Rosita Kèss

“Every tune on this album deserves a paragraph of it's own, 12 originals, all top shelf!” ~ Street Cred Music.

First you take a Bossa Nova ~ throw it in a blender with a French chanson ~ add a few drops of old Cuban and Argentine flavors ~ and you’ll have something that sounds like Rosita Kèss’ new album “F.L.O.Y.D.” (For Love Of Your Desire). Recorded in New Orleans, this stylistic tour de force spans four languages with Rosita’s honeyed alto weaving the common thread seamlessly throughout.

Originally from Venice, Italy, Rosita Kèss’ gypsy spirit led her to Berlin, Paris, Barçelona and London before landing in New York City and ultimately New Orleans where she spent two years writing and recording the songs that comprise “F.L.O.Y.D. Her third record, it is produced by Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, Jill Sobule) and features Jon Cleary on piano, guitar, and percussion. It is due for release in the fall of 2013.
“I live in a constant state of motion and I think my music reflects this. I have a little Argentine blood as well and the very first compositions I fell in love with were old recordings by Mercedes Souza and Ariel Ramirez that my grandmother used to play in the house. I’ve always felt particularly sentimental listening to Tango; it‘s the music of the immigrants and reflects their profound sense of loss and longing for the people and places they left behind. It was born in African-Argentine dance venues where Polkas, Mazurkas, Waltzes were mixed with the popular Habanera from Cuba and the Candombe rhythms from Africa. These are the major influences in my music.”
Rosita moved from Europe to NYC in 2007 with a scholarship to study music and, while there, put together a band with some well-respected musicians performing in venues on the Lower East Side. A few years later she met the singer-songwriter Richard Julian (Norah Jones, Little Willies). They started to collaborate, and together they relocated to New Orleans. “ I immediately fell in love with Richard’s vision of the world reflected in his writing. A mix of poetry, romanticism, humor, sarcasm.”

Her previous two records are “Almost…me” (2007), recorded in Germany, and “Northern Sky” (2011), produced in Brooklyn, NY by Richard Julian and Jesse Murphy (Brazilian Girls, John Scofield). “Northern Sky” features Beth Hirsch (of the band AIR) and brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco (Thom Yorke, David Byrne).Rosita currently lives with Richard and their son in NY.