Sofía Rei Koutsovitis

Sofía Rei Koutsovitis,“one of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene” (All About Jazz), is a Buenos Aires native. She is vocalist and composer who mixes and elegantly fuses South American rhythms with a jazz aesthetic in a unique and extremely seductive way. Singing in Spanish, Portuguese or English, Koutsovitis’ voice is both graceful and sophisticated and reflects her immersion in modern and progressive jazz while also responding to the pull of ancestry and the appeal of organic, pan-musical connections. Her music is grounded in traditional South American rhythms such as chacarera, zamba and vidala from Argentina, Afro-peruvian festejo and lando, Afro-Uruguayan candombe, Colombian cumbia and bullerengue and other Brazilian genres that merge involving jazz harmonies and rich improvisations. Her ensemble produces a range of textures as diverse as the cultural roots of its members, an international cast that includes some of the most exiting young talent from North and South America. Koutsovitis has also recorded, performed and collaborated with renowned artists and bands such as Lionel Loueke, Danilo Perez, Folklore Urbano, Russ Ferrante (Yellow Jackets), Alcatraz, Pavel Urkiza (Gema y Pavel), Avantango, John Scofield, Bob Moses, Aquiles Baez and Hector Martignon. She toured Europe with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and premiered with the group Cerulean Skies. Koutsovitis was recently featured with vocal giant Bobby McFerrin in Instant Opera at Carnegie Hall. She has toured Europe, Asia, North and South America singing at renowned international festivals and venues such as the Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, the Chicago World Music Festival, the Aspen/Snowmass Jazz Festival, the International Jazz en Lima Festival, the Festival Iberoamericano de las Artes, Cite de la Musique, the Festival de Jazz de Barcelona and the International Jazz and Modern Music Festival.

“As the Argentine singer Sofía Rei Koutsovitis led her multinational band, the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South American rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts.”
- The New York Times