Javier Jara (vocals & guitar);
Carlos Ufret (guitar)
Influences
Trío Los Panchos, Los Tres Ases, Víctor Jara, Violeta Parra, João Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Inti Illimani, Fito Páez, Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Pablo Milanés, Silvio Rodríguez, Rafael Escalona, Catalino "Tite" Curet, Rafael Hernández-Marín, Rafael Cortijo, Jorge Drexler, Carlos Gardel, Eliseo Grenet, etc.
Zafra is the name given to the season of sugarcane harvest in various Latin-American countries, like Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Cuba, Brasil, etc. The time of the zafra gives hope to many peasant workers and families providing a variety of jobs in the harvesting and processing of sugarcane products, including obviously sweeteners (various forms of sugar and sugar-based sweeteners) and liquors (rum, aguardiente, cachaça, etc.).
ZAFRA is also the name of an Austin-based acoustic duo specializing in folk and pop music from all over Latin-America--from México and the Caribbean heading South through Brasil, all the way down to Tierra de Fuego. Javier Jara sings and plays guitar while Carlos Ufret accompanies and takes solos. Songs are performed in their original languages, Spanish or Portuguese, although we will have some available in English. Zafra will also start making appearances as a trio, joined by Andrew Bergmann on bass.
Our repertoire includes classic Latin-American songs like Consuelo Velázquez' Bésame mucho, Antônio-Carlos Jobim's Insensatez, Pablo Milanés' Años, Violeta Parra's Gracias a la vida, Noel Estrada's En mi Viejo San Juan, Rafael Hernández' Lamento borincano, Carlos Gardel's and Alfredo Le Pera's Volver, the Cuban son Chan chan as popularized by Buena Vista Social Club, and much more. Varied genres like bolero, nueva trova, son, bossa-nova, cueca, zamba argentina, samba brasileira, etc...
Vocalist Javier Jara hails from Cuenca, Ecuador. He recently graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX where he majored in classical guitar performance. In Austin, Jara has sung with salsa band Bailengua, and has performed as a singer/guitarist at Cactus Café, Ruta Maya, etc.
Guitarist Carlos "Millo" Ufret-Vincenty is from Humacao, Puerto Rico, and has been playing guitar for half his life. Recently he has gone back to the Latin folk music that first inspired him to pick up the instrument. Here in Austin, Ufret has played with bossa-nova group Avenida da Saudade, pop band The Flying Club, played bass briefly for salsa band Bailengua, teaches guitar lessons regularly, and directs the community guitar ensemble program of the Austin Classical Guitar Society.
Percussionist Noah Mosgofian and bassist Josef Butts will start playing with Zafra this coming Fall.
Zafra is available to perform in restaurants, cafés, clubs and provide music for special events like weddings, private parties, corporate events, etc. Feel free to contact us at: zafra_music@yahoo.com or through Myspace's e-mailing system. We are currently booking gigs for this Fall.
...y de paso: siéntase en plena libertad de escribirnos en español.
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