Benji Kaplan Pre-Release Show, + Sp. guest: Rita Figueiredo

Join Benji Kaplan the Pre-Release Show for "Something Here Inside" on Saturday, February 5, 8 PM, livestreamed on Youtube from GreenKill.

Join Benji Kaplan the Pre-Release Show for "Something Here Inside" on Saturday, February 5, 8 PM, livestreamed on YouTube from GreenKill, with special guest Rita Figueiredo. He will peform original arrangements of classic standards (by Kern, Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart and others) for solo guitar.

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Green Kill livestream videos can be accessed through Green Kill Sessions on YouTube. To watch live the suggested donation for this event is 5 dollars. Please consider increasing your donation as your contributions will be allocated to Green Kill and the performers equally. Green Kill is a peer to peer art space for dedicated writers, performers, musicians, and artists. Your support helps to create opportunity for a widely diverse range of artists to present their work to the public.

Here’s the donation link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/benji-kaplan-pre-release-show-for-something-here-inside-february-5-8-pm-tickets-244531800197

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Benjo Kaplan

"A true ambassador of Brazilian music in New York" - Marcelo Petti (Canal Musical)

"A tour de force of lights, vibrations and enchanting sounds...With Benji Kaplan, it's a bit like Erik Satie was landing in Rio carnival. At such a level of musical confrontation, it is clear that the latest album of this prodigy is worth listening to.  Born in Brooklyn from the works of a Cuban father of Russian Jewish descent and an Austrian Jewish mother, Benji Kaplan combines New York, Central European, Latino and Brazilian cultures, resulting in a rich blend of sounds and colors." 

- François Becquart (Music in Belgium)

"A guitar player with impeccable technique and fluency.  Meditacoes no Violao (guitar meditations) is a collection of poetic and refined compositions, played with a perfect balance of intellect and emotion."

- JazzTimes

"...the degree of intelligence sunk into the deepest corners of every beat and measure of this treasure tells us that no matter what his pursuit might otherwise have been, the result would’ve been simultaneously unearthly while uniquely terran." - Mark S. Tucker (Veritas Vampirus)

"This is the tonic Jaded ears have been waiting for...a new york kid with brazil in his blood and what appears to be a lightning mind..." - Chris Spector (Midwest Record)

"...a luxuriantly melodic collection of original songs that draw on the sonic wellsprings of samba, baião, pop music, bossa nova and the cool jazz that helped inspire the new sound introduced by João Gilberto some six decades ago." - Andrew Gilbert (The Mercury News)

The son of a native Cuban percussionist father and visual-artist mother, Benji Kaplan has followed his arts-filled upbringing with a particular focus upon the classical forms of Brazilian music. Fully informed not only in Brazilian and popular music, but also by Jazz, the emerging composer crafts his own mix of Brazilian music ingeniously spiced with the full gamut of his rich musical understanding. He beautifully expresses his unique vision with ensembles ranging from string quartets to wind ensembles of varying shapes and sizes. His penultimate album – Chorando Sete Chores – features 13 pieces for acoustic guitar and wind quintet. His previous album Uai Sô vividly demonstrates his enormous scope, combining strings, brass and woodwinds in various combinations ranging from seven to twelve instruments. Benji is currently releasing his 5th album entitled Benji & Rita, this time in duo partnership with his wife Rita Figueiredo. Together they explore the intimacy of Voice and guitar, blending intricate harmonies with stories of Rita's homeland, Brazil in all of it's beauty, complexity, simplicity and irony. www.benjikaplan.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/benjikaplan/featured

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Rida Figueiredo

Rita is a classically trained singer who shifted to popular forms, recording a 2013 debut album rich in stories that made numerous “best of” lists. (She has dedicated decades to animation and illustration, with works featured in more than 20 international Festivals, had cartoons and vignettes featured on MTV Brazil and USA, Nickelodeon, TV Cultura and many other networks. She has worked with artists such as Marisa Monte, Ed Motta and Cássia Eller, among others).
In 2015 Rita moved to New York and has since been intensely dedicated to recording and performing new repertoire in partnership with Benji Kaplan. In the last 3 years she has played in several cities in South and North America and Europe. She is now releasing her 2nd album entitled Benji & Rita.

http://www.ritafigueiredo.com

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