Now more than ever, people seem to be erecting borders - social borders, cultural borders, musical borders. Not so very long ago, dance music, hard rock and folk songs could be heard on the same commercial radio stations. Those days have passed. But every now and then, someone decides to defy preconceptions, refuses to be pigeonholed by marketing demographics, and creates music that challenges our expectations. Michele Greene, the Emmy-nominated actress best known for her role as Abby Perkins on the hit television legal drama, "L.A. Law," has opted out of the labeling game to create "Ojo de Tiburón" ("Eye of the Shark"), a CD that travels freely across styles, languages and cultures, not so much to demonstrate their differences but to celebrate their similarities.
"Ojo de Tiburón" is the culmination of Michele's multicultural upbringing, musical training, and performing experience as vocalist, lyricist and bandleader. Produced by the noted Peruvian guitarist, composer, and solo artist Ciro Hurtado, currently the musical director of the Los Angeles-based Latin American band Huaycaltia, the CD pays homage to Greene's Mexican/Nicaraguan roots with six of its nine songs sung in Spanish and accompaniment by a rich, fluid fusion of traditional and contemporary Latin sounds and North American folk influences.
Most of the songs of "Ojo de Tiburón," all co-written by Michele, are delicately sung reflections on the joys, sorrows and puzzles of love ("Siempre Volvemos," "Somos Iguales," "One Day," "Destino," "Mundo Entero," "I Know What I Know"), interspersed with understated social commentary about poverty and its price ("Ojo de Tiburon") and cultural dislocation ("La Tierra del Alma," "The Ballad of Robert Martin").
With intimate instrumental backing by Hurtado and a small group of Mexican, Peruvian and American musicians on guitars, bass, percussion, violin, cello and accordion, Greene achieves a seamless combinación of folk and pop, Español and Ingles, that doesn't just cross borders but denies them. Her hybrid approach of simplicity, sensitivity and ethnicity achieves an accessible warmth that speaks to all listeners in the international language of pure music and emotion.
After her five-year stint in "L.A. Law," Michele Greene the actress has remained active in dozens of film, stage, and television roles, including the "L.A. Law" made-for-TV reunion movie broadcast by NBC in May. Now is the time to meet Michele Greene, the singer and songwriter, a voice new to many of us and a talent that deserves to be heard.
Bio:
As an Emmy-nominated actress and blossoming singer-songwriter with a multicultural heritage, Michele Greene has answered more than one creative calling and found more than one way to express herself. She considers music and acting to be the yin and yang of her professional life, different outlets to satisfy her artistic scope. With her acting career firmly established, Michele has embarked on a challenging musical path - that of bilingual singer and songwriter, fusing elements of the Latin and North American background that is part of her life.
"Things no longer have to be one or the other," says Michele. "I have a very Anglo outlook and my last name is Greene, but my mother is Mexican/Nicaraguan and I grew up bilingual and certainly very influenced by Latin cultures and customs." With a Latina mother and an Oklahoma-born father, Michele grew up in Los Angeles with the music of Hank Williams and Lola Beltrán, Johnny Cash and the Mariachi Vargas, Woody Guthrie and Toña La Negra mingling in her home.
Greene began singing and composing as a teenager, following in the footsteps of her mother, who sang and recorded for many years with a Mexican trio. As Michele's musical skills evolved, she realized that folk and folklorico, country and conjunto, were so embedded as her influences that she had to create a sound that embraced them all. "My sound is a hybrid, taking musical elements from both cultures. I wanted to merge that beautiful fluidity of the acoustic guitar that you find in the great Mexican trios with a North American folk sound that has an intimate simplicity."
Awarded a scholarship for the Bachelor of Fine Arts program established by actor John Houseman at the University of Southern California, Michele started her classical training as an actress. During her college years, she had acting roles in various television shows and made-for-TV movies. At the same time, she began to study music and singing and continued to formulate her fusion of Latin and North American folk and pop styles.
Michele's musical development took a back seat to her acting career during her five years on NBC's "L.A. Law" series, where her role as law clerk Abby Perkins earned her an Emmy nomination as "Best Supporting Actress." After leaving the show, Michele continued to act in films and on TV, but also joined the world music group Sangre Sabia as vocalist and lyricist before assembling her own band.
Michele next formed her own production company, Requinto Productions, and recorded Ojo de Tiburon with Peruvian guitarist/composer/producer Ciro Hurtado and a small core group of international musicians and guests. "Maybe the thing I like best about Ojo de Tiburon," Michele says, "is its intimacy. Especially with Latin music being very compartmentalized, very regionalized, and heavily produced, I like the fact that we left it fluid and organic. Some songs have a very traditional folk melody set to a bolero groove, or a violin part that is a little bit jazz, a little bit mariachi. That's what I love about doing this music. It's about taking those evocative elements and flavors and weaving them together."
As her musical career unfolds and her acting career continues, Michele has found that, "on balance, I'd have to say that I prefer singing more...Musicians relate to the world through music, and that is a perspective that I find very appealing. I love being with musicians and working with them." Also, she adds candidly, "I like the hours a lot better."
Read more...