Sofía Rei & JC Maillard Masterclass

Alumna Sofia Rei and her partner Jean-Christophe Maillard offer a project especially commissioned for their many unusual instruments such as saz bass, charango, vocal effect processors, and more.

Sofía Rei is an award winning vocalist, songwriter and producer form Buenos Aires, Argentina and based in New York City. Her music explores connections between the various traditions of South American folklore, jazz, flamenco and electronic sounds. She has collaborated with artists such as John Zorn, Maria Schneider, Bobby McFerrin, the Klezmatics, Myra Melford, Pedrito Martinez, Lionel Loueke, Guillermo Klein and Geoffrey Keezer (with whom she has earned a Grammy Nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album of 2009). She is also a full time faculty member of The Clive Davis Institue at NYU-Tisch School of the Arts. Prior to “Keter” she has released four albums, several of which have won Independent Music Awards. Sofia’s work has been featured on CNN, NPR's Tiny Desk, WNYC's Soundcheck, The New York Times and many more.  She continues to set herself apart with a bold new vision in the global music scene.

Jean-Christophe (JC) Maillard is a French composer, guitarist, pianist, electronic musician and arranger native of Pointe-à-Pître, Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. For the past 20 years, he has been touring, producing, arranging, acting as musical director and recording with all the great names in world music and world jazz. He has collaborated with Grammy wining artists such as Lisa Fischer, Angelique Kidjo, Richard Bona, Toure Kunda, etc. His project “Grand Baton”, an innovative mix of rock and electronic music with Caribbean percussions has released two albums which received praiseful reviews from all over the world, establishing him as a daring creative mind in cross genre music. JC is also known for mastering and being the first player of the SazBass, a new 8-steel string instrument of Turkish origin.

“As the Argentine singer Sofía Rei 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

"The fabulous voice of Sofía Rei has graced several Zorn vocal projects, from the a cappella quartet Mycale to the dynamic Song Project, and here she interprets eight compositions from the Book Beri’ah—the third and last book completing the Masada legacy. Featuring the remarkable JC Maillard on saz bass, the arrangements are incredibly varied, and range from lyrical heartfelt ballads to driving grooves. Intimate and intensely personal, this is one of the most unique Masada CDs in the entire series! Unforgettable.” —Tzadik Records