Pilar de la Hoz

She started out singing Brazilian music with the group BOSSA 9.
In 1991, she recorded her first solo-production entitled “Canta Brasil” (Sing Brazil), which was launched in Peru and later in Spain.
In the mid 90’s, she began singing jazz and participated in festivals arranged by ICPNA (Peruvian North American Cultural Institute), CCPUC (Cultural Center of the Pontific Catholic University) as well as a Festival that took place at the Peruvian National Museum, organized by the INC (National Institute of Culture) in Lima, Peru.
In 2001, she presented “DÍAS DE CINE” (Movie Days), a show paying tribute to the great melodies composed for the seventh art.
In February 2004, she had a successful concert season with “JOBIM VIVE” (Jobim Lives), commemorating the 10th anniversary of great Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim’s passing.

When renowned artists, such as Luis Salinas (Argentina), Joyce (Brazil) and Carmina Cannavino (Mexico), visited Peru, she was invited to participate in their concerts as a guest singer.

One of her recent compositions is “AFROAMERICA”, a jazz concert based on the Afro-American rhythmical and thematic diversity.

After participating in the IV Festival de Jazz con Sabor Peruano (IV Jazz Festival with Peruvian Flavor), Pilar de la Hoz has started a season at a well-known establishment in Miraflores, Lima, where she sings songs from her next cd.

Jazz and bossa nova harmonies intertwine with the colors of the Peruvian cajón and Creole guitar creating a new blend of sounds, which could be defined as JAZZ WITH PERUVIAN FLAVOR.

The idea of merging jazz and bossa nova with Peruvian music emerges in the 60’s when bossa nova is spread throughout the world by Antonio Carlos Jobim and his Girl from Ipanema. Peruvian musicians were influenced by this trend, just like artists in the 30’s and 40’s were influenced by tangos and boleros. Musicians such as Carlos Hayre, Lucho Neves and Félix Casaverde, just to mention a few. Pilar de la Hoz actually recorded a rough cut with Félix Casaverde and this was perhaps her first close encounter with Peruvian music. Subsequently, Pilar decides to expand this project and turns to Sergio Valdeos and Edward Pérez, bossa nova and jazz specialists respectively, who have made the arrangements for her next cd production.

This fusion has been very well received by the public, perhaps because it is not a copy in any way, but rather how Peruvian musicians feel jazz, with references from their own music, in some cases including melodies from Peruvian folk music, and in others including elements of their tradition, such as the Afro-Peruvian cajón, in the so-called jazz standards.

Furthermore, Pilar de la Hoz recently presented this work at the XV Jazz Festival in Lima, alternating with musicians such as María Schneider (Grammy 2005), Ingrid Jensen, Geoffrey Keezer, Billy Kerr, John Thomas, Jon Wikan and Matt Clohesy, among others.

Pilar has as well attended during March 2005, the First Valle Sagrado Music Festival, in Urubamba, Cusco.

Within the 23 and 26 June 2005, she was invited to the XIX International Boleros de Oro Festival, which took place in La Habana, Cuba. She sang in all the theatres, including the legendary “Dos Gardenias”, considered the Temple of Bolero Music.

In October 29, she brought to the end the V Arequipa Jazz Festival, organized by Peruvian-German Cultural Institute, with her show “Jazz con Sabor Peruano.”

In December this same year, she was invited by Cuban Chucho Valdez to sing in the XXII International Jazz Plaza Festival, one of the most important jazz festivals in the world, where she presented her “Jazz con sabor peruano”, and was given the warmest of welcomes by the Cuban audience and the foreign people who gathered for this important event.

Currently she works as General Producer for the International Jazz Peru Association and runs a radio program specialized in Brazilian music: “Ilha Brasil.”