Amanda Martinez has a new album coming out this summer, and you could be one of the first people to hear it.
The Canadian singer-songwriter will play a Live to Air concert for an exclusive audience at the Long & McQuade Performance Hall on Thursday, June 13. That’s a week before the release of the new record, Libre — and Martinez will have a sneak preview for JAZZ.FM91 donors who sign up.
With Libre, Martinez takes stock of her place as an artist, friend, daughter and mom with a rich, lived-in mix of African and Latin-American rhythms and musical styles.
The lineup for this concert:
- Amanda Martinez – vocals
- Kevin Laliberte – guitar
- Drew Birston – bass
- Rosendo “Chendy ” Leon – percussion
- Alexander Brown – trumpet
- Donne Roberts – guitar/vocals
Produced by Juno Award-nominated Kevin Laliberte, Libre is Martinez’s most musically eclectic recording yet. She called on an impressive group of collaborators, including artists such as Cuban-born, Miami-based singer-songwriter Elsten Torres, Canadian jazz singer Kellylee Evans, Malagasy guitarist and singer Donne Roberts and Sudanese multi-instrumentalist Waleed Abdulahmid. She is backed by her band of the past 15 years, with Laliberte on guitar, Alexander Brown on trumpet and flugelhorn, Osvaldo Rodriguez on violin, Drew Birston on bass and Rosendo “Chendy” Leon on percussion.
“My initial idea was to create an album with influences from Africa, where my mother is from,” Martinez explains. “But as I worked on it, and different people came into my life, the concept evolved, and I realized I wanted the freedom to include songwriters from other places and from different genres. That led to the idea of Libre — free. It involved taking risks because it’s different from what I have done before … But if you are creating an album called Libre, free, you have to take chances.”
Thursday, June 13 from 7 to 8 pm
Our thank-you gift for your donation of $150 for one seat or $300 for a pair. A full tax receipt will be issued in February, 2020.