O Sister! Is a Tribute to the North American Popular Music from the 1920S and 30S, and in Particular, to the Golden Ages of “Dixie” and “Swing”

The New Jazz Age

O Sister! is a tribute to the North American popular music from the 1920s and 30s, and in particular, to the golden ages of “Dixie” and “Swing”. The Boswell Sisters, the band’s main artistic influence, were a ground- breaking female vocal jazz trio perhaps not as popular as they deserved to be, in spite of being imitated by many later vocal jazz groups and admired by artists as important as Ella Fitzgerald herself.

It was the surprisingly modern way, despite the years gone by, in which The Boswell Sisters approached the use of harmony, rhythm and vocal resources that encouraged singer Paula Padilla to start the project in 2007. Since then the band has focused mainly on two lines of work: researching a relatively unknown repertoire from the early stages of jazz, of great interest both for its melodic qualities and for its lyrics; and arranging with vocal harmonies the“standard” songs and classics from the Golden Age of Swing which cannot be found in three voice-part versions on recordings.

But none of this work would make sense without offering this music in live performance, the way it took place back in the 30s, in theatres, clubs, or even in the street. O Sister! updates that style and brings it to wider audiences, not only to the usual jazz connoisseur, recuperating an open, spontaneous, direct and fun way of understanding the musical experience; so necessary nowadays, when the social situation too easily reminds us of life during the famous Great Depression. The Singers Helena, Paula and Marcos have spent many years singing together in various vocal and choral ensembles. During this time they have developed a solid vocal technique and an ease for blending their voices. In both joint and individual projects they have tackled repertoires ranging from Early to Contemporary music, lyric, jazz, bossa or pop-rock music. The three currently also form part of Proyecto Ele, a voice and electronics ensemble exploring modern vocal and experimental music, with a long list of shows and performances.

Helena Amado Marcos Padilla Paula Padilla Soprano Tenor Alto Born in Seville, where she Born in Seville, Marcos studied Born in Seville and graduated in studied classical guitar and viola but finally his instrument Fine Arts, Paula sings and plays graduated in musical teaching. was the guitar . He has an the ukulele. For 7 years she was Helena combines a sweet and agile tenor voice with a wide the vocalist of “Solina”, a pop flexible soprano voice with a range and an ease for falsetto. group. Founding member of gift for comedy. She is currently His timbre adapts perfectly to O Sister!, she also does the vocal studying singing at the Madrid popular styles like jazz, blues arrangements and the graphic Conservatory Conservatory. and western-swing. designs for the group’s albums.

The Musicians

Matías Comino Pablo Cabra Camilo Bosso Guitar Drums Bass He was born in Buenos Aires Born in Madrid, Pablo moved Born in London (UK) Camilo (Argentina) but has lived in to Seville in 1982. A self-taught has lived in Madrid since 1978. Seville since 1990. Guitarist and drummer, his interest in various A bass player with both classical composer, he also teaches guitar, styles has given him flexibility, and modern training, he also modern harmony and jazz. He is technical dexterity and a natural plays keyboards. He has formed the main musical arranger for O talent for collective work. He part of classical, jazz, folk and Sister! and has lately specialised also plays with the rock-pop tango groups and is also a in the “manouche” guitar groups “Sr. Chinarro” and member of the group technique. “Maga”. “Las Buenas Noches”.

- 2 - The Albums On their records, the band has always wanted to be faithful to the way early jazz was captured. Thus, the recording process has always been carried out strictly live, with all musicians playing at the same time and in the same room, in the pure early style of recording. In doing so, O Sister! tries to catch in their albums the same freshness and spontaneity that they deliver in their concerts. The band has released three albums under the label Discóbolo: “Crazy People”, “Shout Sister!”, and “Spooky Sessions”; all of which were recorded and mixed at producer and musician Jordi Gil’s Sputnik studio in Seville.

