Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia Debut CD

Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia Debut CD

An Edgy Latin/World Music Homage to the Mythical Mary Magdalene

NEW YORK, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- In their stunning debut CD Las 7 salves de La Magdalena / 7 Songs of Praise for The Magdalene, Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia traverse the Caribbean as they pay an edgy homage to the mythical Mary Magdalene. The CD launch will take place September 10, 2010, 7:00 pm, at the East Village's iconic performance space St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery. It will feature live music by Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia as well as an art exhibit by Rivera's fellow Mary Magdalene enthusiast, painter Tanya Torres.

Singer and songwriter Rivera says she is not religious, so why did she dedicate a whole album to a biblical character? "My devotion to The Magdalene is passionate but not literal. To me, she's the female protagonist of the New Testament who usually gets sidelined to the bit parts of repentant prostitute or Jesus' wife. The Magdalene is my favorite myth," says Rivera, who is quite a character herself. Petite and with thick brown hair that reaches--Magdalene-like--below her hips, Rivera has a Ph.D. in Sociology and is the author of New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone (Palgrave Macmillan 2003) and co-editor of Reggaeton (Duke University Press 2009). Her powerful voice is tender, haunting, and faithful to a gritty roots sound that sadly fell by the wayside decades ago and has been far too long missing from the music scene.

Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia's debut is grounded in the gorgeous simplicity of Puerto Rican jibaro music, bomba, Dominican salves and other Caribbean folk genres. These genres are then filtered through a quirky New York City urban aesthetic where the boundaries between Puerto Rican and Dominican music are especially blurred, providing a fresh contribution to Latin and World music. Ojos de Sofia is a powerhouse team featuring some of the most renowned veterans as well as rising stars from the New York-based Latino music scene, among them: guitarist and cuatrista Bryan Vargas; pianist Desmar Guevara; vocalist Catarina Dos Santos; guitarist Yasser Tejeda; and percussionists Juan Gutierrez, Obanilu Ire Allende and Joan D'leon-Metz.

The CD is available for purchase on the Web through iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon, among other sites.

CONTACT:
Raquel Z. Rivera
646.266.7182
raquel@ojosdesofia.com

Source: Raquel Z. Rivera & Ojos de Sofia

CONTACT: Raquel Z. Rivera, +1-646-266-7182, raquel@ojosdesofia.com

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