The prolific and versatile Brazilian jazz vocalist Luciana Souza appears on the Jazz Masters Series at Western Michigan University's Dalton Center Recital Hall at 7:30 pm on Friday, Nov 21, performing her own works with the Western Jazz Collective, the WMU Jazz Orchestra, and Gold Company. Souza and music professors Andrew Rathbun and Greg Jasperse joined Cara Lieurance to talk about the event.
Souza reveals that her friendship with Rathbun goes back thirty years to their graduate student days at the New England Conservatory. The two musicians have collaborated extensively, including on Rathbun's "Atwood Suites," which features Souza's vocals set to poetry by Margaret Atwood.
Souza is a believer in the importance of original composition and creative expression in jazz education. One of the her longest-lasting influences was godfather and legendary Brazilian musician Hermeto Pascoal, who told her: "It's only music. Remember that the thing is to play."
The concert features both original compositions by Souza and other arrangements. Gold Company is ready to sing in Souza's native language: "Classical singers have to learn to sing in German and in Italian and in French and our [jazz voice] students, if they want to, their second language for jazz has to be Portuguese," says director Greg Jasperse.
Tickets are available through WMU's School of Music website.
This interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
