Aina Kemanis

Aina Louise Kemanis (born June 15, 1952 in Berkeley , California ) is an American singer ( jazz ).

Originally from a Latvian family, Kemanis has a folk / rock background; she was active in various ensembles for medieval and renaissance music as a singer and recorder player. Between 1979 and 1984 she lived in Europe; During this time she dealt with the freer form of jazz and improvisation music and sang in theater and dance projects. During this time she worked with the ensembles of Barre Phillips and Adelhard Roidinger . She then performed Eastern European music in a women's choir in Oakland for two years . Since 1988 she sang in Marilyn Mazur's band Future Song . She also worked in Alex Cline's group.

Kemanis is not a singer in the traditional sense. She often vocalizes wordlessly and weaves dense musical landscapes in a very existential way with an ethereal voice.

Selection discography

• Barre Phillips: Music By .. (with John Surman , Pierre Favre , Hervé Bourde and Claudia Phillips , 1980)
• Alex Cline The Lamp and the Star (1989, with Nels Cline , Jeff Gauthier , Wayne Peet, Hank Roberts , Susan Rawcliffe, Eric von Essen )
• Rinde Eckert Do the Day Over (1996, with Will Bernard, Rob Vlack, Clark Suprynowicz, Jim Kassis, Danny Carnahan)
• Alex Cline: The Constant Flame (with Vinny Golia , Jeff Gauthier, Wayne Peet, GE Stinson, Nels Cline, Michael Elizondo, Peter Erskine , 2001)
• Marilyn Mazur's Future Song: Daylight Stories (with Elvira Plenar , Eivind Aarset , Hans Ulrik , Audun Kleive , 2003)

Lexical entry

• A. Gregory (Ed.) The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002 Psychology Press: 2002

Web links

• Short biography (Jazzpar Prize)
• Aina Kemanis at Allmusic (English)
• Aina Kemanis at Discogs (English)