THIS WEEK'S TRIBUNE  THIS WEEK'S TRIBUNE Singer drops business career to follow her dreams
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Singer drops business career to follow her dreams |
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Written by Atara Beck
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Wednesday, 24 June 2009 |
TORONTO – Up-and-coming Latin jazz performer Amanda Martinez is a poster girl for encouraging people to follow their dreams.
Martinez grew up in a family that loved music. Born in Canada to a South African Jewish mother and a Mexican father, she followed the typical, practical advice given would-be professional musicians to pursue their artistic ambitions as a hobby. Thus she ended up for awhile as a business executive with an MBA.
“I used to keep a journal as a little girl and always wanted to be a singer and something,” she told the Jewish Tribune. “A singer and a dentist, or a singer and a teacher, always thinking I wouldn’t make a living as a singer. After graduating university, I had a bit of a crisis, realizing this is the rest of my life. I was in school for so many years, and then reality set in: this is the choice I made.”
Martinez happened to see Amy Sky performing at the lunch-time concert series several years ago at First Canadian Place, where she was working at TD Bank’s head office.
“She was singing so beautifully,” Martinez said. “I was dressed in a business suit and I felt that what I was doing was unnatural for me. I couldn’t ignore my feelings any longer. It was a real crisis. Everything came to a head. Slowly I began to make changes. I took a leave of absence. Once I had done some thinking, I transitioned by taking a part-time job and supporting myself while going for auditions and focusing on my music.”
Nevertheless, her business acumen came in handy with her new career.
“Even before [getting] my business degree, I was working in sales and marketing,” said Martinez, who had been a sales representative for Cadbury. “My business background has been very helpful and gave me an alternate way to looking at my music as a business.”
Most of the music she listened to growing up was from her father’s record collection, although her mother was musical as well and played piano by ear. Martinez fondly remembers jamming with her cousins when visiting Mexico City.
“My maternal grandmother loved theatre, the opera, and used to take me,” she reminisced. “On my album coming out in the fall [titled Amor], one of the pieces has more of a gypsy feel. I’ve always been drawn to Flamenco music, which has lots of Judaic influences.”
In fact, Martinez has performed together with award-winning Flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook in New York and in Dubai. She “would love to go to Europe and Israel.
“Right now, I’m working on plans to perform in Mexico,” she added. “I’ve never been to Israel. That would be a real thrill for me. I’m a big fan of [modern Israeli singer] Noa. That’s all on my dream list.”
Martinez, of Latin jazz radio show CafÈ Latino fame, has become a regular on the downtown jazz scene. She also hosted a concert last year at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre – where she had attended nursery school – for David Buchbinder’s Odessa/Havanna, which combines Cuban and Eastern European Jewish musical styles, and sang at a musical fundraising event there, ‘Stars on Spadina.’
Her 2006 award-winning album Sola, featuring her band of Cuban and Canadian musicians, is one of Toronto’s best-selling independent releases, selling more than 5,000 copies. Amor will be launched in October at Winter Garden Theatre.
Martinez will be with Cook at the Ottawa and Montreal jazz festivals this summer. She performs at the TD-Canada Trust Jazz Festival on July 2 at Nathan Phillips Square with award-winning guitarist Al Di Meola.
For tickets, call (416) 870-8000. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 02 July 2009 )
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