released by BAU records in Argentina in 2012, as well as her new recording “Journeying – Por Esos Caminos” with Ojo de Musica label.
Before her move to New York City, in Colombia, she was part of the duo “Iván y Lucía” for more than ten years with the singer and songwriter Iván Benavides (Sidestepper, Carlos Vives), with whom she recorded three L.P.’s between 1986-1991, touring in Europe and Latin America.
“Ms. Pulido holds on to the rawness of the original melodies while giving them a sophisticated new context.” Jon Pareles, The New York Times
Available line-ups:
QUINTET – voice, guitar, clarinet, bass, drums, and small percussion
QUARTET – voice, guitar, bass, and drums
TRIO – voice, guitar, bass, and small percussion
SELECTED PRESS REVIEWS AND QUOTES:
“Lucia Pulido’s voice has an overpowering lilt that allows her identity to come through regardless of the type of songs she sings: zamba, porro, baguala, or bullerengue, hers is such a personal style of singing that she ends up leaving her trace above and beyond any genre”. (Juan Carlos Garay, Revista Semana, Colombia)
“Ms. Pulido holds on to the rawness of the original melodies while giving them a sophisticated new context.” (Jon Pareles, New York Times)
“”There is always a ‘cry’ in the work of some of the best musicians.” What Nat Hentoff wrote about John Coltrane in 1959 on the cover of Giant Steps, applies perfectly to Lucia Pulido in our days. The ‘cry’ in Lucía’s work is not necessarily one of despair. It is rather – as Hentoff would put it – proof of an artist always closely in touch with her emotions. In Lucía’s voice there is that ‘cry’, and it will both raise a smile and drew a tear out of your face.” (Albert Hosp / ORF Ö1, Radio Austria / Festival Glatt & Verkehrt, Austria)
“The emotional intensity of Pulido’s voice on this collection (Waning Moon – Luna Menguante), which was inspired by traditional Colombian folksongs, is at times, almost too much to bear – but well worth it if you can.” (Alexander Gelfand, Jazzis Magazine)
“Colombian vocalist Lucia Pulido specializes in exploring the sounds and feel of her home country, with a voice that is earthy and penetrating… There’s not a hint of gloss on this heart felt release. This is the real thing.” (George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly)
“There’s a number of unforgettable and powerful moments throughout Waning Moon, ensuring that one listen will set Pulido apart from the crowd as an important Latin Jazz artist on today’s scene.” (Latin Jazz Corner)
“Pulido’s voice is powerful but exceptionally controlled, as she successfully navigates the Spanish lyrics through an uneven time signature, with her voice soaring above the complex rhythms.” (S. Victor Aaron, Jazz.com)
“Not only on recordings but as well in her live performances, Ms Pulido presents herself as an innovator with the sense of tradition. For sure a highlight of the festival!” (Skug, Journal für Musik)
“Lucia Pulido is one of those rare artists whose outstanding individuality and personality is able to embrace a wide array of musical styles… What makes her so special is her continuous search for singing in different ways and finding new sounds for her instrument. I believe she is one of the few serious, tradition-conscious musical innovators of our time…” (Jo Aichinger, Artistic director of Glatt & Verkehrt Festival, Austria)
“For me Lucía has one of the strongest voices of our generation in the world. Few singers can carry within their voice their own country and people. Hers is the voice of the village in the midst of the most urban life.” (Benjamim Taubkin, Curator of “Mercado Cultural da Bahia”, Brazil)
“Ms. Pulido sang new and old Colombian songs with a band that mixed the rustic clattering rhythms played with sticks on the sides of drums with complex touches of jazz harmony and odd meters. Often they used both at once in smart proportions. But her voice stayed raw and tearful, true to the sentiments of love songs announcing a wounded heart.” (Jon Pareles, New York Times)
“Her voice takes the shape of a sacred song, as if she were a priestess singing to the earth, to her ancestors, to her roots; her phrasing evokes an ever moving world not stuck in the past but constantly present.” (César Pradines, La Nación, Argentina)
“Lucía Pulido is an artist who connects with the genre of song at a very elementally deep level. To that extent she exercises an almost shamanic control over the lyrics, its narration and how it will affect the listener. In Africa she would be a gnawa… Cultures collide in her heart and soul… African, Spanish, Caribbean, Amerindian. She may not be any one of them, but she is all of them.” (Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network)