On these albums, the ensemble has enjoyed the contributions of excellent musicians such as pianist Ángel Andrés Muñoz (a regular collaborator), clarinet player Juli Aymí, trumpet player Dani Cano or manouche guitarist Paul Laborda, among many others.

Spooky Sessions (2014) This EP captures some live performances carried out at the “Sputnik” studio, showing the ease of the group to connect with the audience. Conceived around a range of “sinister” topics, these sessions contain songs where humour and terror blend together. They include among other curiosities the track “Raska-yú”, the first song they record in Spanish. The closing track “Cryin’ Blues” also stands out, recorded in a way totally diffe- rent to the band’s regular procedures, this time with the elements on separate tracks, capturing a playful and somewhat histrionic rendering of one of the Boswell Sisters’ first compositions.

Shout Sister! (2012) The band’s second album shows a clear evolution in their sound and a refined work on harmonies and arrangements, adapting classics like “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, “Anything Goes” or the delicate “Dream a little Dream of Me” into very personal renderings with three voice part close-harmonies and incorporating new elements that define a style of their own.

Crazy People (2009) The first O Sister! album was recorded in the purest 1920’s way, using solely two twin microphones placed in the middle of the recording room to capture the sound of singers and musicians, all placed strategically around them. This CD offers a collection of Boswell Sisters songs and includes a very personal version of Duke Ellington’s classic “It Don’t Mean a Thing”. It also has rarities as the special appearances of a marching band on the song “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, and a string quartet on “Stardust”.

- 3 - The Critics “O Sister! Is one of this year’s big surprises. From what “O Sister!’s appearance at the Fex Festival in Granada happy star alignment may this idea have arisen? From was a great success. One hundred seats had to be added, where this project that started as a celebration of the and even this wasn’t enough, as still many, many people music and spirit of the Boswell Sisters? Paula and Marcos couldn’t get in (…) The group, formed by three magnifi- Padilla, together with Helena Amado and Matías Comi- cent singers and three no less superb musicians, re-creates no, manage to bring alive the vibrant ‘30s, the golden to perfection the genuine savour of the jazz from the 20’s age of jazz, as if it didn’t belong to the past, but to the and 30’s, with curious vocal procedures including vocal most unpredictable and exciting present day, the one they horn sound imitations, falsetto and other musical games”. write with their radiant music. Essential.” Eladio Mateos. Granada Hoy. Alberto Marina, writer and jazz critic. “O Sister! reaches far beyond what could be considered “The first time I saw them performing at the RNE Spanish a revival exercise. The Padilla siblings, Helena Amado National Radio Studios I was completely captivated, and Matías Comino relive, in fact, an old-time, beautiful and my opinion was corroborated at their concert last and good humoured vocal-jazz repertoire, centred in the night in Madrid, where we lived magical, wonderful 30s, but they deliver it with such a degree of perfection moments…” that they leave the audience first open-mouthed, then Juan de Pablos, radio announcer and director of devoted.” “Flor de Pasión” programme on RNE-3. Blas Fernández. Diario de Sevilla.

“...The best part, however, is not the repertoire itself, which “Their second album ‘Shout Sister!’ is an inspired lesson is obviously brilliant, but the exceptional performance le- in Jazz History, a journey through the styles that saw it vel that these Sevilians have built throughout their career grow and evolve. The group’s character is based on the onstage (…) Their measure of each rendering factor trans- three lead voices by the Padilla siblings and Helena Ama- mits a great talent and many, many hours of seeking do, who manage to design and render very polished vocal perfection (…) All six musicians and singers blended their arrangements, including all kinds of effects; not forget- crafts at the Café Central in Madrid reaching celestial ting the well blended rhythm section formed by Matías moments in which the harmonies fluttered through the Comino on guitar, Camilo Bosso on bass and Pablo Cabra applauses of a jolly audience who could enjoy a 2 hour on drums.” performance” Manuel Recio. Europa Press. Ignacio Serrano. ABC. The Boswell Connection During recent years, O Sister! has been in touch with close relatives of the New Orleans trio The Boswell Sisters as well as other people who knew them and strive to preserve their legacy. As a result of that rapport and in acknowledgement of O Sister!’s work in keeping the Boswell spirit alive, the band received an unexpec- ted surprise that embarked them upon one of the most rewarding challenges of their career.

