San Jose's Kat Parra is like a one-woman international jazz festival. First making her mark on the Bay Area scene as the lead singer in the salsa band Charanga Nueve, she is hugely influenced by the Afro-Cuban greats. But the Silicon Valley native has drawn from across continents, including the traditions she encountered growing up in South America. She's also explored her own cultural heritage, bringing the traditional music of Spain's Sephardic Jews to jazz. Her irrepressible curiosity about and respect for cultures around the world is constantly expanding the borders of her sounds. - Steve Palopoli sanjose.com
San Jose's Kat Parra is like a one-woman international jazz festival. First making her mark on the Bay Area scene as the lead singer in the salsa band Charanga Nueve, she is hugely influenced by the Afro-Cuban greats. But the Silicon Valley native has drawn from across continents, including the traditions she encountered growing up in South America. She's also explored her own cultural heritage, bringing the traditional music of Spain's Sephardic Jews to jazz. Her irrepressible curiosity about and respect for cultures around the world is constantly expanding the borders of her sounds. - Steve Palopoli sanjose.com
read more
show less