“Pulido’s voice is like an instrument that is at once a part of her body as well as a musical device that is to be controlled with unbridled imagination and extreme virtuosity.” (Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network)
“Pulido inhabits the music with body and soul. She alone commands what it will do to the senses – all six of them, which are at once her prisoner until the song becomes the epiphany.” (Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network)
“Felt and supported by both a potent and sweet voice, Lucia Pulido left it clear that her interpretation is the right way to translate the feeling of those songs born out of a people. And this, speaking of a singer of popular music, is the closest we can imagine to certifying a mission accomplished.” (Marcelo Menichetti, Diario La Capital, Argentina)
“No two CD’s from Lucia resemble each other… She would cease being herself if she did not opt for experimentation and surprise.” (Juan Carlos Garay, SEMANA, Colombia)
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY:
- “Songbook III” (BAU Records, Argentina, 2012) (with Fernando Tarrés and La Raza)
- “Journeying – Por Esos Caminos” (Ojo de Musica, Spain, 2012)
- “Waning Moon – Luna Menguante” (Adventure Music, USA, 2008)
- “Songbook II – Prayer” (BAU Records, Argentina, 2006) (with Fernando Tarrés and La Raza)
- “América Contemporánea – Um Outro Centro” (Núcleo Contemporáneo, Brazil / Adventure Music, USA, 2006)
- “Songbook I – Beliefs” (BAU Records, Argentina, 2005) (with Fernando Tarrés and La Raza)
- “Dolor de Ausencia” (FM Discos, Colombia, 2004)
- “Lucía Pulido: Religious and Pagan Songs from Colombia” (Intuition Records, Germany, 2000)
- “La Pluma” (Independent release, USA, 1998) (with Fiesta de Tambores)
- “Lucía” (Sonolux, Colombia / Sony Discos, USA, 1996)
- “Arcanos” (Saint Amour Producciones, Colombia, 1991) (Iván y Lucía)
- “Entre el Sueño y la Realidad” (Saint Amour Producciones, Colombia, 1989) (Iván y Lucía)
- “Iván y Lucía” (Independent release, Colombia, 1986) (Iván y Lucía)
SELECTED VIDEOS:
SELECTED PERFORMANCES:
- National Hispanic Cultural Center, ‘Latin Diva Series: Lucía Pulido’, Albuquerque, USA (2011)
- Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series @ University Settlement, New York, USA (2011)
- Le Poisson Rouge, New York, USA (2011)
- Spain tour (Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona) (2011)
- Colombia tour (Bogotá, Riohacha, Valledupar) (2011)
- Remise Cultural Center, Bludenz, Austria (2011)
- Palacio do Itamaraty, Brasilia, Brazil (2011)
- Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series @ Queens Central Library, New York, USA (2011)
- Imago Dei Festival, Austria (2011)
- Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, USA (2011)
- Jazz al Parque, Bogotá, Colombia (2010)
- Queens Theatre in the Park, New York, USA (2010)
- Torneo Internacional del Joropo, Villavicencio, Colombia (2010)
- Europe tour [Antwerpen, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Stockholm] (2009)
- Jazz al Parque, Bogotá, Colombia (2009)
- Italy tour (2009)
- Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria (2009)
- Brazil tour (Recife, Sao Paulo, Salvador de Bahia) (2008)
- Europe tour [Slovenia, Belgium, UK, Germany, Austria) (2008)
- Krems, Austria (2008)
- Spain tour (2008)
- Folk Holydays Festival, Namest, Czech Republic (2008)
- Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series, New York, USA (2008)
- Montegufoni, Italy (2008)
- Costa Rica and Nicaragua tour (2008)
- Spain and Virgin Islands tour (2008)
- Spain tour (2007)
- Krems, Austria (2007)
- Europe tour (Rudolstadt Festival, Stimmen Festival, A-Trane Jazz club) (2007)
- USA tour (Joe’s Pub, Lincoln Center Out Doors, Queens Theatre in the Park, Knitting Factory, The Stone, Tonic, Roulette, Penn State University, Cornell University, Union College, NYU, Denison University…) (2007)
- Argentina tour (2006)
- New York, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia (2006)
- Brazil tour (Sao Paulo, Bahia) (2005)
- Argentina tour (2005)
- Glatt & Verkhert Festival, Krems (Austria) (2005)
- Canada tour (ICA Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Calgary Folk Festival, Hillside Folk Festival, Stricly Mundial) (2005)
SONGS:
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