Pepa Niebla has been on a long musical journey, during which she has explored musical styles as diverse as pop, heavy metal, soul, Cuban music, jazz, soul, funcky, blues... Consequently, her voice can be heard on numerous recordings: SDG, Luis Ricardo Borriquerro, Color Flamenco, Eskorzo, Domestic etc...Thanks to this, her musical identity has become increasingly defined, clearly placing itself under the influences of North American and black music in all its magnitude.
Throughout her career, training and musical exploration have been central to the evolution of her projects; this is why, for her, in 2003 Cuba was a destination that had to be reached. After a long stay, Pepa Niebla returned with the idea of creating a Cuban style repertoire, but other deciding factors lead her to the studio to record an EP of her first work as a solo artist. Five fabulous numbers from the unforgettable 70´s, consisting of rock, soul with hints of Latin jazz, and rythymn and blues. At the same time she has been involving different colleagues of the music industry in more versatile projects. One of one of those colleagues being the pianist from Eskorzo, J Jota Machuca, and more recently, the guitarist Ricky Vivar with whom she is currently collaborating under the stage name Jazz-t-Us!!
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"Pepa Niebla Records Her First CD"
The singer, Pepa Niebla (Maria Jose Cabello) has just recorded her debut mini CD ‘The Pepa Niebla Project'. In spite of having collaborated on various records as a guest singer, and having done dozens of solo gigs as well as gigs with fellow musicians, her voice still remains one of the most unknown (unrecorded ) in the city.
From Antequera and originally a singer-songwriter, this composer and vocalist has been flirting with jazz and blues in a diversity of ways. Early this year she set off for Cuba and ended up performing in various venues. Among them, the mythical “La zorra and the cuervo jazz club” the centre of Latin Jazz.
After having accumulated these experiences throughout the years, it was time for her to record her own record and this mini-CD consisiting of five different numbers will serve as a platform to launch her album before the end of the year. Recognised as a fresh voice against the dark Andalusian backdrop, Pepa has wanted to stand out, recreating new musical sounds and styles.
Here we have a rounded vocalist whose roots are in in black/white music which has clear 70's style influences. Her CD starts us off with the Al Kooper classic ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears', which instantly grabs our attention, then the re-make of ‘The Letter' follows close with superb results.
Dark Blues
You can´t fault her version of Lady Day with ‘God Bless the Child' sang in a dark blues style with a hint of swing. With a Little Help from my friend' comes close to the Joe Cocker´Grease Band's interpretation. And, ‘You are so beautiful', a short and honest Billy Preston number, closes this box of musical delights. And like every great woman she has a legion of great men behind her: Alex Serrano, Rafa Portillo, Guillermo Morente, Quini Almendros, Agustin Sanchez and Gregorio Buendia all form part of her project. Pepa Niebla is no longer a vocal secret but a vocal revelation.