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bios Press: EYE WEEKLY | EL POPULAR WEEKLY | NOW |
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Eliana Cuevas- A New Voice on Canada’s World and Jazz Music Scene Someday London's first Fiesta del Sol will
be remembered for bringing Toronto Latin jazz singer Eliana Cuevas'
group to London. "She just might be the next Norah Jones" |
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| Winner - Vocal Artist
of the Year- Latin American Achievement Awards, 2003 Winner - World Music Category- From The Heart Songwriting Competition, 2004 |
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| Press: EYE WEEKLY | ||||
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The explosion of jazz and world music in Canada in the last decade has given audiences access to a rich variety of great music from many countries and cultures. One of the things lacking has been a really stellar singer from Latin America. That position now looks like it is filled by Venezuelan born Eliana Cuevas. Singing in Spanish, Portuguese and English; Eliana is stepping out from her years as merely a great singer to make her mark as bandleader and songwriter. A student of music in Venezuela, Eliana came to Canada to study more academic subjects at the University of Toronto. She continued her musical studies here and sang with pop artist Joée, Latin-jazz unit Cruzao, reggae group Tabarruk, Latin-folk band Cassava, salsa powerhouse Marrón Matizado, Latin-jazz unit Ritmo Azul, flamenco guitarist Jorge Miguel, salsa band Cache & the Brazilian outfit Pedras da Rua. In 2002 Eliana made her first recording as leader of her own ensemble, performing five of her own songs on “Cohesion”. The CD made it to the top of the charts on Toronto’s independent radio stations- CKLN and CIUT. Eliana began to be invited to perform at top Latin and jazz venues in Toronto- The Distillery Historic District, the Lula Lounge, the Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar and the famous Top O' The Senator, considered the city’s top jazz club. In March of 2003 she was featured as one of the “Global Divas” in a concert of the same name, backed by Jane Bunnett. She went west for the first time to the Victoria Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Yukon Storytelling Festival and Comox Valley Music Festival. She returned home to perform at Harbourfront Centre and London’s first Fiesta del Sol and receive the Latin American Achievement Award for Vocal Artist of the Year. If 2003 was a busy year, 2004 has been downright frenetic. Much of it was spent recording her first full length CD- Ventura, a collection of original songs about love, life and quirky speculations, such as “what if the day had 30 hours?” The release of the CD coincided with festival and concert dates in Nova Scotia, including the Atlantic Jazz Festival, and BC where she toured from Salt Spring Island to Williams Lake, Kaslo to Vancouver selling out shows and receiving standing ovations. She returned home to the news that she had won the Ontario Conference of Folk Festivals “From The Heart” songwriting award for Rompe Mi Alma in the World Music Category. In September there was a trip to New Brunswick to perform at the Fredericton Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival and a CD launch for Ventura at Toronto’s prestigious Glenn Gould Studio as part of the Small World Music Festival. In October Eliana showcased for presenters at Ontario Contact. Eliana Cuevas is a voice to listen to and a name to watch. As a singer, composer, writer and performer she has uncommon ability. The new audiences that have opened their ears to both world music and jazz in recent years are hungry for more and Eliana may just be the one to put her Latin jazz dishes on the Canadian and international musical menu
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