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About Us
BluChaCha - how it all started
BluChaCha is a continuation of Vera's former Band La Verdad. In between she collaborated with different people, playing and writing different styles of music, also with different instrumentation. Her passion for Latin Rhythms though called her back to the former concept of La Verdad with 3 trombones and a hot rhythm section. But now influenced deeply by Funk, Blues, Soul etc. and of course great musicians, Vera had to create a cross over! Heavy lived lives don't go by without growth!
There it was born, the new baby "BluChaCha". Now the new band is back to three trombones, the same hot rhythm section with drums, piano, bass and percussion but with an addition of guitar and flute/sax! Over the years Vera played with Willie Hernandez - a flutist - sooo much that they became best friends. She had to have him in the band plus it sounds just great!! (But very sadly, Willie retired though from music cause of an illness.)
BluChaCha exists since late summer of 2014. They are playing pieces from the La Verdad album "Buddies & Bones" and other known tunes by Tito Puente or Willie Colon, just to mention a few. But Vera is constantly writing and arranging new material for the band, originals and also well known standards, everything comes with a twist of her personal flavor.
But here is the best: Friends have been pushing Vera to sing for years. Never could she have imagined singing until she started to sing chorus with Willie and the F.B. Band and it worked well! But singing a real song??! So she always said: "If I ever start singing I have to start with something I know."
Now here is the story: When she was about 5 years old Vera sang along with her parent's 45's German Pop Songs called "Schlager" from the 60's and early 70's. She remembers such joy and love for music, she never forgot about. "Only those memories could give me the confidence to get started!" she thought. And finally she wrote arrangements and now sings German Schlager over home cooked Latin beats! Or just Imagine 'The girl from Ipanema' in German!!!
With Love, Vera "Trombonita" Kemper
Trombonita - how it all started
It all started with a wonderful dream when I was a little girl. "Daddy I wanna play trombone!" My father looked at me weird and seemed to be surprised where that came from. My parents at the time were not agreeing to feed such an idea and helped me to move into a different direction. The dream was put to sleep...
Always in love with music though, I finished the whole regular school education and later decided to study engineering. I moved to Berlin, got my diploma and worked in the field of mechanical engineering. While working professionally as "a pipe expert" the multicultural influence of Berlin exposed me to more than what pipes could do for buildings, they could also make noise! The trombone, a moving pipe! What a wonderful discovery!!!
The old dream popped up as a refreshing invitation to new adventures and experiences. Still working, I started to take lessons and the love of my childhood dream was instantly reborn. Then in 1997 I moved to New York City to learn from the best like Art Baron, Jack Gale, Douglas Purviance, Conrad Herwig and Luis Diego Bonilla, just to mention a few. Over the years living in NYC exposed me to a million musicians of all levels. I started to play with various bands in various styles of music. While playing along I discovered my talent for arranging and composing - writing music. Which lead me to enter the Jazz program at Queens College to get my Masters of Music. The possibilities at Queens College with such wonderful teachers like Michael Phillip Mossman and Antonio Hart opened up doors to grow strong into a totally new field! Of all styles of music I studied, I developed a special love for Latin music.
Living for four years in the Bronx immersed me in the music with it's special rhythms and it's culture. I will never forget how I was blown away by my first Afro Cuban Music experience in Bobby Sanabria's New School big band class first when I got to NYC, what a great teacher he is!
Today I work as a freelance trombonist -musician, teacher, arranger, composer and band leader. I taught advanced band, trombone, trumpet and recorder for the Brooklyn Conservatory and private schools for many years until now. I work with different big bands, small bands, Latin bands, Motown bands, Blues Bands, Rock bands, theater show bands etc.. My instruments are tenor trombone, bass trombone and tuba, but not to forget also vocal and percussion.
My Story - It's all about the vision! My dream come true! BluChaCha is alive!
Now you know where BluChaCha is really coming from!
We are here for you
Let us blow you away with great fun!