Captivated by Kopmajer
The Austrian jazz vocalist with a unique way of scatting returns to Thailand
After thrilling audiences in Samui and Bangkok over the last couple of years, Austrian jazz vocalist Simone Kopmajer is back in Thailand this month, performing in Chiang Mai, Pattaya and the capital as she promotes her latest album “Nothing’s Gonna Change”.
Kopmajer grew up in a family of musicians and can’t remember a time when she wasn’t interested in music. She started piano lessons at the age of eight and at 14 was a member of her father’s pop-rock band. She won talent contests and made television appearances. As a youngster, she twice toured the Netherlands with the Euro Big Band and appeared at jazz festivals.
“My biggest inspiration in jazz is still Ella Fitzgerald,” says Kopmajer who has developed a uniqe style of scat singing. She adds that she’s also been influenced by great American vocalists Frank Sinatra and Jon Hendricks.
Kopmajer received her master’s degree from the University for Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, where she worked with such jazz artists as Mark Murphy, Sheila Jordan, Michele Hendricks, Jay Clayton and the New York Voices.
She’s had hits in Japan, the US and Europe.
Her latest album “Nothing’s Gonna Change”, released on Japan’s Venus Records, was recorded in Vienna with backing by John di Martino, Wolfgang Puschnig, Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Reinhardt Winkler.
“I do have ‘Nothing’s Gonna Change’ in my car-radio and listen to it all the time. I still can’t get enough of the music we’ve recorded,” she says.
“Music is my life and it doesn’t feel like work. I’m travelling a lot, but I always manage some days off where I spend time with my family, work in my garden, play with my dogs or bake a cake – just a normal person.”
Last in Thailand for Samui Jazz Vol 5 and Jazz in Theatre, she says she’s looking forward to her return.
“I’m so excited to perform the songs live, share this beautiful music with my fans in Thailand and work again with Hitman Jazz who discovered me a few years ago and first brought me to Thailand in 2009.”
Scattershot
Here’s Kopmajer’s Thai tour schedule:
_ Thursday, 8pm – Holiday Inn, Chiang Mai.
_ Friday, 7.45pm – Flow, Hilton Millennium Bangkok.
_ May 26, 7.30pm – Horizon Rooftop, Hilton Pattaya.
_ May 27, 8pm – Ballroom, Hilton Millennium Bangkok.