In 2012 the Boswell Sisters’ heirs sent O Sister! the sheet music sketch of an unfinished and unrecorded piece by the Sisters with their permission and encouragement to bring it to life. Starting from just a fragment of melody and lyrics, O Sister! developed a song structure, composed a new section, and arranged the song for their own format.

The creative process of the song (titled “You-dle-ee-oo-de-oo”) is revealed in a mini-documentary and videoclip launched in February 2013, filmed by Gonzalo Posada during the recording sessions at Sputnik studio. It won enthusiastic acceptance among the relatives and friends of the Boswells.

From Seville to New Orleans In 2014, O Sister! had the honour of receiving a personal invitation from Vet Boswell’s granddaughter and family representative Kyla Titus, to join a series of very special Boswell Sisters tribute events celebrated in New Orleans that year, “The Year of the Boswell Sisters Revival”. The events end with a music festival held at “The Old U.S. Mint” in the Mississippi Delta Capital’s French Quarter, in which several vocal jazz groups from around the world play the Boswell Sisters songbook, O Sister! being the only European band to attend.

Through a crowdfunding campaign set up in the summer of 2014 the band manages to raise enough funds to fulfil this adventure in the city which was the cradle of jazz. Thanks to their fans’ support, they finally leap overseas to attend the event in the U.S.A.

Aside from participating in the Boswell event, O Sister! complete their trip to New Orleans with a gig in one of the city’s classic jazz clubs, the “Snug Harbor”.

