Today we’d like to introduce you to Roxana Amed. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Argentine American Roxana Amed is a dusky, virtuosic singer, songwriter, and producer whose music blends South American folk traditions with a sophisticated rock and post-bop jazz. A postgraduate in Spanish literature and film school student, she has earned acclaim for her albums with fellow Argentine multi-instrumentalist and former Pat Metheny band member Pedro Aznar including 2004’s “Limbo” and 2006’s “Entremundos”. More albums followed, in 2010’s “Cinemateca Finlandesa”, a duo album with pianist Adrián Iaies, and “Inocencia” in 2011, followed by 2013’s “La Sombra de Su Sombra”, with pianist and composer Frank Carlberg featuring the poems of Alejandra Pizarnik. “Intantáneas” was out in 2019. In 2021 she released her album “Ontology” with her Miami Quintet and together with amazing local and international reviews received two Latin Grammy Nominations and won a Gardel Award (Music Award in Argentina) for Best Jazz Album, the first time in 19 years for a singer and a woman leader. This September she released her new production, “Unánime”, a personal Latin Jazz approach with the Miami Ensemble and brilliant guests such as Chucho Valdés, Chico Pinheiro, Pedro Aznar, Niño Josele among others. She is releasing a new album in January with Frank Carlberg, “Los trabajos y las noches”. In 2023 she will release with the Miami Quintet her music recorded with the CMA Grant received in 2021. Amed is also an educator at Frost Shool of Music, University of Miami.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
These genres, jazz, alternative music, and independent music, are always hard to develop and promote, that is the challenge. It takes a long time to get ready for this music, and then it is not easy to find how to share it and promote it with our budgets and expertise in marketing. I am always concerned about being a better musician and balancing that challenge with other responsibilities such as teaching, another of my passions. It is always a struggle for musicians like us to try to share our music on social media, from finding time to do it to finding the style to represent ourselves out there. We need to find a team (colleagues, agents, friends, audience) based on appreciation and respect to make this happen. And when it does, it works!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a vocalist and songwriter from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have worked throughout my nine albums on finding a sound to blend Argentine music with American jazz. I invited amazing musicians when I was still living in Argentina and could open a path for this style. Since I moved to Miami in 2013, I put together an amazing band, that I have been playing with since then, and have enlightened my music. My last two albums, “Ontology” and “Unánime” were recorded in Miami with amazing local talent. I have always been dedicated to teaching and sharing with colleagues and young musicians back in Argentina all my discoveries in this language. I received a full scholarship for a Master’s in Vocal Jazz Performance in 2016 at Florida International University and since I graduated in 2018, I have been teaching at Miami Dade College, at FIU, and since last year at Frost School of Music, University of Miami. I believe that the whole combination of exploring as a performer, producer, singer, and teacher is an interesting profile, that allows me to share my traditions and experiences with younger generations and help me move forward as a musician.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I find that we have to keep moving and connect organically with others that pursue our same goals. Artists, teachers, and communicators, we have to be a team, but as times change, business change and our projects do, it is important to get out of your comfort zone, contact colleagues, and keep studying and keep developing more and better music.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roxana-amed.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roxana.amed/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roxana.amed/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/roxanaamed
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpho3BGw3ebomTj-Tc6g18A
Image Credits
Claudio Napolitano
Daniel Arano
Diego Ortiz Mugica
