Offering a versatile repertoire in English, Portuguese and Spanish; jazz vocalist Lisa Andrea Torres a San Francisco Bay Area native, has been performing in the Bay Area, Miami, Brazil, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, the Philippines, and Mexico for the past 25 years, five of which were spent in Rio and São Paulo, Brazil. Expressing warmth and versatility, Lisa’s vocal style and musical arrangements combine elements of contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and Brazilian bossa nova and samba. During and while living/performing in Brazil and Miami for over thirteen years, she began singing on the Asia circuit doing 4 month-contracts in nightclubs and hotels.
Since 2010, Lisa has been appearing regularly at local venues, blending the richness and diversity of North and South American music with many of the top Bay Area straight-ahead jazz, Latin Jazz and Brazilian Jazz musicians.
Innovative and rhythmic, Lisa’s debut CD The Seventh Sense produced and recorded in Miami, offers a fresh take on classics like Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love”, Brazilian composer Jorge Benjor’s “Mas Que Nada”, and Milton Nascimento’s “Nada Será Como Antes”. These standards along with her original compositions, create a ‘chill-out’ blend of rhythm, lyric, and style.
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While studying music at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Lisa began developing strong roots in straight-ahead jazz performing early on with some of the most talented and creative jazz trios and quartets in the Bay Area.
Premiere pianist and arranger Merrill Hoover who accompanied vocalists such as Anita O’Day, Ernestine Anderson, and Chris Connor became Lisa’s first vocal coach, mentor and accompanist enabling her to build a solid repertoire while instilling the essential qualities that makes a great performer. Developing strong roots in straight-ahead jazz, Lisa performed with Merrill at many venues around the Bay Area in trios that included jazz heavyweights such as Harold Jones drummer for Sarah Vaughn, Donald Bailey, saxophonist Benny Miller, and bassist Jeff Chambers.
Years later she broadened her learning and experience by including a variety of lyrical music from Brazil. She attributes a natural style and tasteful repertoire in Bossa Nova by performing and recording with legendary Brazilian pianist Marcos Silva, world-class drummer Celso Alberti, bassist Gary Brown, and guitarist Ricardo Peixoto who helped to instill her fundamental Brazilian “swing” before moving to Brazil to study, perform, and explore its many diverse musical rhythms and styles.
While studying music at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Lisa began developing strong roots in straight-ahead jazz performing early on with some of the most talented and creative jazz trios and quartets in the Bay Area.
BERIMBAU/CONSOLAÇÃO - Lisa Andrea Torres from Lisa Andrea Torres on Vimeo.
Lisa Andrea Torres - Latin Jazz quintet - sizzle reel from Lisa Andrea Torres on Vimeo.
Corrida de Jangada - Lisa Andrea Torres from Lisa Andrea Torres on Vimeo.