Andrea Motis, the Jazz promise of a star

[mihizawi]

Hi, everyone...

As it seems that lately there have been a boom of popularity for extremely talented child and early teen singers, and I don't hide my amazement for them, it was nice to see that in Catalonia we don't lack these special talents.

Andrrea Motis started studying music, concretely Jazz, with the saxophone. At the age of 10, her teacher/mentor asked her to sing and he discovered that she had a special voice. Now, at the age of 15, she is recordiing her first comercial CD which is being relatively well-promoted here, in Catalonia. The following video shows her at the age of 14: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmKQOqUgFIM&feature=related

She certainly has a lovely sound in her voice, very jazzy for her age, and yet retains some kind of sweetness and tenderness. I really love how she sounds! And she plays at a very decent level the soprano and alto saxophones and the trumpet... Quite a talented girl, isn't she? And at least one who doesn't need talent shows to get her career started.

Michal

[mihizawi]

A recent video from Andrea Motis inan outstanding performance of Louisiana Fairy Tale on the TV show of the Spanish comedian/entertainer Buenafuente. She may not be a Jackie Evancho or Faryl Smith, but I think she's worth a try, extremely talented young girl, not only on her voice but also outstanding in playing 4 more instruments.
If someone is interested, on her Facebook page you can find more videos (including a very brilliant rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah). Also, she has released recently a new album, "Joan Chamorro presenta Andrea Mortis", I believe released across Spain... maybe you can find it from import.

Michal

[mihizawi]

Hi everyone!

This last thursday I've been to a concert of this little star in Sant Cugat, a town near Barcelona. It was a free concert in the cafe / bar of t he local theatre, and when I arrived, three quarters before the concert was to start, all the tables were full and there were some people already standing. I managed to situate myself in the first row, a good place to take pics from my new tripod.

The concert, which started around 9 p.m. was such a delightful experience. Andrea was accompanied by some of the best jazz musicians around here: his teacher and mentor Joan Chamorro (double bass and bass and baritone saxophones), Ignasi Terraza (piano) and Esteve Pi in the drums, also joined as a guest for two songs by the trumpetist Matthew Simon. They performed Jazz standards for over 2 hours (with a short break), with Bert Kaempfert's L.O.V.E, a brilliant and very emotgional Petite Fleur (Andrea's skills and passion with the saxo made of it a tearjerker) and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah being the highlights for me.

Andrea is a great performer, a very sweet, outstanding voice and a talented musician whose blood is filled with Jazz, and she's got also a strong yet warm and close presence on stage, and transmits a kind of innocent but mature feeling. Definately, if she wants, she can be a huge star. Oh, and after the concert I got to meet her and the other musicians, all of them very nice and down to earth; Andrea's maturity is definately not only in her music. I got her CD signed (which I bought the weekend before), with very kind and cute words and had a pic taken with her... Definately a night to remember. I imagine my first Hayley experience will be similar to this one.

I made some pics, if you want to take a look, here is a link. I have also made few videos, which I am uploading on youtube, but while I wait, I leave you here another quite impressive video of her one year ago, this time with the band where she started to perform, the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, which is said to be the youngest jazz big band in Europe (one of the girls who play the trumpet is only 8, and the average is around 14): Bli-blip - Sant Andreu Jazz Band

Michal

fixed link - Joe

[mihizawi]

So, here you go the four videos I recorder, they are now on Youtube:
Louisiana Fairy Tale (part 1) (accidentally stopped recording for a few seconds, so it's in two parts)
Louisiana Fairy Tale (part 2)
No More Blues (Chega de Saudade)
A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Well, haven't got any of my personal highlights on video, but those are great too! Hope you enjoy them... WHo knows, maybe someday I get the chance to make similar videos on a Hayley concert... that would be quite something!

Michak

P.S. Thanks Joe.

[mihizawi]

Found a video of that stunning performance of Petite Fleur, recorded by someone else... There was an Irish man sitting next to me and he was really enjoying the music as much as me. And this song moved both of us to tears... The way she plays it is incredible...

Michal

[mihizawi]

Hope you don't mind... I would like to share with you this short but impressive performance of My Funny Valentine.

Michal

[afaninchicago]

She is certainly impressive, especially in her interpretation and musicality. However, I find it very hard to listen to people singing American music with noticeable accents, but that's just me.

[mihizawi]

Yeah, I agree, her accent is certainly noticeable and some of her pronunciation is not perfect, but believe me, her English is as impressive as her music if you compare it to the average level within Spain, even between adults, let alone teenagers... Certainly the English level in Spain is not something to be proud of. Glad you liked her, though.

