Kavita Shah

Kavita Shah is a vocalist and composer from New York, NY. She has been hailed by NPR for possessing an “amazing dexterity with musical languages”.[1]

Kavita Shah
Kavita Shah
Background information
OriginNew York City, US
GenresJazz, Brazilian
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, arranger
InstrumentsVoice
LabelsNaïve, Inner Circle Music
Associated actsLionel Loueke, Sheila Jordan, Steve Newcomb Orchestra, Bau
Websitekavitashahmusic.com

Early years

Shah's family is of Gujarati origin, and her parents are originally from Mumbai, India.[2]

Raised in Manhattan, Shah began her musical training in classical piano at age 5. She spent her formative years performing regularly at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as a member of the prestigious Young People's Chorus of New York City, with whom she trained in styles ranging from opera to gospel to folk music in more than 20 languages.[3] She traces her commitment to jazz to the childhood influence of uptown saxophonist Patience Higgins, a former neighbor whose band she would later join at Harlem venues including like Minton's and the Lenox Lounge.[4]

Shah attended New York City public schools, and became fluent in Spanish at the age of 16 after living with a host family in Ecuador. She went on to major in Latin American Studies at Harvard College, where she also studied Yorùbá and became fluent in Portuguese and French. During her undergraduate years, Shah lived abroad in Perú, China, and Brazil, where she conducted fieldwork on Afro-Brazilian music and politics; her honors thesis "Experiments with Transnationalism: Constructing Diaspora in the bloco-afro Malê Debalê” was awarded the Kenneth D. Maxwell Thesis Prize in Brazilian Studies and the Cultural Agents Thesis Prize.[5] While at Harvard, she also received the Cecília Meireles Prize and the David McCord Prize.[6][7]

After college, Shah briefly worked at The Nation magazine and Human Rights Watch, before a chance meeting with NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan on the New York City Subway would steer her toward a career in music.[8] She earned a Master's in Jazz Voice from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Theo Bleckmann, Peter Eldridge, Steve Wilson, and Jim McNeely.[9]

Music

Shah has performed at venues and events including the Kennedy Center,[10] Art Basel: Miami,[11] Rochester Jazz Festival,[12] San Jose Jazz Festival,[13] Melbourne Jazz Festival,[14] Park Avenue Armory,[15] Blue Note,[16] Joe's Pub,[17] Blue Whale,[18] Vermont Jazz Center,[19] Philadelphia Museum of Art,[20] the Rubin Museum of Art,[21] and Copenhagen Jazz Festival.[22]

She has worked with Lionel Loueke, Sheila Jordan, Martial Solal, François Moutin, Greg Osby, Steve Wilson, Alune Wade (Senegal),[23] and Mulatu Astatke.[12][24][25][26]

She was named “Best Graduate Jazz Vocalist” by Downbeat in 2012 and won the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award in 2013.[27]

Shah's 2014 debut album, Visions, was produced by Benin-born jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke, and released on saxophonist Greg Osby's record label Inner Circle Music. "Visions" integrates a jazz quintet with the West African kora and Indian tabla, and includes special guests Loueke (guitar, vocals), Steve Wilson (saxophone, flute), and Rogerio Boccato (percussion).[28]

In 2017, Shah premiered the contemporary work "Folk Songs of Naboréa: a song-cycle for seven voices” at the Park Avenue Armory. The concert was named by NPR critic Nate Chinen as one of the Top 10 Performances of the year.[29]

In 2018, Shah released Interplay, a bass-and-voice duo album co-led by François Moutin, on Dot Time Records. The album features standards and originals, and includes improvisation; Moutin and Shah are joined on two tracks by pianist Martial Solal and vocalist Sheila Jordan.[30] The DownBeat review of the release commented on "Moutin's dark, reedy bass acting like a dance partner to Shah's pliant, flickering vocals, which retain a tonal richness even through passages of extreme agility."[31] Jazz Times also described the album as "a stellar rapport" between the duo who "are fearless in their interpretations".[32]

