“If I cannot fly, let me sing.”
“There are some places only music can go…”
Boca
BOCA GAMBALE
(Singer / Songwriter / Lyrist / Performer / Producer / Educator )
What people have said about Boca…
“She has the vocal range to put your lights out, and yet, the softness of silk”.
Smooth JazzTimes
“Her delivery is strong, sultry, bluesy and she brings something to the jazz stage that many American jazz singers lack now a days, a vision to take the voice outside of the traditional jazz realm and make it something more alluring…,’ Dirty Low Down Review
“I was waiting for the right voice to come along. When I heard hers, I thought, “We really have to do something together”. “She’s a real inspiration to me in a lot of ways. She’s a huge talent.” It is a wonderful collaboration.” Vintage Guitar Magazine-Frank Gambale, Grammy Award Winning Jazz Guitarist
“Signaling the return of quality music, Boca shines with powerful lyrics and a captivating vocal style. Layered in jazz, blues and soul, she will remind you of what’s been missing from today’s contemporary music scene. ‘Edge Of Night’ is an emotional soundtrack of life! And Boca is one talent worth keeping an eye and ear on.” James V- Sony
“Boca, and an amazingly talented vocalist whose voice is soothing, seductive, and made for jazz.” Entertainment Bank
“Boca’s vocal style is engaging and there is a passion that clearly comes through in her performances” Entertainment Bank
“Boca has the whole package that includes solid songwriting, looks, voice and killer arrangements….” Live Review LA Music Connection
“As a teaching artist at our charter school, Boca inspired students and teachers to use music to deepen understanding of concepts and ideas and to creatively share what they know and have learned. Whether they were analyzing a piece of music, writing their own lyrics, or keeping time to a simple beat students were engaged in learning the theory and elements of music, while exploring their own creativity. Boca’s knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for music and teaching made a significant impact on our learning community, and helped us define our arts program.”
Gayle Nadler, Executive Director, Multicultural Learning Center, Canoga Park, Calif.
A native of Toronto, Canada her love of music has taken her the world over performing songs she has written and recorded.
Her voice is captivating, strong and evocative. Her songs tumble forth a muscular stream of focused consciousness. This is Boca, a Toronto born singer/songwriter whose evolving life-journey has led her to dive deeply into music’s rushing rivers.
Songwriting for Boca is a direct channel to the heart. To enter the realm of musical creation, for her, is to tap an endless flow of inspiration. Her songs provide her with an intense experience of catharsis and release. “It’s a process of osmosis” she explains, “I deal with raw emotion. That’s where the strength and power is. In my life, sometimes a song was the only friend I had, I keep that in mind and write from this place…”
Boca’s creative strength lies in her intuitive approach. When she writes or sings, she allows an emotional propulsion to lead her to the final result. Each song is imbued with her fiery, yet subtle energy. “The best compliment someone can give me about my music, is that they feel it,” she says. A unique Artist Boca blends elements of blues and jazz into an organic , soulful mix. The sound is accessible and passionate, what she likes to call “ a little bit a this, a little bit a that, mixed with a lotta some’in’ some’in’, and then you get me!”.
A defining moment came in her life January 2007 when Boca would have her first encounter with legendary guitarist Frank Gambale at the renowned “Baked Potato” in LA. This meeting would prove to dramatically change her life forever. Soon their musical and personal orbits were synched, enmeshed and sealed – “Soul mates.”
In the summer of 2010 Boca would collaborate with Frank Gambale resulting in “Frank Gambale Soulmine feat. Boca” Soulmine is an awe-inspiring album with ten songs that are a scintillating reflection of this dynamic duo’s first collaboration. She tours the world with Gambale performing to large audiences and delivering memorable shows. Their highly anticipated next release “Frank Gambale Soulmine “Salve” is soon to be released.
When asked about her work on Soulmine, Boca states, “Soulmine is a reflection of all the best parts of me. It is always an enormous pleasure for me to record an album. To write and record an album with such an incredibly phenomenal and unique Artist as Frank – writing and singing about life, love and hope and my experiences thus far truly exceeds my expectation of ‘love in action’ My present life is nothing short of being ‘in dreams awake’”.
