Claudia Acuña (July 31, 1971, Santiago) is a Chilean jazz vocalist, songwriter, and arranger.

Biography

Born July 3 1971 in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

and raised in Concepcion, she was inspired as a child to perform a variety of music, including folk, pop and opera, by

Victor Jara The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

and

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal an ...

. Her attention turned to American popular music and jazz at the age of 15, when she first heard Frank Sinatra,

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first r ...

and Sarah Vaughan. Returning to Santiago in 1991, she quickly gained prominence on the local jazz scene through live performances and radio broadcasts with visiting artists. In 1995, Acuña moved to New York City and began performing at jam sessions and clubs including the Zinc Bar and Smalls. She also performed with her own band at the famous Jazz Gallery. Among the many musical associates she met in this period was pianist/composer

Jason Lindner Jason Lindner (born February 1, 1973) is an American pianist, keyboardist, synthesist, sound designer, composer, arranger and producer. Life and career Lindner was brought up in Brooklyn, New York City.Matzner, Frank A. (August 18, 2014"Jason Li ...

, who became and has remained her musical director. Her debut album, ''Wind from the South'', was released in 1999 on

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

, followed by ''Rhythm of Life'' in 2001 and ''Luna'' in 2004. Acuña's first recording on the

Marsalis Music Marsalis Music is a jazz record label founded by Branford Marsalis in 2002. After 20 years with Columbia, saxophonist Branford Marsalis left to start his own label. Early musicians to the label included Miguel Zenón, a Puerto Rican saxophonist ...

label, ''En Este Momento'', was released in 2009. She has also been featured on various recordings with Peck Almond,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

Joey Calderazzo Joseph Dominick Calderazzo (February 27, 1965) is a jazz pianist and brother of musician Gene Calderazzo. He played extensively in bands led by Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis, and has also led his own bands. Early life Calderazzo was born ...

, Avishai Cohen, Mark Elf,

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

, Antonio Hart, Arturo O'Farrill and Guillermo Klein. Acuña has been named co-curator of a Chilean music festival that took place in January 2009. She is also the spokesperson for World Vision Chile, an international Christian relief and development organization that specializes in child-focused development programs. One of Acuña's covers of the

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

song "Suddenly" was featured on the original motion picture soundtrack from Verve Records for the movie '' Bossa Nova''. In 2001 she recorded a single with House producers MKL and Soy Sos of 3 Generations Walking called "Slavery Days" which gained her substantial exposure outside of the jazz medium. Claudia is signed to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based record label, Marsalis Music.

Discography

As leader

* ''Wind from the South'' ( Verve, 2000) * ''Rhythm of Life'' (Verve, 2002) * ''Luna'' (

Maxjazz Maxjazz (corporately styled MAXJAZZ) was an American jazz record label founded in 1998 by investment banker Richard McDonnell. Maxjazz recordings are generally regarded as a "straight-ahead" acoustic style of jazz. It was based in St. Louis, Mis ...

, 2004) * ''En Este Momento'' (

, 2009) * ''Kalimba Collage'' with

Kenny Wollesen Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist. Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a fou ...

(Soniculture, 2009) * ''Turning Pages'' (Plaza, 2019)

As guest

, ''Absolute Benson'' (Verve, 2000) *

Danilo Pérez Danilo Pérez (born December 29, 1965) is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist. His music is a blend of Panamanian roots with elements of Latin American folk music, jazz, European impressionism, African, and other music ...

, ''Motherland'' (Verve, 2000) *

, ''Amanecer'' (Marsalis Music, 2007) * Avishai Cohen, ''Adama'' ( Stretch, 1998) * Avishai Cohen, ''Colors'' (Stretch, 2000) *

Billy Childs William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an award-winning American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States. Early life When he was sixteen he attended the Community School of the Performing ...

, ''Rebirth'' (

Mack Avenue Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

, 2017) *

David Gilmore David Gilmore (born 5 February 1964) is an American jazz guitarist. Gilmore studied at New York University with Joe Lovano and Jim McNeely. In 1987 he began working professionally with the M-Base Collective and Ronald Shannon Jackson. In the ...

, ''Unified Presence'' (RKM Music, 2006) * David Gilmore, ''Numerology:Live at Jazz Standard'' (Evolutionary Music, 2012) *

, ''Wise Children'' (Bluebird/Arista, 2003) * Susie Ibarra, ''Perception'' (Decibel Collective, 2018) *

Willie Jones III Willie Jones III (born June 8, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is a jazz drummer. He has played, toured, and recorded with Horace Silver, Roy Hargrove, Hank Jones, Cedar Walton, and Herbie Hancock. He played on Arturo Sandoval's Grammy-winn ...

, ''The Next Phase'' ( WJ3, 2010) * Guillermo Klein, ''Los Guachos II'' ( Sunnyside, 1999) *

, ''Gives You Now vs Now'' (Anzic, 2009) *

Fabrizio Sotti Fabrizio Sotti (born April 27, 1975, Padova, Italy) is a guitarist, composer, producer and songwriter. In addition to jazz, Sotti plays in the styles of bebop, jazz fusion, soul, hip hop, R&B and pop. He has worked with the likes of Al Foster, R ...

, ''Right Now'' (Red River Entertainment, 2013) * Louie Vega, ''Elements of Life'' (Cutting Edge, 2003)

References

UCLA Library The library system of the University of California, Los Angeles, is one of the largest academic research libraries in North America, with a collection of over twelve million books and 100,000 serials. The UCLA Library System is spread over 12 libr ...

Special Collections. {{DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Claudia 1971 births Living people Bossa nova singers Chilean Christians Chilean jazz singers Latin jazz singers 20th-century Chilean women singers 21st-century Chilean women singers Women in Latin music

Biography

Discography

As leader

As guest

References

External links