live from illyville...ileana santamaria

Cuban-born Ileana Santamaria is a New York City-based vocalist, songwriter, bandleader, and percussionist, professionally active since 2001 on the New York Latin, Jazz, and World Music scenes. Youngest daughter of Latin Jazz pioneer Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria, Ileana incorporates her father's legacy into her varied musical output, counting among her chief projects an Afro-Cuban roots and dance music project, under the name of Timba Son Rumba, which she co-leads with standout Cuban percussionist and vocalist Pedro Martinez. And on a very exciting note, Ileana was part of the debut of Pedro Martinez' own project, simply called the Pedro Martinez Project, on her 28th birthday at SOBs (Sounds of Brazil) in New York City - and the P.M.P. will be BACK, along with Timba Son Rumba, for a monster double bill, also at SOBs on Sunday, December 16th! DON'T miss it!! Check out the Pedro Martinez Project at www.myspace.com/pedromartinezproject
In addition, Ileana's diverse influences, cross-cultural versatility, and polyglot status (at last count, six languages - Arabic, English, French, Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Portuguese - acquired through music, study, and travel, all made possible by her mother Ileana Mesa's investment in her only daughter - your big brat Ileana loves you Ma!) have led to her being called to work with a wide range of different projects, beyond her Cuban roots, as main and guest lead vocalist and percussionist; she is the lead singer in Afro-Peruvian music ensemble Afrodita and Afro-Brazilian percussion ensemble Maracatu New York.
She has also had the privilege - and life-changing experience, musically and personally - of touring and performing as guest vocalist with the Nation Beat, a highly exciting and innovative ensemble led by drummer and percussionist Scott Kettner, which draws upon the Afro-Brazilian musical genres from the Northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco (Maracatu, Coco, Ciranda, Forro) as well as American folkloric and popular music (Country, Bluegrass, New Orleans Second Line, Rock) to create a highly infectious and driving new idiom. It was a joy for Ileana to play her first-ever show at the Blue Note with her good friends from the Nation Beat, bringing to the hallowed Jazz hall the Northeastern Brazilian Maracatu music that has transformed her life in the past year.
Ileana has been honored to work with so many brilliant musicians over the past six years, and counts them among her chief educators, mentors, and extended family. In 2007 Ileana began a new project alongside pianist Madoka Koide - the duet is called S4Serendipity and it is truly a labor of love for music and for friendship. Madoka and Ileana met while working as tour guides at the United Nations, and they soon found that they had a common love for Jazz standards and for playing in a duet format, a relatively new experience for both. Madoka and Ileana will be hitting more Jazz clubs on the NYC scene this winter, and you can keep posted on their coming gigs at
www.myspace.com/s4serendipity.
Ileana hopes to see you at one of her upcoming gigs, which you can obtain information on right here in IleanaSpace, www.myspace.com/ileanasantamaria.
You can also purchase a copy of Ileana's first CD, What I Want, recorded under the name "Ileana Santamaria Orchestra" (the name of her band from 2004 to 2007, when she renamed it "Timba Son Rumba"), on CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com/cd/ileanasantamaria). Scroll down past the slideshow for the link to Ileana's CD Baby page.
And now, some images:
.. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- CDBABY LINK for ILEANA SANTAMARIA ORCHESTRA: What I Want --