Camila Meza Trio | Jazz at the Athenaeum | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

The series concludes Sunday, August 4, with Chilean-born guitarist-vocalist Camila Meza. She will be joined by Or Bareket on bass and Edward Simon on piano. NPR called Meza “one of the best-kept secrets in New York City,” commenting, “Camila Meza is poised to step into a broader spotlight.” The New York Times wrote, “A welcome presence in New York … Ms. Meza brings an appealing combination of lightness and depth to all the material, singing in a bright, clear voice. … Her improvising, on electric or acoustic guitar, is serious business.” DownBeat wrote, “Her impressive guitar playing serves the song as she seeks a perfect balance between poignant vocals and killer chops.”

Born in Jerusalem to parents of Moroccan, Iraqi, Argentinian, and Eastern European descent, raised between Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv, and based out of Brooklyn since 2011, Or Bareket is one of the most prominent bassists of his generation, as well as a composer and bandleader with an eclectic yet meticulously cohesive style.

Winner of the 2011 International Society of Bassists’ jazz competition, Bareket’s distinct lyricism, rhythmic dexterity, and groove-centric approach are clearly present in his playing and writing alike.

Edward Simon, a native of Venezuela, has made a name for himself over decades in America as a jazz improviser, composer-arranger, and bandleader. His profile has grown in recent years as he has explored the commonalities jazz can have with the folkloric sounds of Latin America. JazzTimes summed up his influence on the music genre this way: “Simon is less talked about than many other important jazz pianists from the Caribbean and South America, but he may be the most complete creative artist among them.”

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, as a member of the all-star SFJAZZ Collective, Simon has received a Guggenheim Fellowship; multiple composition grants, as part of Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works initiative; and South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residencies. He has recorded 16 albums as a leader or co-leader, with his latest, Solo Live (Ridgeway), released in 2021. This followed Simon’s 2020 album, 25 Years, and his 2016 album, Latin American Songbook. DownBeat praised Latin American Songbook’s “grand and sophisticated” sound, and the recording won Simon an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album. The New York Times has praised Simon’s “light, warm touch” as a pianist, while Jazz Journal International singled out “his deep emotional statements” as a composer and improviser. Simon is a Yamaha artist.