When Amy K. Bormet moved back from Los Angeles to her native Washington, D.C., she brought a bit of LA back with her. True to form, Bormet had found dear friends and new collaborators in LA — and when the opportunity presented itself to start up a new project, she ran with it.
The product was AmyAna, a band co-led by Bormet and Brazilian-born drummer Ana Barreiro [ba-HEY-roo], backed up by a bi-coastal roster of musicians with close ties to Bormet. In this performance, filmed at DC’s Eaton Hotel, the rhythm section is filled out by longtime collaborator Karine Chapdelaine on bass, and Matt Dievendorf on guitar — who I assume is an even longer-time collaborator, being both Bormet’s husband and a core component of Strange Woman Records, their DIY label — plus saxophonist David Wise, an original AmyAna member flown in from LA.
AmyAna’s sound is a perfect melding of familiar Brazilian samba and bossa ideas with a constantly-changing, always-inventive blend of modern jazz. When you listen to the band, you can hear Bormet and Barreiro’s individual voices quite clearly, but you can also hear a third: their voices’ combined sound, an equally unique and equally exciting thing to experience. // Jamie Sandel, CapitalBop
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Recorded March 6, 2022 at the Eaton, Washington DC
CapitalBop’s ’22 Artist Residency presents: AMYANA
Ana Barreiro — drums
Amy K. Bormet — keyboard
Karine Chapdelaine — bass
Matt Dievendorf — guitar
David Wise — saxophone
‘We Have Other Plans’ by Amy K. Bormet
cameras: Jamie Sandel, Lauren Honesty
audio engineer: Jamie Sandel
audio mix/master + video edit by: Jamie Sandel
produced by Jamie Sandel for CapitalBop
presenting associate, ’22 residency: Kelsye Adams
Special thanks to Eaton DC, Andrew Grant, Matt Dievendorf, Lauren Honesty and Strange Woman Records
The editing and publication of this video was supported by a grant from HumanitiesDC as part of the Humanities Grant Program, an initiative funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.