From Spain and Atlanta!!! Rising Star Vocalist from Barcelona, Spain, and recent Masters Graduate from Juilliard makes Cleveland debut at Irishtown Bend Taproom! Featuring pianist Kenny Banks Jr. (Lizz Wright, Stefon Harris) from Atlanta, Georgia. Vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Mar Vilaseca was born in 1998, in Barcelona, Spain. Mar grew up in a musical environment and learned how to play and sing at a very young age, being exposed to a wide variety of music. She was classically trained in piano and traditional harmony at the Conservatorio del Liceo. At the age of 14, she started singing professionally in her father’s jazz band. Mar finished her classical studies in 2016, and then decided to focus her career on vocal jazz. She was accepted at the Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya, where she got her undergraduate degree in Jazz Voice. During those college years, Mar then took her first of many trips to New York City. The diversity of culture and music captivated her, and soon she moved to New York. In 2020, she also released her first album entitled Find the Way, which presents all original compositions. Mar got her Masters in Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, and studied with Wynton Marsalis, Carla Cook, Elio Villafranca, Kenny Washington, and Donald Vega. She graduated in 2022 with the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship Award. Mar has collaborated with numerous artists from different parts of the world, including Emmet Cohen, Elio Villafranca, Benny Benack III, and more. She has performed at various international music festivals such as Barcelona Jazz Festival, Festival de Jazz de San Javier (Spain), Guangzhou Jazz Festival (China), and Festival de Jazz de Bogota (Colombia). Pianist Kenny Banks Jr., a resident of Atlanta, GA has earned a reputation as one of the most dynamic jazz artists in the Southeast. Kenny was a finalist in the 2019 American Pianists Awards. Kenny has traveled around the world performing and recording with a wide variety of artists in the jazz, gospel, and Afro-Cuban genres. Artists include Kurt Elling, Keyon Harrold, Jazzmeia Horn, Theo Croker, Jeff Tain Watts, Russell Malone, Gerald Albright, Charlie Hunter, Jennifer Holliday, David Sanchez, and Queen Latifah. Kenny is noted for his blended technique in mixing jazz and gospel styles. Downbeat Magazine describes his playing as “gospel and blues-infused” and calls his arrangements “thrilling, modern and surprising.”