Her professional experience and continued commitment to music as a Songwriter, Singer, Lyricist, Performer, Producer and Educator has allowed Boca to gain the respect of her peers, industry professionals, garnishing international affiliations and alliances with professional organizations that span many countries. Boca is sought after as a Lyricist for her ability to arrange songs that have melodically intricate and harmonically dense motiffs . She works with Film Composers in this capacity and has released some of her work as singles that can be found on iTunes or her website www.bocasongs.com “Just To Touch Your Hand” and “To Love You” are examples of this kind of work.
Boca is the youngest of four children. Her parents, Italian immigrants instilled in her a strong work ethic. Boca had a deep desire to play the piano at an early age. Much to her Mother’s disapproval her Father recognized his daughter’s innate talent and found her a private teacher. Her career path was set into motion. She started playing the piano at the age of 9, and soon after began taking her exams at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. But it was clear from a very young age and from the very first moment she touched a piano that her true love was songwriting and she became enamored with the power of a song. Life’s negative circumstances fueled Boca’s artistry and her need to escape into the world of music and expression. Her piano teacher encouraged her to sing. Boca’s strong, soulful voice suggested a singer much older than she was. It wasn’t long before Boca at age 13 began performing professionally, working with seasoned musicians much older than herself singing in Italian, English and Spanish, covering a wide range of music from Top 40, R&B, Soul, Rock and Alternative for Corporate and Public functions (Young Teens Woman’s Awareness Conference, CHIN Radio Benefit for the Homeless)
She continued to perform, write and record with original groups in Toronto through out her high school years. “It gave me the opportunity for self expression and helped me determine my own sound.”
At the suggestion of a long time musical mentor, she attended the highly acclaimed Jazz Program at Humber College School of Creative and Performing Arts in Toronto known for turning out top industry professionals in Canada. She graduated with high honors. It was here that Boca truly flourished as a musician. Initially accepted on behalf of her voice and classical theory background. Boca thrived on studying composition and arranging while she performed and recorded with the schools’ premier 13 piece R&B funk ensemble ‘Blue Jackets Required’. In this time, she also discovered her love for world music and was encouraged to explore her talent in this idiom. She immersed herself in the songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Salsa and folkloric music and dance. After only a short time, Boca began to sing and dance with various authentic Latin Jazz groups and performed in many Summer Festival Concert Series through out Toronto (Habourfront Latin Jazz Series) Detroit ( Concert of Colors) and L.A. (Playboy Jazz Festival) to name a few. She displayed her chops comfortably in three to four languages including Spanish, Portuguese and African dialects
Boca continued honing her craft as a Songwriter accompanying herself on piano playing in Art Fairs, and Clubs in the greater Detroit area, selling her first EP “Delving The Depths” that she would duplicate herself and package from her apartment and take with her to sell at her shows. It was in Detroit where she wrote many of the songs that would find their way onto her first solo independent release BOCA “Edge Of The Night”
Boca has weathered the trying but truly organic experience of coming up the ranks in music by ‘paying her dues ’ in the music industry in not one but three cities- Toronto, Detroit and LA.
She was nominated for a Detroit Music Award for “Outstanding World Singer” for her work with pianist Eileen Orr of the Grammy nominated Jazz Group “Straight Ahead”. Along with her world beat performances she continued to accompany herself on piano and share her music and headline in clubs and Festivals through out the Metropolitan Detroit and Los Angeles Area (Intermezzo, Woodruff’s, The Temple Bar, The Mint, The Joint).
Soon Boca’s talents and professional recognition brought affiliations with performing arts schools in Detroit and then on to Los Angeles, mentoring and producing music curriculum for teachers as well as children. Boca shares her love and knowledge of music and the music business through performance, writing, recording, and teaching. This has been her anchor and foundation in all the cities she’s lived. She began teaching group piano classes in a private school in Toronto while she was still in College. In Detroit she taught private lessons for both piano and voice. She went on to teach Music for Elementary and High school classes and also wrote the Music Curriculum for a Performing Arts school in Detroit (K-12). For a time, Boca in her determination to supply students with music education carried a red hockey bag filled to the brim with instruments in order to bring music on a weekly basis into inner city Detroit schools which otherwise would not have had music.