Discography

As leader
  • Kavita Shah, Visions (Inner Circle Music, 2014), co-produced by Lionel Loueke.[33][34]

As co-leader

As sideperson
  • Miho Hazama m-unit, Dancer in Nowhere (Universal Japan, 2018).[36]
  • Jay Sand, All Around this World: South and Central Asia Vol. 1, produced by Samir Chatterjee (2015).[37]
  • Fredy Guzmán, Waijazz, produced by Lionel Loueke (2015).[38]
  • Steve Newcomb Orchestra, Caterpillar Chronicles (Listen Hear, 2012).[39][40]

References
  1. "'Global Village' Presents New Collaborations In Latin Music". August 9, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. http://theindianeye.net/indian-americans-win-herb-alpert-jazz-award/
  3. "New York-based jazz singer gives a refreshing twist to classics". The Indian Express. June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  4. Laskey, Kevin (June 23, 2015). "Community, Diaspora, Song: Kavita Shah Speaks". jazzspeaks.org.
  5. "DRCLAS awards certificates, names thesis prize winners". news.harvard.edu. The Harvard Gazette. June 23, 2007.
  6. "Faculty of Arts and Sciences 2006-2007 Student Prize Recipients" (PDF). Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 23, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Winter Jazzfest Gilded with Guitarists and Vocalists". downbeat.com. Down Beat.
  9. "Visas and Visions". Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  10. "Kavita Shah". The Kennedy Center. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  11. "New Music USA". Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  12. "Kavita Shah". Inner Circle Music. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  13. "Kavita Shah". San Jose Jazz. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  14. "Kavita Shah Quartet". Steve Newcomb. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  15. "Park Avenue Armory Programs". Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  16. "Kavita Shah". The Blue Note. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  17. "François Moutin & Kavita Shah Duo: Interplay Album Release". Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  18. "Kavita Shah". Blue Whale Music. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  19. "Emerging Artist Series - Kavita Shah Quintet".
  20. "Friday Nights: Kavita Shah".
  21. "Kavita Shah-Jazz at the Rubin". rubinmuseum.org. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  22. "Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2018". Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  23. "ALUNE WADE, KAVITA SHAH TO PERK UP SAFARICOM JAZZ LOUNGE ON NOVEMBER 4TH 2017".
  24. "Kavita Shah Music-About". Kavita Shah Music. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  25. "Kavita Shah — Visions (September 15, 2014) New discovery for Tais Awards team". www.taisawards.com (in Czech). Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  26. "Artists Studio: Dominique Eade and Ran Blake with Kavita Shah".
  27. "ASCAP Adds Four Music Greats to Jazz Wall of Fame". Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  28. Jazz, All About. "Jazz news: Vocalist/Composer Kavita Shah To Celebrate Release Of Debut Album, "Visions" - Tuesday, May 27 At Joe's Pub". All About Jazz News. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  29. "The Year in Gigs: Nate Chinen's Top 10 Jazz Performances Of 2017". npr.org.
  30. "Dot Time Records Announce "Interplay," An Exciting New Album From The François Moutin/Kavita Shah Duo". Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  31. Zimmerman, Brian (May 2018). "François Moutin & Kavita Shah Duo: Interplay". DownBeat. p. 60.
  32. "François Moutin & Kavita Shah Duo: Interplay (Dot Time)". jazztimes.com.
  33. "Vocalist/Composer Kavita Shah To Celebrate Release Of Debut Album, "Visions" - Tuesday, May 27 At Joe's Pub". May 17, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  34. "Kavita Shah: Visions". Allmusic.com.
  35. "Dot Time Records Announce "Interplay," An Exciting New Album From The François Moutin/Kavita Shah Duo". Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  36. "Dancer in Nowhere, el tercer álbum de Miho Hazama". December 12, 2018.
  37. "All Around This World Update". Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  38. "waijazz". Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  39. "Caterpillar Chronicles (Steve Newcomb Orchestra)". The Australian.com.
  40. "Kavita Shah: "Listening to my music is like visiting 10 places at once"". Australian Jazz.net.
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