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Irene and Her Latin Jazz Band

Interview from Smooth Jazz.com

You’ve just released your second CD. “A Song of You,” which, as with your first project, “Summer Samba,” is a rich tapestry of Brazilian and Latin tunes and rhythms. What brought about the focus for you on this enticing genre of music?

When I started taking singing lessons about eight years ago, I was singing a lot of jazz standards; The Great American Songbook. I began to get bored with that style and started asking my music teacher to add Latin rhythms to those songs on his keyboard when I was singing them. That made it a lot more for fun for me. From there the natural course of events was that I got a book of songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and starting learning some of them.

You need to know that when I was a child my mother had her own little informal music appreciation course going on during breakfast every day. She would put on the radio to either a station that played classical music or another one that played jazz standards and some Brazilian tunes here and there. I particularly remember being entranced by “One Note Samba” and would always be delighted when they would play it. When I was in high school someone (and I don’t remember whom) introduced me to Sergio Mendes’ music. I just loved it. My brother who was into heavy metal rock thought I was nuts, but I didn’t care. I listened to every Sergio Mendes recording that I could get my hands on. So, that Brazilian style of music was just something I gravitated towards from a young age.

You were “discovered” in October, 2003 at “Karaoke Night” at Club Med in Bora Bora, and you’ve been returning there regularly to perform ever since. How did that first gig come about?

My New Year’s resolution for 2003 was that I was going to get over my fear of singing solo in public by forcing myself to go to clubs and sing Karaoke. By the time I got to Club Med it was eight months into the year and I had sung Karaoke maybe three times. We got to Bora Bora on a Saturday, and on Monday it was Karaoke night. I had brought with me a CD with a bunch of tracks so I could practice my singing while we were there. I took my disc and went over to the bar where they were doing Karaoke and asked if I could sing one of my own songs. So I sang “Why Don’t You Do Right?” After I was finished with that song the General Manager, Bruno Ibanez, came over to me and asked if I would sing another song. So I sang “You Took Advantage of Me.” I noticed while I was singing that song that he went into the sound booth and was talking to the sound guy. After I was done he came over to me again and said he noticed I had a lot of songs on my disc and wondered if I would be willing to sing the next two nights in the shows they do in the theater. Being as I was a Drama Major in College I said, “Yes.”

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BOSTON POST-GAZETTE November 16, 2007

Facts on wax by Bob Morello reviewing the best... forgetting the rest

IRENE & HER LATIN JAZZ BAND - SUMMER SAMBA (CD)

Irene Nachreiner began as a traditional jazz vocalist singing classic standards from the Great American Songbook, until she met the core member of her band who are from Brazil and Argentina. The chemistry of these two musicians with Irene worked so well, that a decision was made to create Summer Samba, a debut album of smooth Latin jazz. The results are rewarding. Cuts of note include the addictive “Sway,” trailed by the sultry “Summer Samba (So Nice),” the classic “Whatever Lola Wants,” Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Waters of March,” the floating “Little Boat,” and Sergio Mendes’ brilliant “So Many Stars.” The smooth sway of “Samba Saravah” maintains the mood, followed by the standard “Bésame Mucho,” plus Jobim’s “One Note Samba,” shaping Cole Porter’s “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” into a Latin beauty, and puts the finishing touches on a sensuous album with Irving Berlin’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” This outstanding album is available at www.IreneSings.com and www.Cdbaby.com, along with several digital download locations. A most enjoyable event!

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