Boca moved to LA in August 2001 and continued to write, perform and sing in various groups continuing to share her love of music with audiences and students in the Southern California Area.
Upon moving to Los Angeles she was immediately hired as a Music Director for a prestigious private school in Woodland Hills. She held the position for several years. She was required to write and produce all the school performances for each grade level assembly, as well as all the school’s featured shows through out the year. She did this along with teaching 8 Music classes a day to 350 kids a week! She then went on to hold an Artist in Residency position in a cutting edge Magnet School in Canoga Park, CA. There the objective was for her to teach Teacher’s by strengthening their skills in Music, (poetry, movement, dramatic arts) helping the teacher’s to incorporate the Arts into their classroom. Teachers would then teach their assigned curriculum in a dynamic way allowing students to get off the page of the text book and learn the material by full use of their imagination and artistic expression.
Her next indicated step was to record her own CD with her own songs- “Edge Of The Night” CD – the result of years of honing her musical craft and seeking the power and depth in song. Boca joined forces with long time friend and Producer Marco Luciani (Juno Award winning songwriter who co-wrote the song “Overdrive” on the multi-platinum selling Dirty Dancing original soundtrack). “ Edge Of The Night” CD was Boca’s musical introduction that distinguished her as an inspirational songstress. This CD was given rave reviews and received steady airplay on smooth jazz stations with her single “Morning, Noon and Night”. The CD’s title track “Edge Of The Night” is the featured theme song in the documentary “Unsung Heroes”, Produced by Antonio Soave (Capistrano Films), Doug Deluca ( Producer- Jimmy Kimmel Live ) with instrumental score by Bruce Miller ( composer of the “Frasier” theme song ). It was at this time Boca was invited back to her native Canada to be featured on Canada AM the ‘Good Morning Canada’ national Television show to perform her own music.
Boca’s savy business acumen and her tenacity to ‘get things down and not wait for anyone to do it for you…’ led her to start Fuze Music Group. She would represent firstly herself under a psuedonym along with advocating for other musicians and Artists friends. Her years as an Independent Artist and her ability to negotiate well, gave her first hand experience to understand the inner-workings of what’s involved with the business of music, distribution, booking, promotion and producing live shows, EPKs and video. She has learned the music business from many different sides and continues to negotiate many Performance Contracts, Artist Agreements and Endorsements.
Boca believes in the power of Music, Creativity, Music Education and Art Education so much so she founded “In The Muse Creative Center” in Palm Springs, CA. A place where music, writing, drama, improve classes were made available for all ages. Her intention was to have a creative- community- gathering-place for both professionals and novices to share their talent, learn, grow and communicate.
Boca shares her gift and love of music by offering her vast experience, unique heartfelt perspective through her songs and in turn has an inspirational teaching style, a result of over 30 years of professional Singing/Songwriting experience. Her fun, strategic,hands-on-approach to teaching music as a language are the building blocks for music education, confidence, self-esteem and self-expression. Her natural, intuitive approach, coupled with her experience, models the old tradition of learning your craft and learning it well. She imparts a greater understanding of music, creative expression, owning your own voice, important life skills along with a strong work ethic that works.
Today Boca is invited to sing, perform, write, teach and share her experience in various Jazz Festivals, Concert Halls, Clubs Schools through out the world. She continues to write, record and perform her own songs as well as collaborates with top industry professionals living her dream as a Songwriter.
Her mission statement is to: Empower, ignite, illuminate creativity to stir the human heart through song.
Boca walks this creative journey with her loving husband and soulmate, world-renowned Guitarist, Frank Gambale, 9 year old daughter Luna, two cats-Magic and Musica, their dog Shoogie and a Beta Fish named Cora.
