Rebecca Kleinmann is an acclaimed flutist, singer, and composer with a twenty year professional career marked by diversity and improvisation. In the words of Latin Grammy Nominated pianist and composer, Jovino Santos Neto, Rebecca plays flute with the passion of a flamenco dancer. An explorer at heart, she rockets and flows between genres, one day leading The Rebecca Kleinmann Jazz Quartet with pianist Alex Conde, bassist Gary Brown, and drummer Marlon Aldana, the next day performing with a Brazilian Choro ensemble, and then later at night jamming in flamenco juergas. Rebeccas international career has taken her to perform on stages in Argentina, Brazil, Europe and Australia including Melbournes International Women in Jazz Festival, as well as being featured at the SF Jazz Center, the San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshis San Francisco, and the Paramount Theatre closer to her Oakland home. She has performed and recorded with great musicians including Carlos Oliveira, Lionel Loueke, SK Kakraba, Rob Curto, Airto Moriera, Fabiano Nascimento, and Kina Mendez and worked with world-class dancers including Clara Rodriquez, Melissa Cruz, and Rosangela Silvestre. She also freelances, records on soundtracks and plays and sings with Dona Francisca Forró Band, La Dee Da Indie Band, Heard Music, and the Taylor Anointed Praise Choir. In the words of master Jazz Pianist Benny Green, Kleinmann is masterful and selfless in her ability and inclination of melding her sound with her environment....
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Rebecca Kleinmann is an acclaimed flutist, singer, and composer with a twenty year professional career marked by diversity and improvisation. In the words of Latin Grammy Nominated pianist and composer, Jovino Santos Neto, Rebecca plays flute with the passion of a flamenco dancer. An explorer at heart, she rockets and flows between genres, one day leading The Rebecca Kleinmann Jazz Quartet with pianist Alex Conde, bassist Gary Brown, and drummer Marlon Aldana, the next day performing with a Brazilian Choro ensemble, and then later at night jamming in flamenco juergas. Rebeccas international career has taken her to perform on stages in Argentina, Brazil, Europe and Australia including Melbournes International Women in Jazz Festival, as well as being featured at the SF Jazz Center, the San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshis San Francisco, and the Paramount Theatre closer to her Oakland home. She has performed and recorded with great musicians including Carlos Oliveira, Lionel Loueke, SK Kakraba, Rob Curto, Airto Moriera, Fabiano Nascimento, and Kina Mendez and worked with world-class dancers including Clara Rodriquez, Melissa Cruz, and Rosangela Silvestre. She also freelances, records on soundtracks and plays and sings with Dona Francisca Forró Band, La Dee Da Indie Band, Heard Music, and the Taylor Anointed Praise Choir. In the words of master Jazz Pianist Benny Green, Kleinmann is masterful and selfless in her ability and inclination of melding her sound with her environment.
Growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rebecca began improvising on flute in a Gospel Church while also playing in the citys Youth Symphony. In 2000, she won the National Flute Associations Jazz competition with the performance of an original composition. She studied with David Baker at the acclaimed Indiana University School of Music where she graduated with degrees in Jazz and Spanish then traveled extensively to immerse herself in the cultures of Flamenco, Tango and Brazilian Music. Rebecca produced her first album Raio de Sol in 2005 including co-written music with legendary musician Hermeto Pascoal, and performances by Grammy artists Airto Moreira and Jovino Santos Neto. In addition to being a performing and recording artist, Rebecca is a dedicated music teacher currently directing choirs with the Oakland Youth Chorus.
For this fabulous evening Rebecca will be focused on Brazilian Choro. Choro is best described in American terms as "the New Orleans jazz of Brazil." It is a complex popular musical form based on improvisation, and like New Orleans jazz, blues, or ragtime, grew from a formalized musical structure and many worldly influences. But to the people of South America, choro is Brazil. It is life.
The word choro in Portuguese literally means "to cry," which seems like an ironic name for music that is often so joyous and celebratory. Actually the term refers to the lilting or "weeping" qualities of the solo instrument, usually a flute or clarinet (Think of the way Benny Goodman could "wail"). This music, also called chorinho (this term refers to the individual pieces of music), came of age in the early 20th century in the cafés of Rio de Janeiro and other large cities in Brazil. The traditions that nurtured the choro in Rio in the late 1800s are pretty much the same ones that brought about the danzón in Cuba, the beguine in Martinique, and ragtime in the United States; countries were developing their own popular musics and began to mix elements from other cultures including European polka and African rhythms. As flutist Paula Robison explains, "... the choro tradition in Brazil is very much like the blues in America. In Brazil, choro was the combination of the African tradition mixed with the Portuguese; the beautiful singing lines of the Portuguese melody combined with the life-giving heartbeat of Africa."
Rebecca Kleinmann, flutes and vocals
Fernando Duarte, 7-string guitar
Ricardo Peixoto, guitar
Ami Molinelli, percussion
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