Chispa: Latin Diva Series, Sofía Rei

So charged is Sofía Rei she can generate enough energy to power a city. She set up her Albuquerque switching center Friday night at the National Hispanic Cultural Center and transmitted her fiery sound right through the full house and out over the Sandias. Rei’s Argentine nucleus has to be unlike that of most mere mortals; there is no other way to explain what happens when she sings.

This is the voice that is reserved for highly evolved and loving beings. Those fortunate to hear it have been granted a special access pass to a loftier stage. Packed inside her music are ancient tones of creation, contemporary calls of earthly truth and metagalactic chants of promise. Songs hit masterpiece level quickly with sophisticated compositions fit for epic soundtracks and classroom examination. For a while, the audio road wanders just long enough to forget where you’ve been and then suddenly the original melody reappears to remind you there was always a direction in Rei’s transmission.

Rei hails from a family of professors and engineers. Blessed with the creative spirit she confesses how much she also loves math. That’s not surprising given her attention to what’s happening technically during her performance. Like a wizard, she surreptitiously taps on a tablet next to her mic stand to add resonant voice effects. She hits and holds notes most of her fellow mezzo-sopranos wouldn’t attempt, leaving the audience rapt and wondering if they could just hear that part once more, please. As a composer, her bio is stuffed with undertakings that include a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston and faculty member at Berklee College of Music. Run and look up her background so you can see why she’s so celebrated.

There are many reasons for categorizing her as a diva but not for the reasons you might think. Outfitted in black lace tights, huge looped earrings and high-heel ankle boots—and yes, a perfectly fitting red dress—she has the look down. She’s endearingly quirky and tosses her long, thick, dark locks of hair back and forth as though they are one of the unusual instruments she delightfully plays during the act. Yet there is nothing even remotely spoiled about her or around her. When picking up the 12-string charango or rolling out a monster Ludwig suspended bass drum you sense she is an artist’s artist.

Her band members are highly honored musicians immersed in the Afro-Peruvian jazz scene and beyond. On piano is fellow Argentinian Leo Genovese who coaxes some rad sounds from his Rhodes electric piano and Korg synthesizer. Also from Argentina is drummer Franco Pinna who attended Berklee on an outstanding musicianship scholarship. New Yorker Eric Kurimski, mentored by Carlos Hayre, is heavenly on guitar. Master trumpeter and prolific composer Josh Deutsch, a Seattle native, effortlessly mimics licks with Rei and rounding out the sextet on the stand-up bass is Chilean Pablo Menares laying down the delicate thump driving the electricity.

Sofia Rei’s performance is part of the Cultural Center’s Chispa: Latin Diva Series and is presented in partnership with music promoter and manager Tom Frouge of Avokado Artists. They are to be praised for bringing such mega talent to our town. The Chispa musical season features Latina and Hispanic artists worldwide who are initiating or continuing successful international careers. Friday night’s concert opened with the local Jazz Brasileiro duo, vocalist Debo Orlofsky and guitarist Tony Cesarano, whose soothing bossa nova relaxed and refreshed the crowd. To find out more about the Latin Diva series and Avokado’s other upcoming concerts, visit their Facebook page.

On assignment for ABQToDo.