Music Munchers - Fierce Joy by Pilar

JazzWest.com January 16, 2001
With a strong Latin influence and easy, lusty grooves, this CD is sure to put you in the mood.

About the Artist
Pilar was born into a family of American expatriates who lived in Mexico City. D uring her childhood, her family maintained residences in Los Angeles, Cuernevaca , and Guadalajara. At the age of fifteen, she left home and moved to San Francis co, where she began her career as a professional singer/flautist at the Renaissa nce Faire and local jazz clubs. Pilar has attracted a large and devoted following and has performed at many of t he Bay Area's best-known venues, including The Great American Music Hall, The Pl ush Room, Sweetwater, Larkspur Cafe Theatre, Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, an d the Mondavi Wine Festival. Pilar's musical style reveals R&B, jazz, pop, and Latin influences. Whether she' s singing one of her original songs or making a jazz or pop standard her own, Pi lar is an electrifying performer and a superb vocalist who, according to an indu stry veteran, ''can take any word, phrase, sentence and evoke emotion through he r interpretation.'' Distinguished by her authenticity and depth, Pilar has been praised on JazzWest.com for her "full and sensuous voice" and crowned "the High Priestess of Love" by the Pacific Sun. On her third and latest CD, LAVENDER, Pilar sings fifteen of her favorite jazz/ pop standards in an intimate, live performance with guitarist John Hoy. LAVENDER was superbly engineered by the legendary Fred Catero, who has recorded such ren owned vocalists as Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, and Cleo Laine. Catero call s Pilar ''one of the best singers we have today.'' FIERCE JOY, Pilar's previous CD, features a dozen love songs culled from the nea rly one hundred copyrighted songs she has written, many with long-time songwriti ng partner Michael Hatfield. ''With a strong Latin influence and easy, lusty gro oves,'' enthuses a reviewer, ''this CD of primarily love songs is sure to be str ong in the smooth jazz market, as well as a great gift idea for a romantic partn er." Pilar's first CD, RAINBOW OF FRIENDS -- another collaboration with Michael Hatfi eld -- is a collection of original songs for children of all ages. Pilar is also a master voice teacher whose singing workshops draw both professio nals and amateurs who want to connect authentically, beautifully, and powerfully with their audiences.