- country:United Kingdom
- style(s):Brazilian, Pop
- artist posted by:Meira Shore Positive Management
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Tina Grace
“2 AND 2 IS APRIL”
Fellini.Truffaut.Visconti: these film directors may
sound like an unusual source of inspiration for a
singer-songwriter, but Tina’s family would regularly
take her to see European cinema from a young age,
and it was these early experiences that shaped her
imagination.
At 18, Tina dropped out of film school and ran
away to join a circus in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Training in
acrobatics, contortionism and aerial skills, she soon
formed a circus troupe that toured Rio and
northeast Brazil, whilst teaching street kids circus
skills along the way. These experiences had a
lasting impact on her.
Tina settled in Barcelona, working as an actress in
film and TV; she joined successful
Catalan physical theatre group La Claca; whose
collaborations include, surrealist painter Joan Miro.
During this time, Tina discovered her hidden
interest in song, and spent two years training with
an opera singer.
On returning to London to pursue her passion for
song writing (early collaborators included Moby,
Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins, Badmarsh
and Shri, and Stanton Warriors, and a vocal
performance on Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai album),
Tina forged a 5-year working relationship with
artist Nitin Sawhney. Writing, recording, and touring
extensively with Sawhney enabled Tina to develop
her own inimitable musical style, gaining invaluable
exposure to an infinite palette of musical
influences.
Her aptitude for foreign languages (Tina sings and
speaks in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French
fluently) has also enhanced her unique recording
qualities, rooted in emotive lyrics and Latin
rhythms. Tina is now completing her debut album,
“2 and 2 is April,” written and recorded in Rio,
Reykjavik, Barcelona and London, and co-produced
by Valgier Sigurdsson and Sawhney.
In search of Brazilian heat, passion and romance,
Tina travelled to Rio in 2004, where she recorded
with world-class string maestro Roger Henri and
his impressive 17-piece string orchestra. Restless,
and inspired, Tina then travelled to Reykjavik,
where she wrote and recorded at the studio of
Icelandic programmer Valgeir Sigurdsson (whose
credits include Bjork, Sigur Ros, and Mum).
Intrigued by the contradiction between the
country’s icy landscapes and the warmth of its
people, Tina set about capturing this through
tender and intimate song writing, further enhancing
the album’s filmic qualities.
During her stays in Brazil and Iceland, she
collaborated with British filmmaker Shona
Hamilton and co-founder of Nos Do Cinema (partly
created by City Of God director
Fernando Meirelles), Julio Siqueira. They compiled a
short film to accompany Tina’s songs, telling the
story of Paloma, a five-year-old street kid. The film
depicts her struggle to survive the streets of Rio
and of her ability to escape her surroundings by
disappearing into an imaginary world - the images
of Iceland representing her fantasy landscape.
Tina’s songs speak Paloma’s thoughts.
Bringing the worlds of song and film together has
been one of the main objectives of this album. With
sultry strings, ice-cool pop and Spanish Rhumba
rhythms, Tina has created a style and world of her
own....
TINA GRACE LIVE PERFORMANCE CV;
LEAD SINGER WITH BADMARSH SHRI 1997-1999;
• BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL 1997
• EXTENSIVE TOURING OF EUROPE
• HEADLINERS AT CBGB'S - NEW YORK (TOMMY BOY
RECORDS)
• USA AND CANADA
TOURING WITH NITIN SAWHNEY 2000-2005
• EXTENSISVE WORLDWIDE TOURS including USA,
AUSTRALIA, JAPAN
• EXTENSIVE EUROPEAN TOURS
• EUROPEAN/UKTOUR SUPPORT WITH STING; 2001
Including ONE WEEKAT ALBERT HALL -
LONDON and HYDE PARK
• EXTENSIVE UK TOURS INCLUDING FESTIVALS
• GLASTONBURY, WOMAD
• REGENTS PARK (HEADLINE)
• TRAFALGAR SQUARE, KENWOOD HOUSE,
MARBLEHILL PARK (HEADLINE)
• BRITTEN SYMPHONIA;
• SOLO VOCALIST WITH NITIN SAWHNEY
COMPOSITIONS LIVE AT;
• ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL AND UK CONCERT HALLS
• FUTURE TOUR DATES 2006 WITH NITIN SAWHNEY;
• TOUR OF MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT TO FILM
"throw of dice" with LONDON SYMPHONY
ORCHSTRA including BARBICAN, LONDON
TINA GRACE WRITERS CREDITS
Tina has written with many artists including:
Moby
Stanton Warriors
Cocteau Twins
Cirque du Soleil
Spek
Nitin Sawhney
Badmarsh Shri.