Kat Parra, a San Jose, CA-based jazz singer, is flexible and open-minded. She has strong Latin roots but has also been influenced by Middle Eastern, Arabic and North African music. Many times, Latin jazz is used to describe Afro-Cuban Jazz. In fact, Parra has cited Celia Cruz, the late Cuban salsa queen, as one of her greatest influences. Parra has mixed jazz with everything from Brazilian Samba to Afro-Peruvian. Parra, who plays guitar, flute, and piano, has also been influenced by the traditional music of Spain’s Sephardic Jews. Parra, who has recorded jazz arrangements for some Sephardic songs (“Por la Tu Puerta”) and “Esta Montanya d’Enfrente”) is Jewish and claims that her heritage is approximately 75 percent Russian Jew, 25 percent Sephardic Jew. Parra has performed in many languages including English, Spanish (which Parra speaks fluently), Portuguese and French. Ladino is also a language spoken by Sephardic Jews, which is one of the most romantic languages. Birds in Flight Parra is a Northern California native who grew up in Chile. She moved to Southern California to study voice and classical flute at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for one year. Parra moved back to Silicon Valley and studied voice at San Jose State University. She was also a part of the husband-and wife duo Tuck.
