CATARINA DOS SANTOS

line up

• Catarina dos Santos (drums, voice)

• country:
  Portugal
• region:
  Lisboa
• style(s):
  Afro World
• label:
  Mar Creation, Inc US
• type:
  Solist, Composer/Songwriter
• gender:
  female
• instrumentation:
  instrumental, vocal
• artist submitted by:
  P.Latina

Catarina dos Santos Biography



Catarina dos Santos was born in Barreiro, Portugal. Since a young child she was exposed to music, singing in choirs or living close to Portuguese and African traditional music. She had guitar lessons when a child, and also ballet lessons for six years. Her hometown's Mayor Office (Moita) published some of her poetry in a book called "Poetas da Nossa Terra".
While in high school she studies at Lisbon's Society of Fine Arts. From 1996 a 2003 she completes her "Licenciatura" Degree in Painting from the University of Fine Arts, Lisbon, and exhibits some of her Ceramics Works and Drawings, winning several prizes. From 1997 to 1999 she performs with her first band, "Edworld", a fusion of jazz and pop music, all original music. From 1999 to 2003 she studies at Lisbon's Conservatory of Music, has private voice lessons with Professor Cristina de Castro, and does her studies in Jazz Performance at the Jazz School Luis Villas-Boas. She is invited to teach Improvisation, Individual Voice Lessons, and co-conducting of the Vocal Ensemble from 2002 to 2003, at the same school. At this time she performs as a Jazz singer, from her duo to Hot Club Big Band, and she is chosen to represent the school at Sao Luis Jazz Festival, in Lisbon, in 2003. It's also from 2002 to 2003 that she travels the country with her jazz band. In parallel with jazz, Catarina studies and sings Angolan Music, and Portuguese traditional music, with the band At-Tambur.

Catarina moves to New York in 2003, where she completes a BFA in Jazz Performance at The City College of New York, graduating Suma Cum Laude. She is a Kaye Scholar from 2004 to 2006, and wins several scholarships from the Music Department of the City College for her musicianship. She studies with John Patittuci, Sheila Jordan, Neil Clark, Paquito de Rivera, Ed Simmons, Ben Street, Jim Black, Cyro Baptista, Luciana Souza, Duduka da Fonseca. She studies percussion with Ze Mauricio (NY Choro Ensemble), Cafe (Djavan). In 2006 she studies Orchestration at the Juilliard School, and performs with the Juilliard Choral Union in important venues such as Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center.

Her experience as a musician in New York goes from jazz to Brazilian music, and also Puerto-Rican and Cuban music. Between 2005 and 2007 she is the lead vocalist of Nation Beat, a band that plays a blend of North Eastern Brazilian rhythms such as Maracatu, Coco, Baiao, with the New Orleans Second Line, and funk. It's with Nation Beat that Catarina travels to Brazil in 2006 to record the band's debut cd, "Maracatuniversal", in collaboration with the Maracatu Nation Estrela Brilhante, and also New York based musicians, like Frank London (The Klezmatics), and Rob Curto (Lila Downs). In this band she works as an arranger, lyricist, and percussionist, and it's one of the tracks that Catarina co-writes with the band leader, Scott Kettner, "Old Wooden Chair", that wins first place in World Music in Rolling Stone Brazil. With Nation Beat she travelled the U.S.A., and plays in great New York venues such as Blue Note, Joes Pub, Makor, The Stone (John Zorn), Barbes, SOB'S, Drom, etc. in February of 2007 she performs at Festival Porto Musical, in Recife, and at Festival Nova Consciencia, in Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil. It's in Recife that Catarina builds bridges of friendship and music work with important traditional music Masters such as Dona Duda Cirandeira, Mestre Nana (Samba Galeria do Ritmo), Dona Aurinha do Coco, Mestre Salustiano (Casa da Rabeca), Cila do Coco, Siba Veloso (Siba e a Fuloresta, Mestre Ambrosio), Jorge Martins (School of Percussion and NGO Corpos Percussivos).

Other collaborations in New York include work with vocals and percussion with Maracatu NY, Montego Joe, Carol Lester and the World Women, Arthur Dutra and Timbatu, Cuban pianist and flutist Oriente Lopez (Gonzalo Rubalcaba), Juan Usera and La Tribu, and Los Pleneros de la 21 (Puerto Rican traditional music), Eduardo Nazarian and Quizomba, Billy Newman and Brazilian Acoustic Ensemble, and she is a soloist at Pregones Theatre Music Ensemble, directed by Desmar Guevara. In Lisbon she works regularly with Miroca Paris (Cesaria Evora), Jon Luz, Paulo Temeroso, Marco Santos, with her own band and her side Project, Tambor de Tres, with Mick Trovoada (Angola) e Oswaldo Santos (Grupo Tempo, Sao Tome). In her debut cd, "No Balanco do Mar", she is the composer and lead vocalist, in a blend of Portuguese, North East Brazilian, Cape Verdean and Angolan rhythms. In 2009 she does the CD Release in New York, and in Lisbon, and she is invited to perform at Festival CCB Fora de Si, alongside with

Catarina works as a Teaching Artist for Young Audiences NY, Third Street Music School Settlement, and The Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, teaching Vocal Instruction (Individual and Ensembles), Percussion, Composition, Afro-Brazilian Percussion, and for Bergen Academy of Music, as Vocal Instructor. Most of work is based in NY Public Schools, mainly in the poor neighbourhoods. She also works with Syracuse University (NY) and University of Florida.

Links

• Myspace