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Tara Linda - Restless by Yoshisjazz

Torch songstress Tara Linda sings original jazzy blues, Latin torch and more. From smoky ballads to sassy swings, her delivery is sultry and playful. Celebrated for her voice, Tara Linda's performances are described as "mesmerizing" (TimeOut Oakland Tribune/San Jose Mercury News). While her vocal style hints of 1930’s/40’s torch tradition, catchy riffs, subtle lyricism, humor and contemporary themes make Tara’s music stand apart.

 

Inspired both by American and Latin American torch singers—from to Sarah Vaughan to Lydia Mendoza - Tara’s music sensibilities are steeped in the jazz, blues, and Latin traditions of her Texas childhood. Coming of age in Austin, she listened to everything she could find: jazz, blues, punk, and Tex-Mex. Tara began singing from behind a drum kit, playing in Texas and Americana genres. Her third album, Tortilla Western Serenade, received critical review, charted in the top 20 on the national RMR, FAR, and Euro- Americana radio airplay charts, and was named “FAR and Away’s Best Debut albums” of 2010 (Freeform American Roots Chart, Austin TX). She tours widely, enjoying a growing fan base in US, China, Mongolia, and Europe, and is endorsed by Hohner Accordions and Lanikai Ukuleles.

Tara Linda’s songwriting style expanded beyond Americana to vocal jazz, as she began to explore more traditional jazz forms and develop a range of styles. For her newest songs, her strongest influences were Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Augustin Lara, and Irving Berlin. “I was inspired by the way lyrics told stories, and by how prominent melodies were in the vocal jazz of the 30’s and 40’s. Hooks were well-placed and well-matched with lyric lines, and toungue-and-cheek humor was interspersed with pathos.” Tara says.

Her vocal repertoire reveals her refined understanding of the “torch” genre, as well. Typically, torch conjures up the sound of a lament sung by a distraught woman, who stays up drinking coffee all night waiting for her man to come home. But for Tara, torch sensibilities fit well into current themes, like the feeling of helplessness about things we can’t change, or sudden remorse. But Tara Linda’s latest CD, Torch and Sass, doesn’t only salute the past. She throws delicious contemporary jazz shuffles into the mix, adds a dash of tango, and spices it all up with an Indian–tinged tigress tune.

Tara Linda returns tonight to the Yoshi's Oakland stage with her band The Rumor Mill to celebrate the release of Torch and Sass. Sultry, upbeat, and eclectic, they thrill with numbers ranging from tangos and swings to stomps, bossa novas and boleros, with hooks you’ll be singing all the way home. Tara says, “I’ve always loved how early jazz feels alive, and carries a sense of community; this is what I aim to do with music - get people out to celebrate!”

Tara Linda’s Bay Area band The Rumor Mill includes David Ehme on guitar, Fred Paclibon on bass, Rafael Hererra (drums), Gil Cohen (trumpet, flugelhorn), and John Kadyk (clarinet, tenor sax). Come join the fun at tonight’s CD release party, and experience for yourself the enchantment of Tara’s live performance.

www.taralinda.com