JAZZ vocalist Dee DeLuca was born and raised in Amsterdam and has lived and performed in international cities like London, San Francisco and New York, where she soaked up many different styles and cultures. She has been living in Tauranga for five years and is performing with her hand-picked band at the National Jazz Festival this Easter.
DeLuca has been collaborating with the renowned Auckland jazz guitarist Dixon Nacey on her latest project Back to Bossa & Beyond - they met two years ago on stage performing with Alan Brown at the National Jazz Festival.
"When I work with Dixon his versatility is boundless so I wanted to bring a very rich dish to the table to work with. Meaning selecting songs from all over the world - from different cultures, with different rhythms and styles - from Bossa Nova to Afro Blues and all kinds of areas in the world of music.
"We have let the percussive side of the band take a very important role featuring no one less that Mr Miquel Fuentes, who has been of great inspiration for many musicians since he came to New Zealand." People will be surprised hearing familiar songs in a different style like Michael Jackson in a Latin feel or a pop song in African feel.
"I love to sing music that makes me explore my own voice. Jazz dares people to be bold and do something different. You will hear some standards in a way you have never heard them before celebrating all the richness from various artists, coming from various cultures.
