Watch: Sofía Rei – "La Gallera"

"As the Argentine singer Sofía Rei led her multinational band," remarks Phil Lutz in The New York Times, "the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South American rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts."Growing up in Argentina, Sofía moved to the United States after completing her undergraduate studies at the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires.  Since earning her Master's degree at the New England Conservatory, she has worked with Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, John Zorn, Guillermo Klein, Lionel Loueke, Geoffrey Keezer, and many others.Sofía has released two critically acclaimed albums. Her debut release, Ojalá, which features compositions in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, was selected as on of the Top 10 Albums of 2006 by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA). In 2010, Sofía followed with her sophmore effort, Sube Azul (World Village/Harmonia Mundi), which distills insights gained through performing progressive jazz into those gleaned through her upbringing in the "folkloric traditions of Argentina and its regional neighbors (Peru, Colombia, Uruguay)." The album was recognized with an Independent Music Award in the World Beat category.In addition to her busy performance schedule, Sofía also teaches at Berklee College of Music. She recently taught Conan O'Brien how to drink Mate.Sofía has been performing at The Gallery as a leader since 2008, and was one of the vocalists we commissioned in our 2009-10 "New Voices" series. We look forward to presenting her quartet, which is comprised of the guitarist Eric Kurimski, the bassist Jorge Roeder, and the percussionist Yayo Serka, this Friday night.Watch Sofía performing "La Gallera" at Lincoln Center Out of Doors: