Carolina Calvache: "The Beauty of Each Country"

The pianist and composer-arranger Toshiko Akiyoshi describes the music of Carolina Calvache in one word: "Marvelous."Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, Carolina started formal training on the piano at the tender age of 6, courtesy of the local conservatory. Her early interests included salsa and Colombian traditional music, but she expanded her focus to include jazz at age 14 after hearing records by Miles Davis, Jerry Gonzales & The Fort Apache Band, Tito Puente, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett.After continuing her studies through college in Colombia, Carolina was awarded a scholarship to the Master's Degree Program at the University of North Texas. Soon thereafter, the pianist moved to New York, where she began working with the likes of John Benitez, Samuel Torres, Ludwig Afonso, and Jose Armando Gola. Carolina was showcased during the 2011 Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival, and recently recorded her debut album featuring the saxophonist Xavier Perez, the bassist Hans Glawischnig, the drummer Ludwig Afonso, and special guest saxophonist Jaleel Shaw. On the subject of the music and recording in New York, Carolina speaks:

It is a mix of all my roots, the countries that I feel part of, plus a special harmonic jazz sound. There is no other place [that could have] inspired [me] to produce an album like this than...NYC, where you can [experience,] through [the] people, the beauty of each country in the same place.

We look forward to presenting Carolina's group, featuring most of the same musicians as her forthcoming debut album, at The Gallery this Thursday as a part of our debut series.Learn more about Carolina's music and hear some samples by watching a video about her debut album on Kickstarter.