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I'm a singer/songwriter/composer/arranger. I've been singing and writing music and poetry since I was a kid. My Dad was into jazz so I grew up on the old standards and learning how to scat - improvisation is key to jazz and it suited me. When I was singing in smoke-filled clubs years ago, I lost my voice for a while and found my other voice. I'm now a jazz baby with a classically-trained lyric soprano chaser. Operatic training really strengthened my vocal chords and expanded my range so now I'm free to sing almost anything I like, though my voice isn't as high and light as it once was.
Musically, it's an exciting time because of all the cross-pollination of genres, instruments, and cultures. I speak several languages and have studied the traditional music from more than one continent so it's a real joy to see more people intermingling different cultural influences.
My own background is intermingled from the get go (african and european diaspora mixed with native north american) so I appreciate people who are open-minded. I am usually a soloist but also love singing in a group. I like to work with people who like to experiment, who aren't rigid artistically, and who live for the excitement which takes place when minds collide. I like working with other singers, poets, songwriters, composers, and instrumentalists. I have a lot of performing experience but not in the past few years.
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Musically, it's an exciting time because of all the cross-pollination of genres, instruments, and cultures. I speak several languages and have studied the traditional music from more than one continent so it's a real joy to see more people intermingling different cultural influences.
My own background is intermingled from the get go (african and european diaspora mixed with native north american) so I appreciate people who are open-minded. I am usually a soloist but also love singing in a group. I like to work with people who like to experiment, who aren't rigid artistically, and who live for the excitement which takes place when minds collide. I like working with other singers, poets, songwriters, composers, and instrumentalists. I have a lot of performing experience but not in the past few years.
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Blog 
| Carla's Friday Improvs 19 March 2010 | March 20, 2010 |
Special in-house guest Jonah Ben-Amotz!
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| My Godfather Peter died yesterday afternoon | March 19, 2010 |
Why is it always in the middle of the night when you feel like singing?
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| Yeah baby! Just when you get down about one thing, a good thing brings you back up! | March 10, 2010 |
Someone new to play with, this time from Improv Friday at Ning Network
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| Still no Carla's Friday Improvs this week due to asthma | March 4, 2010 |
The Asthma wars continue...
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| Asthma Wars - a new series by Carla J. Patterson | February 26, 2010 |
Carla realizes singing is very dependent on oxygen in this episode...
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