(at Baltimore Avenue)
Philadelphia, PA 19143
The María Volonté: Blue Tango Project presents powerful music with intensity and verve. This globe-trotting duo celebrates the deep spiritual bond that joins tango and the blues, as two musical genres born in desire and marginality, many times censored yet always resurgent and speaking directly to our hungry souls. Their original songs reflect their embrace of the road as a way of life and their commitment to global music making as a spiritual experience.
María Volonté is an Argentine singer and songwriter who is a Carlos Gardel Prize winner (Argentina’s Grammy), a Latin Grammy nominee and member of the Tango Hall of Fame. A powerful creative force whose “entrancing creative expression” (International Review of Music) has fascinated critics and audiences around the world
Volonté has gathered a fervent international following. Dubbed “Tango’s shimmering star!” (Global Rhythm), Volonté conquered the world of tango with numerous award-winning CDs. Her current “Blue Tango Project” explores the crossroads of tango and blues. A singer who combines the “earthiness of Edith Piaf with the sassiness of Eartha Kitt” (Jazz Perspectives), Volonté is also a restless musical innovator who “plays impressive acoustic guitar and is willing to experiment” (The Guardian).
She has shared the stage with Astor Piazzolla’s legendary last quintet, recorded duets with trumpter Arturo Sandoval and counts among her many fans Paquito D’Rivera (“her music is a parade of good taste”) and Derek Sivers (founder of CD Baby) who included María in the list of artists he was proudest to have released while founding the seminal online music distributor. National Public Radio (NPR) called Volonté’s art a “potent brew” – and advised listeners to “consume responsibly.”
Her album “Fuimos” (2003), a duo project with the legendary pianist Horacio Larumbe, won Maria the 2004 Gardel Prize and was nominated for a Latin Grammy. “Cornisas del Corazon” (1999), was recorded live at the historic Tortoni Cafe in Buenos Aires while her first album, “Tango y Otras Pasiones” (1996) was chosen by the “La Nacion” newspaper as one of the “Top 100 Tango Recordings of All Time.”
Kevin Carrel Footer is an artist deeply inspired by the intense passions of tango and Buenos Aires. In words, images and music, he explores those twin passions in unexpected ways. Playing harmonica, he tours the world with the Blue Tango Project alongside Argentine Latin Grammy-nominee María Volonté.
Kevin learned to play harmonica while hitchhiking across the United States during his own pilgrimage to the delta of the Mississippi, birthplace of the blues. Later, following the perfume of tango to Argentina, he lost himself in the milongas and cafes of Buenos Aires. He is the author of the book “A Tango before I Die” (2013), a collection of short essays on tango and Buenos Aires. Kevin’s photo-blog project People of Tango celebrates the people and stories of the worldwide tango revolution.
