Product Description

In 2007, San Francisco-based singer Kat Parra had a very impressive recording debut with Birds in Flight, which included a wide variety of Latin material including salsa, sambas, Afro-Cuban jazz, Afro-Peruvian music, flamenco, and music that was beyond classification. On Azucar de Amor, she sticks more to Afro-Cuban music and salsa, mostly singing in Spanish. Her voice is strong, beautiful, and flexible, and she sounds equally at home in jazz and salsa. Parra improvises well on some pieces, doing a fine job with a Spanish version of "Sugar," "Misty" (which is in English) and "A Night in Tunisia," but also sounds like one of the top salsa singers on the scene on "Quitate La Queta." Trombonist Wayne Wallace produced the date and such strong instrumentalists as the great trumpeter Ray Vega, flutist John Calloway, violinist Anthony Blea, and a percussion section propelled by John Santos, Michael Spiro, and drummer Paul VanWageningen keep the music quite stirring. But no one is more stirring on this set than Kat Parra, who has quickly emerged to be a force to be reckoned with. Highly recommended. All Music Guide, Scott Yanow

Track Listing

1. Sugar (Azucar De Amor)
2. Por La Tu Puerta
3. Quítate La Queta
4. Canción Con Todos
5. Misty
6. Un Grito
7. Pedacito De Mi Vida
8. A Night in Tunisia
9. Esta Montanya D'enfrente
10. Feed My Desire

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #270127 in Music
• Brand: Kat
• Released on: 2008-03-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .15 pounds

Review
Vocalist Kat Parra indulges her passion for Latin jazz on "Azucar de Amor" her second release for Patois Records. She opens the disc with a sweet bit of salsa/ mambo, "Sugar (Azucar de Amor)," that sets the tone for what proves to be a moveable feast of Latin styles. Parra knows how to light the fuse on a salsa number, and she shows us how it's done on the original tune "Quítate la Queta." In a completely different mood, Parra delivers a stirring interpretation of "Esta Montanya D'Enfrente," a mystic Sephardic ballad. Her vocal on this number is beautifully shaped; her grasp of this archaic Judeo-Spanish style is remarkable. Parra also shines on "Un Grito," a song she wrote with Wayne Wallace in the Afro-Peruvian landó style. It's yet another stylistic groove that she handles with an uncanny feel. Philip Van Vleck --Billboard Magazine

Review
Building on the strength of last year s debut disc, Birds in Flight, Californian Kat Parra continues her role as an exceptional world-music ambassador with 10 more cross-cultural, multilingual tracks. What began, says Parra, as an exploration of life experience, emerged as an album about hope and, by extension, music s role as a universally uniting force. Wisely aligning herself again with trombonist Wayne Wallace, who produced Azucar de Amor and wrote or co-wrote eight of the ten arrangements, Parra opens with a lively mambo/salsa reinterpretation of Stanley Turrentine's Sugar, adding her own Spanish lyrics. Self-penned Spanish lyrics also figure into a salsa-infused A Night in Tunisia that shifts midway from gorgeously dusky to boldly vivacious. The international tour continues with three tunes written by Parra and Wallace: the wild, whirling Quitate La Queta ; the sexily ebullient samba Feed My Desire ; and the urgently passionate Afro-Peruvian lando Un Grito. Finally, and most majestically, Parra furthers her fervor for Ladino Sephardic music, for which she recently received a Zellerbach grant, with the roiling, mysterious Por La Tu Puerta and the mellifluously ethereal Esta Montanya d Enfrente. by Chris Loudon --JazzTimes

Review
Here s a disc that puts your faith back into the future of jazz singing. Who d have predicted that a lady who left her computer job in Silicon Valley would put out a disc that vibrantly mixes latin sambas with Sephardic jazz? Vocalist Kat Parra is really on to something with this disc, putting a salsa groove on tunes ranging from Stanley Turrentine s Sugar to Errol Garner s Misty , and making the whole thing work. Her voice, rich confident and inviting, enthusiastically floats over these toe tapping salsas. The Sephardic twinge is perfectly suited for Gillespie s Night in Tunisia giving it the Saharan lilt that it has always apparently needed. Traditional tunes like Por La Tu Puerta have an invigorating mix of Mediterranean charm and Lambert Hendricks and Ross linguistic gymnastics. This one s got my vote for one of the top albums of the year. Search far and wide for it, and thank God for computer geeks turned singers. by George W. Harris --JazzWeekly.com

Customer Reviews

Making Beautiful Music
Review of Azucar de Amor
Kat Parra, Vocalist

Kat Parra has a beautiful, pure voice, devoid of artifice, wonderfully strong and vibrant yet also delicate when necessary. On this CD, her singing is energetic yet sometimes sad -- as in "Esta Montanya D'Enfrente." Kat's love of and enthusiasm for this music is evident with every note she sings. She suppresses the artist's natural ego to allow the spirit of the music to shine through, and she truly allows "the spirits to speak through" her!

Inspirational Music
Kat Parra's CD Azucar de Amor has a wonderful variety of salsa, jazz, bolero and samba. Kat's voice brings calmness and tranquility to a hectic day. "Quitate la Queta" opened up my eyes to how others observe the job of an administrative assistant in a respectful, positive and enjoyable way. "Go Admin's"

Thank you Kat, for being such an inspiration to the music and working world of today.