[mihizawi]

Just to keep this updated, yesterday night I was at a very late concert by Andrea Motis (starting at 1 a.m.). It was a concert within the 30th Terrassa Jazz Festival, which is one of the most important Jazz festivals in Catalonia. This time the musicians accompanying Andrea weren't the same, with the exception of Joan Chamorro and Ignasi Terraza, who were joined this time by David Mengual at the double bass and Ramón Angel Rey at the drums, with guest appearences by guitar player Josep Traver and two young saxophonists from the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, alto Eva Fernández and tenor Iscle Datzira. Sometimes there was a full quartet of Saxophones playing at the same time, with Andrea on the soprano, Eva on the alto, Iscle on the tenor and Joan on the bass, which sounded really, really great.

Although the concert was shorter than the one in Sant Cugat, the setlist included quite a few new songs that weren't either in the first concert nor in the CD, whcih made it even more interesting. If I was to choose the gighlights, which is rather difficult, I would go for a faster performance of L.O.V.E and once again, Leonard's Cohen Hallelujah, which, to be honest was the most beautiful cover performance I've heard, even better than her own previous ones.

I will definately go to as many of her concerts as I can it's such an enjoyable experience. No videos or pictures by me this time.

Michal

[mihizawi]

Well, a new update here. Last Monday, I went to yet another concert where Andrea performed, however, this time, she wasn't the main star, she was playing within the Sant Andreu Jazz Band.

As I said before, the Sant Andreu Jazz Band is the youngest big band in Europe, a formation coming from the public music school of the Sant Andreu district in Barcelona. Conducted by Joan Chamorro who is the sax teacher in that school, its current members are between 6 and 19 years of age. They play mostly classic jazz standards, and, young as they are it's surprising how good they all are, every member of the band being able to make stunning solos with their instruments, and an increasing number of members trying out quite nicely as vocalists too. They have a quite wide following in Barcelona and Catalonia and are starting to be known within Jazzi circles all over Spain, and even abroad. They have two albums, that include collaborations with some big names of tha Jazz in Catalonia and even several American (have someone heard of the saxophonist Bobby Gordon?).

Well, about the concert... I must say I have developed a very cloe relationship of fandom that almost is a kind of friendship, both with Joan and Andrea through going to the two previous concerts and through Facebook. After watching videos on Youtube and on Joan's Facebook, I was looking forward to seeing the whole band live, and finally the chance came with this concert.

It was an outdoor free concert at a not too big square in the Gracia district of Barcelona, about 30 minutes away from my home with my wheelchair. Indeed, it was the closing event of the swing dancing Barswingona festival, and there were a good number of well-trained dancers, even from foreign countries (Andrea, by the way is a very talented dancer too). The concert was to start at 12:00, I arrived a little more than one hour before, and met Joan finnishing to arrange all the things on stage, and the band members scattered through the square, either getting their instruments ready or just relaxing before the concert, playing and chatting around. I went to say hi to Joan, and he gave me a big hug and introduced me to some of the youngest girls in the band. Then, I located Andrea and went to say hi to her, she introduced me to her best friend and we had a short chat... Then I got my camera ready and started taking pictures while the band was rehearsing. By the time the concerts tarted, a large crowd (which for most of the concert was larger than 500) had already gathered in the square and the dancers were ready too. The fun could start!

The concert went through over two hours, without a break, and that was possible because the Sant Andreu Jazz Band has actually more members than the 17 that make the standard big band, a little over 20, so there could be rotations on some of the instruments; it doesn’t make it less impressive for such young musicians to play for so long. It was all very enjoyable, the atmosphere with all the dancing and people having fun. It is hard to point out any highligyhts, but I really enjoyed Charlie Chaplin’s Smile, sung by 17 year old Eva Fernández. Oh, and I felt very, very special, when I got a song dedicated to me, concretely a rendition of Bei Mir Bistu Shein, in the broken voice of 14 year old Magali Datzira. (the two videos are not from the concert, but wanted to show how the songs sound... the second one is a commercial recording from the CD+DVD album, but both are uploaded by the band’s conductor, so it should be fine to post them)

After the concert I got to spend some nice time talking with Andrea and the rest of the band, bought their album and got it signed by several of the members. They are a really nice groupo of young people, and they and their parents really appreciated my work taking photos and videos. I really look forward to the next time... Well, actually, today I will meet Andrea again, this time in her own concert.

And here are the pictures and videos I made.This time it was harder to make good pictures, and specially videos, because, once the concert started, the crows had to stand back to leave space for the dancers, and so, I couldn’t be as close as on the previous concert. But, I am quite happy with the job and very surprised by the quality of the sound recording of my Canon SX210IS.
A public link to my album on Facebook with the pics I took on the concert (you should be able to see them even if you don’t have a Facebook account).
And the viideos:
Easy Money with the outstanding solos by 9 year old Alba Armengou on the trumpet and 15 year old Dani Téllez on the trombone.
Love Me or Leave Me, sung by Magali Datzira with her broken voice and Andrea Motis, Iscle Datzira and Eva Fernández doing instrumental solos on trumpet and saxes.
L. O. V. E. sung as a duet by 12 year old Eduard Ferrer (who plays the baritone sax,amd it was his first time using his voice on a concert, you can tell he is nervous, but he did a very good job, didn’t he?) and 16 year old Paula Berzal. Andrea’s solo on the trumpet is outstanding.
And finally, Undecided, starring the youngest memberts of the band, includinng Alba and Elsa Armengou (9 and 6 year old) and Alba Esteban (11 year old)

And today I am following Andrea through two concerts, will be taking pics and videos again!

Michal

[mihizawi]

Hi everyone, I have been to two more concerts of Andrea Motis lately, I will post reports and my material soon... Just wanted to say that Andrea s on a school trip to London and today is her 16th birthday, so, if by any chance any Londoner meets her, wish her a Happy Birthday.

Michal

[mihizawi]

Hi everyone, a short review of my last Andrea experiences before I go today to my next concert of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band (I am going to another town, and I was invited to join all the band in the trip, I am going with them in the bus and spending all the afternoon and evening with them, I am so excited!).

Two weeks ago, on Saturday the 30th I had a double appointment with Andrea's music! First she played a concert with Joan and a great guitarist called Josep Traver, in an important local store to promote her CD. And after a more or less one hour concert, she was heading straight to play in a small short film festival, a more relaxed concert with a band made up of friends. And I followed her through both concerts, taking pics and videos. At the festival, while she was waiting for their time to play, I spent a very enjoyable long while with her and er friends, they are all very nice, and Andrea really does treat me as a dear friend. Oh, and I gave her my copy of Paradiso, as a recommendation, I showed her some videos and she seemed to like Hayley, so I think she'll love the CD. Now I am waiting to her giving it back to me, xD... And, of coruse, both concerts were very enjoyable, the second one included songs that were a mix of their own creation of some Jazz and film tunes.

Now, the material I took that day.

Pics from the Fnac store. The lighting was very bad for photography, I ended up having my first serious tries adjusting the shutter speed, and somehow managed to get pics better than I expected.

The videos from the Fnac:
Petite Fleur - A quite unusual performance, much more rhythmic and less emotional than she usually plays it, Joan described it as having a "torero" feeling. It remains a highlight whenever she plays that song.
Twenty Four Hours a Day - Her first performance in a concert.
On the Sunny Side Of The Street - An instrumental version, with lots of Andrea's improvisation on the alto sax (so much improvisation that I didn't recognise the song and had to ask Joan what song it was to put the title on Youtube).
Lullaby of Birdland - I personally love how she sings this song! A highlight from that concert definately.

The pics from The Backbeat Messenger's performances at the Weekend Movie Makers Festival. I did record two songs on video, but as the band members weren't too happy about their own performances, I haven't made them public.

That was on the 30th of april... And the following Wednesday, I went again to another concert by Andrea, this one was one that I've been waiting for since the first one, two month ago. It was at a rather iconic Jazz Club in Barcelona, the Jamboree Jazz Club, and the concert was a tribute to Billie Holiday. I managed to get 5 of my friends to go with me to this concert and, having bought the tickets mthe first day they were made available, we were all in first row... It was incredible, the most enjoyable Andrea concert so far, she seemed to have a special inspiration that night, and gave really stunning performances. For this one, she was accompanied by a bunch of really great musicians: Joan Chamorro this time only played his favourite instrument, the Tenor sax, along with the blind piano maestro Ignasi Terraza, David Mengual on the double bass and Esteve Pi on the drums. I will remember this concert for the rest of my life and every song was brilliant, but to mention a couple, she made a lovely rendition of Cheek to Cheek (video not recorded by me) and also I got the final encore dedicated to me, a stunning rendition of All of Me, which made up one of the greatast moments in my life. On that concert I didn't take any pics nor videos, because on the website it said that it wasn't allowed, and even if I found out that those rules were very relaxed, I preferred to enjopy that special night without worrying about my camera. However, after the concert ,me and my friends had a couple of pictures taken with Andrea. Oh, and as it was going to be her birthday this Monday, I gave her a bucket of flowers, which she really appreciated. Here are the two pics.





