FOR MORE than a decade Maria Tecce has wowed audiences around the world. An accomplished jazz vocalist and actress she has been described as “a sensual angel” and “like Audrey Hepburn channelling Eartha Kitt”.
Maria’s love affair with music and theatre began in her native Boston but it was not until she moved to Ireland in the 1990s that she really began to pursue it as a career. Upon being granted an artist visa she began her journey in Galway as vocalist with traditional Irish music group The Lennon Quintet and then formed The Blow-Ins with Waterboys’ saxophonist Anto Thistletwaite.
In 2002 Maria moved to Dublin and became a regular on the jazz scene. She performed with Richie Buckley and Louis Stewart, supported Dionne Warwick, and released a solo album All About Love. She has since headlined at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, Dublin Theatre Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the New York Cabaret Conference.
The latest chapter is as writer/performer of a vibrant show entitled Viva! which brings together elements of Spanish flamenco ballads, Argentinean tango, bossa nova, and jazz. As part of a nationwide tour Maria Tecce plays Town Hall Theatre on Saturday November 28 at 8pm.
Tecce grew up in an Italian-American household in Newton, Massachusetts. She planned to train as an English teacher, but studying in Britain for a year in the late 1980s whetted her appetite for European culture. Maria decided to travel to the west of Ireland and make her life in Galway.
“I had never lived in a place as small as Galway so I had no idea what to expect,” she says. “What I found was this thriving artistic community that was vibrant and exciting and innovative and very welcoming.
“One thing that really surprised me at the time was the level of support the Government gave the arts. It was such a vital part of the social fabric when I first arrived. Riverdance had just happened and a lot of trad bands from Galway were able to go all over the world and it was an amazing boom time for Irish music.”
In the late 1990s Maria served her apprenticeship on the trad/folk scene in Galway before graduating to the Irish jazz/blues/cabaret scene. That scene has also produced Camille O’Sullivan, Imelda May, and Jerry Fish, and Tecce is inspired by their success.
“It’s very exciting to see people who have been working hard and grafting for years getting some places,” she says. “The attitude I grew up with was that if you worked hard you could achieve anything you wanted. When people around you experience success it is something you can really take heart from.”
Viva!
This past year has been hugely successful for Maria as she brought Viva! to the Prague and Edinburgh fringe festivals and headlined the Lincoln Centre in New York. Prague TV reported: “As the thunderstorm raged on outside, the singer’s voice reverberating off the walls of the church, chills went down my spine; I was left, quite literally, breathless.”
For Maria, Viva! is a labour of love.
“Latin and tango music is something I’ve been passionate about since I was in high school,” she says. “I took a Spanish class as part of my studies and I just became fascinated with the culture. I think what attracts me to the music is the sensuality and the passion. A lot of the songs have great drama to them and the stories are fantastic.
“The Spanish and the Italians are truly great at heartbreak. I’m very fortunate in that I have a lot of friends who are Spanish, Argentinean, and Italian and they gave me a lot of material. I put the word out that I was looking for songs in Spanish and Italian and I came across names such as Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla, Jose Feliciano, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
“There’s so much stuff out there but I tended to pick songs that I liked the story of. Every song in the show is like a tiny vignette. The language has so much musicality and drama.”
Maria can bring a genuine dramatic feel to her work as not only is she a singer, she is also an accomplished actress. She acted in Jim Sheridan’s In America and also had a recurring role in Fair City. This past 12 months she performed in a number of exciting roles.
“I’ve been very lucky this year in that I’ve had some very nice projects come my way,” she says. “The Hugh Leonard play Roman Fever was brought back for another run and I co-starred in that. I did a short film with Jack L called I Love Musicals and that was great fun. I don’t particularly go searching for roles but when something challenging comes my way I take it on with gusto and really enjoy doing it.”
With Viva! Maria is bringing a flavour of Spanish spice to venues around the country and when she plays Galway, it will be a fitting end to a run that began in Prague earlier this year.
“Galway is the last stop on the tour and I couldn’t ask for a better place to finish,” Maria says. “I have such a soft spot in my heart for the place and have such fond memories of living there. It’s such a pleasure to bring back a piece of work that I enjoy and to share that with the city where it all started.”
For tickets to see Viva! at the Town Hall Theatre contact 091 - 569777.
