PERFORMANCE: Daily Post Los Alamos5/24/2019 MAY 24, 2019 "St. John's College Summer Concerts Begin June 12" By Carol A. Clark  Wednesday, June 26 Magela Herrera Flutist Magela Herrera is a leading light of Havana's jazz and popular music community. With influences that span Europe, West Africa, and her home country of Cuba, Magela has grown her musical skill set to include piano, vocals, and composing/arranging. In 2010, Jazz Corner magazine nominated her improvisation on Mezcla’s CD “I'll See You in Cuba” for best flute solo in Latin jazz.  ARTICLE: Latino Magazine5/1/2019 SPRING 2019 ISSUE "Grammy Gold" By Mark Holston "An example of uncommon talent who to date has only viewed the Grammys from a distance, Cuba-born, Florida-based flautist Magela Herrera proves on her debut album, Explicaciones (Brontosaurus Records), that her time in the Grammy spotlight can’t be too far off. Loaded with classical, pop, jazz and Latin influences, the young instrumentalist and composer will quickly charm even the most jaded listener. Working with an ensemble of Miami-based musicians, the session is a bold blend of rhythmic intensity and concert hall virtuosity. And, she sings, boasting a sexy voice and fluid, emotive style on a touching remake of “Bésame Mucho.” A standout take that displays the ensemble’s many talents is “Danzón Para Papá” – a frisky update on the stately Cuban rhythm. There’s much to relish in what Herrera and her crew deliver on this 8-track set."  INTERVIEW: Downbeat Magazine3/15/2019 MARCH 15, 2019 "Magela Hererra Finds Influence in Nordic Landscape" By Catalina Marla Johnson Downbeat Magazine describes how Magela's musical tastes were influenced by Norway, and how she has developed her craft over the years.   REVIEW: WRTI2/4/2019 FEBRUARY 4, 2019 "Jazz Album of the Week: Magela Herrera Shines Vocally AND Instrumentally in Debut, Explicaciones" By Matt Silver There are great instrumentalists who are adequate vocalists and terrific singers who can play a few notes, but it’s rare to find an artist who does both—play and sing—with virtuosity. Cuban-born flutist and vocalist, Magela Herrera, is one of these musical unicorns. In her debut album as a leading lady, Explicaciones, Herrera lets her versatile musicianship do all the necessary explanation. When you listen to the album, you’ll notice that Herrera’s dual talents do not exist in isolation from each other; they profitably co-exist and inform one another. It’s because she sings so well that she’s able to phrase so nicely and cleanly on flute. Similarly remarkable is Herrera’s ability to simultaneously blend mastery of traditional Cuban and Latin American forms with a penchant for decidedly contemporary arrangements, characterized in no small part by alternating and complex time signatures. For this, see, most notably, her fresh reconstruction of perhaps the most recorded of the traditional boleros, “Besame Mucho.” Her treatment of the traditional Cuban danzón in “Danzón Para Papá” is similarly faithful yet innovative, with masterful piano playing by Tal Cohen that conjures the energetic and Latin-infused style of Bobby Enriquez. Herrera signs off with an R&B-infused take on “My One and Only Love,” capturing the inherent plaintive, almost desperate, yearning that you’ll find in the best renditions of the Guy Wood standard. We will miss Ms. Herrera until a next time that seems much too far away.  REVIEW: Music Man Blog2/1/2019 FEBRUARY 1, 2019 "CD Review: Magela Herrera "Explicaciones" By Music Man Blog  REVIEW: Latin Jazz Network1/31/2019 JANUARY 31, 2019 "Magela Herrera: Explicaciones" By Raul Da Gama Raul Da Gama praises Magela's album 'Explicaciones' for it's blend of her unique take on familiar tunes and beautifully written original pieces.   REVIEW: Solar Latin Club1/24/2019 "La vocalista, flautista y compositora cubana Magela Herrera debuta con Explicaciones para el sello Brontosaurus Records. Con un amplio bagaje tanto en el Jazz, como en Latin Jazz y la tradición afro-cubana, la habanera propone un discurso musical de un virtuosismo fascinante. Actualmente radicada en Miami, Magela paso una temporada en Noruega, país donde adquirió un master en el Norwegian Academy Of Music. Herrera integro el ensamble Mezcla entre el 2004 y el 2011, un octeto liderado por Pablo Menéndez. Con el mismo Menéndez grabo para el sello Zoho el disco I´ll See You In Cuba en el 2010. Ademas de compartir tarima como reconocidos músicos como Chucho Valdés, Roberto Garcia, Ruy Lopez Nussa (Cuba), Barbara Dane (USA), Jan Eggum(Norway), Sverre Indris Joner y su grupo Hovedøen Social Club (Noruega), Alejandro Vargas (Cuba), Sanskriti Shrestha(Nepal). En Explicaciones, disco grabado totalmente en Miami, Magela es secundada por un grupo de músicos de primer nivel asentados en el area de Miami. Aqui presenta 8 números: 5 de su propia autoria y 3 covers (Bésame Mucho, Que Te Pedi y My One And Only Love). En Two Sidewalks se tienden puentes entre dos mundos que impregnaron la música de la flautista: el jazz noruego y el funk de Miami. El numero que le da titulo al album destaca a la propia Magela en la parte vocal. El clásico Besame Mucho de Consuelo Velazquez es re-interpretado con una base de guaguanco y la destacada actuación de Tal Cohen en el piano. En Danzón Para Papa Magela se encarga de un fenomenal solo de flauta."  REVIEW: The Art Music Lounge1/17/2019 JANUARY 17, 2019 "Jazz Flutist Magela Herrera's Great Debut Disk" By Lynn Rene Bayley   Archives
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