KAVISHA MAZZELLA TRIO
Kavisha Mazzella sings and plays accordion, guitar, percussion,mandolin
Irini Vela plays guitar,bazouki, mandolin
Peter Vadiveloo plays drums, cahon,cymbals,percussion,backing vocals
Influences
LIFE!
..
..The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning, a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-- Jalahuddin Rumi
Sounds Like
"Kavisha sings with the voice of a heartbroken angel"Victorioa Laurie The Australian
Kavisha Mazzella started out studying fine arts..She has a diploma in Fine Arts majoring in Painting from the Claremont School Of Arts in West Australia.She played music to pay for her paints and got carried away with her first band Rich'n'Famous which was based in Fremantle,West Australia.
Kavisha is also an ARIA Award winning musician,singer-song writer,theatre collaborator and choir director who likes to cross musical boundaries and create community experiences in her shows and take the audience on a magical journey.She has toured and played at many music festivals in Australia and overseas. Kavisha came to national attention in 1993 with Franco di Chiera's award winning quirky documentary " The Joys Of the Women" which was seen on ABC national television.The film charted the ancestral journey of Kavisha as she explored traditional italian folk songs in Australia's migrant community and in Italy.
Besides playing her own music with the Kavisha Mazzella trio,she is currently the musical director of La Voce Della Luna Italian Women's Choir in Melbourne. With poetry mixed with story telling...she makes passionate, life-affirming music which is an energetic fusion of her own songs that are deeply connected to traditions.Laced with echoes of Italian folk with healthy doses of Country, Celtic and Gypsy,her music is a blending of many ethnic influences to promote harmony.
Since 1987 Kavisha has written music for new Australian Theatre mainly for DeckChair Theatre .Amongst the many productions Kavisha collaborated on with Angela Chaplin and Katherine Thompson was " Mavis Goes To Timor" which won the Helpmann Award for best new work in 2002. In 1997 Kavisha also won Green Room Award for musical direction of "Emma Celebrazione!" by Graham Pitts.
Kavisha's musical journey began with a wacky and seriously musical Fremantle accoustic line-up Rich'nFamous"in 1988..in 1993 kavisha started to play solo and has since played at many festivals including the National Folk Festival Canberra, Woodford Folk Festival Qland,Commonwealth Games Arts festival Melbourne,Calgary(Canada) Cork Arts festival(Ire) European Broadcasters Union Radio festival(Hungary) Femme Funk(New Caledonia) in 2000 the Italian government awarded KAvisha the Italia Nel Mondo Award for her work in promoting Italian Culture in Australia.
In 2004 she was voted Port Fairy Music festival Artist Of The Year and in 2008 she was awarded the Victorian Multicultural Commissions Award for excellence.
You can hear one of Kavisha's compositions" Love and Justice " the womens anthem which was commissioned by the Victorian Womens Trust at the new Museum Of Living Democracy which is opening in Old Parliament house in Canberra at the end of July 2009. " Love and Justice" was chosen with 31 other songs to represent songs of influence in Australia!
“ I was born in London.My father is Southern Italian and my mother is Anglo Burmese. She taught me how to play guitar.My songs are about true stories. About celebrating life, love, journeys and displacement, physical and spiritual. They are about the search for home, earthly and mystical .They are about hope in spite of dark times. I mix country with gypsy, folk with blues, social commentary and comedy. It’s a mix of Mediterranian soul with Country roots.
We were migrants from Britain to Australia in the sixties. Our family grew up with “sing songs “ around a piano. I grew up in a house where my Irish /Burmese grandma played Woody Guthrie songs on the banjo and where my Italian Uncle was singing Neapolitan Opera in the kitchen of the family restaurant... so that explains the weird mix of influences in my songs I guess! And that’s why I like to get the audience singing along too....
She says"Music unites us and forcing people into categories divides people along ridiculous ethnic and social lines that are simply imaginary!I don't believe in World Music ... It's simply and powerfully music!If my songs can help people's spirit in dark times then I feel i achieved something useful on this planet!"
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"Kavisha sings with the voice of a heartbroken angel"
Victoria Laurie, The Australian
"Her voice flows like tears of joy and sorrow, there’s a saltiness and warmth of sensuality here that sings the great bitter sweet song of life. Kavisha Mazzella may have the first and last letters of the alphabet in her name but in truth, there’s a power and presence in her stage performance which is simply beyond words."
Colum Sands
"Rootin'About" for RTE Radio in Dublin.
Folkclub BBC Radio Ulster
"clear and beautiful vocals" Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald
"Mazzella's voice has a wonderful purity of tone and can lift over a melodic line with bell-like, weightless grace." Jessica Nichols The Age
"her songs have a great sense of melody and lyrical depth..." Jim Lee, Dirty Linen Magazine
Veja Entrevista que dei para o Programa “Repertório Independente”, onde eu falo de minha carreira, minha história e apesar de estar bastante gripado, ainda canto algumas canções.
Para ver este e vários outros vídeos meus no youtube, entre no link abaixo:
Just letting you know, my EP "Imaginary Mind" has finally arrived! It can be bought from my website for $10, which is found on my page, and along with that i have also uploaded two songs from it! So please have a listen if you have time, would be great to hear what you think!
Hi Kavisha, i'm so looking forward to seeing you again when i am back in Melbourne in April 2010 to celebrate the Francis Jammes poetry translation, visit Christine & Ari, and join the Amma tour.
Yes, it is so lovely when it cools off, as it is finally doing here too. I know you are making beautiful music...
Mermaids in the Well and Devils on my shoulder coming to La Mamma Explorations season Nov 19-21 Melbourne...with Andrew Lindsay telling staorie and Kavisha singing
Dear Kavisha, We would love to meet you too! We will be in Melbourne late February next year on a Ukulele Safari of Australia... it'd be great to interview you for the project!
Online Now!
