Ana Carla Maza - ALAMAR

Cellist, singer and composer Ana Carla Maza recently released the single "A Tomar Café" from her new album "Bahía", which was released on February 25, 2022 by Persona Editorial Records.

Bahía is a beautiful blend of classical cello and vocals that draws on Cuban son, samba, bossa nova, tango, jazz and chanson. It begins with "Habana", where she was born 26 years ago into a musical family - her father, the celebrated Chilean pianist Carlos Maza, and her mother, the Cuban guitarist Mirza Sierra. The title track "Bahia" is an ode to the Havana neighborhood where she spent her childhood and built her memories by translating the crazy seituation of Cuba into her music. The album travels through Latin America - "Huayno" is based on a Quechua rhythm and dance from Peru, "Todo Irá Bien" ("Everything will be fine"), written during the lockdown, draws on the Cuban son and "Astor Piazzolla" on tango , which she originally composed for a quartet on the occasion of the Argentine composer's 100th birthday.

The album was recorded acoustically in Barcelona in one take: "direct, simple, sincere in one go, one afternoon was enough". For Ana Carla, it is a post-pandemic album in which the importance of the present cannot be emphasized enough. For example, there is no subtext in "Petit Français": "Once I was in Paris, went to a café, the Saint-Regis, and exchanged love letters with a boy." That's all.

Ana Carla started playing the piano at the age of 5, taught by Miriam Valdés, the sister of pianist Chucho Valdés. Miriam Valdés died of Covid-19 in October of this year and Ana Carla dedicated the final track on Bahía to her: "When I made the recordings, I imagined her sitting in her Cuban chair at the piano. They say that as an artist you have to know how to express pain and that singing is a relief, but for me it's also a way of capturing moments of love."
Ana Carla started playing the cello at the age of 8 and performed on stage for the first time in Havana when she was just 10. At 13, she took part in an album for the Carlos Maza en Familia project and at 14 she played on the album Quererte. She moved to Paris in 2012 to study at the conservatory and began a solo career, performing throughout Europe and meeting the inspiring cellist Vincent Segal during this time. In 2016 she released Solo Acoustic Concert, inspired by the musical traditions of her childhood, from Brazilian Bossa Nova to Cuban Habanera through a wider musical vocabulary, and in 2020 she released La Flor. Both albums incorporate Latin American rhythms, pop melodies, jazz harmonies and classical techniques. Bahia, which will be released in February 2022, is another step on this musical journey.