Saturday, February 06, 2010

NATASHA MILLER

A vocalista de jazz, compositora, guitarrista e pianista Natasha Miller, nasceu no 6 de fevereiro de 1971, em Des Moines, Iowa, e começou a sua carreira musical como violinista de música clássica trabalhando como condutora para uma sinfonica no Meio Oeste americano e com o seu conjunto de cordas "The Sapphire String Quatet".

Foi para a região de Sãp Francisco em 1995 e começou compondo e acompanhando a si mesma ao violão e piano em pequenos contratos. Movida pela paixão de cantar os clássicos do jazz pelo seu pai pianista, começou a se apresentar em eventos particulares, festas, festivais e concertos, aumentou a sua banda, mesclou as canções jazzisticas com as c suas composições pop/rock. Para se dedicar totalmente a musica, abandonou uma atividade de bom rendimento numa agencia de publicidade, trocou a casa confortavel por um apartamento menor e com sua pequena filha, resolveu enfrentar os novos desafios da carreira musical e até hoje não se arrependeu.

Em 2002 produziu o seu primeiro CD "Her Life" com composições proprias e, no final do mesmo ano, descolou seu primeiro album de jazz "Talk To Me Nice" marcado pela leitura de standards como "Peel me A Grape" "Makin' Whoopee, "Stompin at the Savoy" e a dramática "Good Morning Heartache".

Em 2003, Natasha achou o pote de ouro, depois de um entrevista em uma radio de jazz, promovendo uma apresentação, quando teve como ouvinte o grande compositor Bobby Sharp de "Unchain My Heart", feita famosa pelo genial Ray Charles. Sharp, encantado pela sua bela voz, enviou para Natasha algumas composições inéditas. Seis meses depois, ao apresentar as canções em um concerto de lotação esgotada, trouxe lágrimas para os olhos do veterano compositor, e também, levou a platéia ao delírio.

Natasha, gerencia a sua carreira através da sua produtora Entire Productions e continua se apresentando regularmente em diversos clubes situados na área de entretenimento noturno da cidade de São Francisco e por toda Costa Oeste americana.


Natasha Miller sings "Unchain my Heart"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1z1mUUDbtw
.

Jazz vocalist,guitarist and pianist Natasha Miller was born on February 6,1971 in Des Moines, Iowa, and began her musical career as a classical violinist, serving as a concertmaster for a symphony in the Midwest and founding her own string ensemble, "The Sapphire String Quartet."





She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995 and began composing and performing songs, accompanying herself on the guitar and piano. Charged with the passion for singing jazz standards with her pianist father, she began performing for private events, parties, and concerts and festivals, enlarging her band and mixing jazz tunes with her own pop/rock compositions.








She spent her days working in the advertising industry and her evenings cultivating her performing career.In 2001, Natasha was a single mother working as a media buyer in an ad agency, making a yearly salary in the high fives when she decided she should quit her job to pursue her musical dream. She left her comfortable 3-bedroom home and moved with her 8-year-old daughter to a small one-bedroom apartment—just in case she didn't make enough money that first year. Since then, she’s never looked back.





In the beginning, she often performed up to 5 times a week in the evenings and on weekends. In 2002, Natasha produced her first album—a collection of her own work called "Her Life", and later that year, her first jazz album, "Talk to Me Nice". In "Talk to Me Nice", she flirts with “Peel Me A Grape” and “Makin’ Whoopee,” swings through “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” and creates an intimate yet ironic dialogue with personal tragedy in “Good Morning Heartache.” “Call these standards if you must,” a fan writes, “but there’s nothing standard about the way Miller brings these jazz treasures to life.”





Then in 2003, Natasha discovered a gold mine. Actually, the gold mine discovered her. Miller was giving an interview on KCSM Jazz 91 in the Bay Area, promoting one of her many concerts. Little did she know that listening that day was songwriter Bobby Sharp. Known for his hit song "Unchain My Heart", made famous and a Top Ten Hit by Ray Charles in 1961 and performed more recently by Joe Cocker, Sharp was blown away by Natasha's voice. After hearing her on the radio, he figured Natasha would appreciate his songs, so he sent them to her. When she opened the package of his songs, including never-before-heard gems, she knew she had discovered a long-lost treasure of the most beautiful jazz ballads—lyrically masterful, melodically exquisite, and harmonically alluring. Five months later, she presented a concert in the great songwriter’s honor, bringing tears to his eyes and the sold-out crowd to their feet.








Now, 2 years and 2 albums later, Sharp’s 35-year leave of absence from his songwriting career is over, his catalogue of songs is out of the piano bench, and there’s no sign this musical tandem is anything but just getting started.





In addition to performing and managing her own career, Natasha owns her own production company, Entire Productions, and from a roster of over 400 top-call musicians of all instruments and genres, she books concerts and festivals in Bay Area venues and up and down the West Coast.


Recommended CDs

Her Life
Talk to me Nice (Jazz Standards)
I Had a Feelin'
Don't Move






Reference - Natasha's website
Tradução de Humberto Amorim

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