- 5 - A Live History

- 48 noches, Cultura Abierta en la Unia. - XIV “Nights in the Royal Alcázar - V “Estrella Galicia 1906” Jazz Cycle Seville. September 2014 Gardens” Cycle (3 concerts). Seville, (4 concert tour) Galicia, March 2012 Summer 2013 - Festival Cançons de la Mediterrania. - IV “Swing Madrid” Festival (dance Castell de Bellver, Palma de Mallorca. - “Summer in the Santa Catalina festival). March 2012 August 2014 Castle” Cycle. Cádiz, August 2013 - “Caja Burgos” Jazz Cycle. (3 concerts) - Tribute to the Boswell Sisters. Clamores - I “Sevilla Swing!” Festival. April 2013 February-May 2011 jazz club, Madrid. August 2014 - IX “Ellas Crean” Women Artists - IX “Fundación Progreso y Cultura” - Festival Musicalismos. Sada. Festival. Clamores Concert Club. Festival ( part of the Madrid Jazz August 2014 Madrid, March 2013 Festival). Madrid, October 2011 - White Night of Culture. Aracena. - Extrordinary Concert with the - “AiE, Artistas en Ruta” Tour July 2014 “Clasijazz” Big Band. Maestro Padilla Programme, Galicia, Madrid and Auditorium, Almería. March 2013 Badajoz. November 2010 - Festival de Jazz de Godella. Valencia. July 2014 - 7 performance week at the Half Note - “Jazz Viene del Sur” Cycle. Teatro Jazz Club. Athens, Greece, Central, Seville, March 2010 - Daily performance week at Café December 2012 Central Concert Club. Madrid, - XII “Platja d’Aro Jazz Nights” Cycle. Summers 2014, 2013, 2012 & 2011 - Performances at Cánovas Theatre, Girona, August 2009 Málaga, and Alhambra Theatre, - Lindy Hop Concert at the Lloseta - “Mas i Mas” Festival 2009. Granada. December 2012 Theatre. Mallorca. May 2014 Jamboree Jazz Club, Barcelona - XXXIII Granada International Jazz - II Festival Sevillla Swing! April 2014 - “FEX 2010” Granada International Festival. November 2012 Music and Dance Festival - XXVII Málaga International Jazz - XIII “Nights in the Royal Alcázar Festival. November 2013 - “Circuito Andaluz de Música”, tours in Gardens” Cycle (4 concerts). Seville, Andalusian cities, 2010, 2011, 2012 - XXII “Jazz en la Provincia” Festival, Summer 2012 Seville. November 2013 - III “Mijas Jazz” Festival 2011, Málaga - VI “Universijazz” Festival. Alcalá de - XV Menorca Jazz Festival. Cuitadella, Henares, Madrid, July 2012 - Jazz Sessions 2010 (Jazz Festival Menorca. October 2013 organised by the Seville University) - XV “Platja d’Aro Jazz Nights” Cycle. - “Swinging Sundays” at Jamboree Jazz Girona, July 2012 - “Almería Cultural Festival”, 2009 Club. Barcelona. October 2013 - “Shake That Thing!” Lindy Hop - Cádiz Theatre Circuit, 2010 - III “Cita con las Músicas” Cycle, Nights. Concerts at the Nova Jazz - XIX “Jazz en la Provincia” Cajasol Foundation. Seville, Cava Club,Terrassa and Suite dance International Jazz Festival. October 2013 hall, Barcelona. July 2012 Seville, 2009 - Daily performance week at Café - IX “Encontro de Culturas” Festival, - I “Apolo y Baco”Cultural Encounter. Central Concert Club. Madrid, Serpa, Portugal. June 2012 Seville, 2009 Summers 2013, 2012 & 2011 - “La Playa del Pósito” Open Air - Numerous concerts in theatres and - II Monachil Swing Festival. Granada, Festival. Jaén. Summer 2012 jazz clubs in Madrid, Bilbao, Seville, July 2013 Granada, Almería, Mallorca, etc. The Shows Their staging, theatrical sense and rapport with the audience, together with the quality and spontaneity of their live performances are more than enough motives to understand why O Sister! is a band to enjoy in concert. These elements have been the base of the band’s success in Spain’s main swing circuits during the last years, and have more recently aroused interest abroad.

Since their first small format performance in the summer of 2008, the group has taken part in many musical and cultural events throughout the Spanish territory, also travelling to Portugal and Greece. Over the years O Sister! has won a place in the regular programming of emblematic Spanish jazz clubs such as Café Central or Sala Clamores in Madrid, or Jamboree in Barcelona.

Aside from this performing activity in jazz clubs, the sextet prove their versatility in theatres where the staging element of their shows gains importance. Examples of this are their shows “From Dixie to Broadway”, for their 2nd album, and “An Illustrated Concert”, in which the creative process of artists Jose Luis Ágreda and Pedro Alpera is projected on large onstage screens as they illustrate the songs while O Sister! performs them.

The Broadcast

O Sister! has performed live on several programmes on Spanish National Radio (RNE) such as: “Melodias Pizarras (Radio3), “Carne Cruda (Radio 3), “En Días Como Hoy” (RNE1), “Flor de Pasión” (Radio3), “Mundo Ba- bel” (Radio3), “El Día Menos Pensado” (RNE1), “Hoy Empieza Todo” (Radio3), “En la Nube” (Radio3), or “Me Lo Dices o Me Lo Cantas” (Radio Exterior). O Sister! has also appeared on TV programmes such as “Miradas 2” (La 2), TVE Territorial Information Services (La 1) or on Canal Sur programmes “Las 1001 Noches” and “Al Sur”.

- 7 - Links: Web: www.osister.es Audio on-line: http://osister.bandcamp.com/ Vídeos: http://vimeo.com/user790471 / http://www.youtube.com/yowzajazz Fotos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/osister Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/osister Twitter: http://twitter.com/osisterjazz

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