Michal

[Joe]

Hi Michal,

Wow...what a great post...have you come down from your cloud yet i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Thanks so much for sharing your report and great photos! Andrea is so gifted and deserves all we can give back to her.

All my best wishes,
Joe

[mihizawi]

Thanks Joe, I'll transmit your kind words to her, I am sure she'll apreciate it. Actually, I find it both cute and a little funny that when she gets enthusiastic compliments about her music, not only she humbly thanks, but even seems surprised by the fact she has fans. She is such a lovely young girl, and I am very thankful she treets me rather as a friend!

Tomorrow, I'll post a report and my material of the great trip I shared with the Sant Andreu Jazz Band... By the way, may I ask the mods to change the title of the thread to "Andrea Motis and the Sant Andreu Jazz Band"... I think it is more suitable, and more respectful for the other members of the band.

Michal

[mihizawi]

Well, here I go again, this afternoon next concert, so I will review the one I went to last sunday.

First, I must say it was a very special ocasion, I was very privileged, because I had the chance to travel in the same bus and be with the Sant Andreu Jazz Band through through all the trip that lasted through all the afternoon and evening. The concert was in a town called Calaf, in central Catalonia, some 60km from Barcelona. I have good friends from sailing that I haven't seen in almost one year, so I thought I'd try to go, enjoy the concert and meet my friends there. However, noone could drive me there, and Joan was kind enough to offer me to go in the bus they boioked for the band members and their familiy. I still can't believe I had that honor.

Well, the trup was very, very enjoyable, in such a nice company. Carla, Andrea's sister had the guitar and the ukelele with her in the bus, and all the way to Calaf she and a few other members kept singing and rehearsing songs It was a great atmosphere..And the rest of the band was so nice too. When we arrived to the venue, I was with the band, chatting and taking pics, while they were getting everything ready and, of course, through all the soundcheck. And also my frieds came and one of them stayed through the concert.

As for the concert itself, there were many of the band members missing, I guess because they couldn't make it or couldn't arrange to make the trip. Andrea was not there either, she arrived Friday night from her school trip to London, and on saturday she alrady had her own concert, so I guess Joan gave her a well-deserved break. So, the band was reduced from the standard big band format, with only 3 trumpets and 2 trombones (out of the usual 4 of each in a standard big band). And you could notice thhat, specially as the two most experienced trumpetists, Andrea and Pablo, were missing. But both Joan and the present band members made a big effort, and gave away a great and enjoyable concert. A special mention to the 6 year old trumpetist, Elsa, who usually plays only few songs, and this time had to play through almost all the concert, and she got away very well. Also, my admiration reaches a very high level when I think of Martin, the pianist, who had broken his leg and had an operation the previous wednesday, and yet played with great mastery with the leg immobilized, in a position that must have been very unconfortable.All together made a very enjoyable concert and the crowd, with a big amount of kids, really appreciated it. A highlight to me would be the surprise of seeing 9 year old Alba Armengou with the soprano sax on Petite Fleur )I knew her as an amazing trumpetist and also for her singing number, When You're Smiling, but WOW, a second instrument at such a young age is even more amazing).

As uusual, here is the material taken by me on that special occasion:

The pics from the Calaf concert and the trip. The ones not taken during the concert are maybe of much worse quality, but that's because I didn't use the tripod and my disability makes it difficult to take great pics without it. However, I also like the freedo of taking pics this way.

And here are the videos, this time they turned out worse than on previous ocasions, I am a bad camera man, but hope you enjoy the music:
Won't You Come Again Bill Bailey - With Joan Martí on the alto sax and Alba Armengou on the trumpet taking the lead.
Flight of the Foo Bird - A fast paced big band song, that I enjoy a lot.
All Too Soon - With Joan Martí and Eva Fernández as the alto sax soloists and solos by Carla Motis on the guitar and Marc Martín on the piano. This one is a total disaster when it comes to the recording, yet the performance I think makes it worth posting.
On the Sunny Side of the Street - Great performance, sung by Eva Fernández.
And finally, When You're Smiling, sung by this little star that Alba Armengou is, accompanied by Iscle Datzira on the tenor sax. For a 9 years old, Alba is a very good singer, with a sweet voice and without any sign of shyness.

Well, today, once again, I am heading towards a SAJB concert! Getting ready now!

Michal