ABOUT
FORGOTTEN STORIES
There are numberless Jazz Standards out there! But not all of them were written down and collected in the great american songbook or in a real/fake book.
In my current project I'm giving some of these forgotten songs a voice again! May the beauty of these forgotten story never vanish!
Afra Jemina Hämmerli is a young Jazz Singer from Switzerland. After she had finished her bachelor degree at the Jazzcampus Basel with Ann Malcolm, she moved to Barcelona to dive into the traditional Jazzscene that the city offers. She absolved her master degree in 2018 at ESMUC (Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya) with Carme Canela. 2019-2021 she did her master of arts in vocal pedagogy, which makes her a certified vocal coach. Currently she lives in Istanbul, Turkey.
She destinguishes herself by living the characters and stories of “the great american songbook” vividly. One can say she dedicated herself to express and interpret the lyrics of days gone by – always cherishing the composers and lyricists.
Barcelona
I stayed roughly 2 years in Barcelona. The first year I studied Vocal Performance with Carme Canela and the second I sang in several Clubs in and around Barcelona. I also recorded a few songs with Rai Paz and Tomeu Garcias which can be heard on Youtube.
East Europe Tour
Our east-europe tour brought us to Istanbul, Tbilisi, Sofia and Athens. Together with Linus Eppinger and Nadav Erlich we were playing and travelling for 20 days. We had a great time and were lucky to be warmly welcomed by all the jazz venues and their lovley listeners.
New York City
In 2019 I went to stay in NYC for a few weeks. I was lucky to take classes with Marylin Maye and Gabrielle Stravelli. I got together with a few local musicians to play sessions at their houses, I was singing in the sessions in Mezzrow Jazzclub and went so see many many Jazzconcerts in all the major clubs. This time was truly inspiring to me! My sincere thanks to everyone who was part of my experience.
Istanbul
When I arrived in Istanbul my first time during our East-Europe Tour I knew that I wanted to spend more time in this city. Soon after I found the local jazz scene which seemed to fit my style of music very well. I fell in love with the city by the Bosporus. It's the city I currently live in.