Singer, composer and lyricist with a distinctive personal musical style. A charismatic performer, at times warm and intimate, then again expressive and extroverted, masterfully weaving together the traditional music of her native island Curaçao, with jazz.
Izaline possesses the exceptional gift that makes all the difference for a soloist, as she sings in her mother tongue, Papiamentu, with feeling and grace. She has this ability to remain true to her roots and successfully reach out and conquer audiences around the world singing in an unfamiliar language, while melding seamlessly the pulsating rhythms of Afro-Antilles music with jazz.
Soño Di Un Muhé
Following her conservatory studies in voice and composition all the while gaining professional experience in various groups, in the year 2000 Izaline releases her first solo album on her own label. The title song, ‘Soño Di Un Muhé’ (One Woman’s Dream), describes a dream coming true. Though not yet very well known as a soloist, her CD launch concert in the famous Amsterdam jazz temple, the BIM-Huis, sells out and she sets the place on fire! The Dutch newspaper ‘NRC Handelsblad’ notes: ‘Izaline Calister writes history at the BIM-Huis.’
Mariposa
With her second album release in 2002, ‘Mariposa’ Izaline continues on the road where ‘Soño Di Un Muhé’ left off. In 2003 Izaline played at North Sea Jazz festival, the Folkest Festival, Rome Jazz festival and the Kilkenny festival in Ireland. ‘Mariposa’ was nominated for an Edison Award in 2003.
Krioyo
In 2004 Izaline releases this album on the very respected world music label Network Medien, based in Germany. The cd is called ‘Krioyo’ (‘Creole’) and shows her development towards original and traditional rhytms of the Caribbean culture. The cd sums up the ongoing process of creolization that has been at the heart of Caribbean society for centuries. That mixing, blending, reworking and making of new cultures of the old.
The cd has been released in more than 40 countries all over the world. Followed by an extensive tour in the Netherlands, Germany and 3 weeks in Mexico.
Kanta Hélele
Izaline finished her album ‘Kanta Hélele’ in May 2006.
‘Kanta Hélele is a very personal project, both in terms of composition and in the deep development of my singing’ says Izaline. On this album, as on her previous Network release, we hear her voice in all its purity, straight from the soul. And she appeals directly to us: ‘Kanta Hélele is an expression of my love for life, my optimistic nature, my humour and my great love of all that is melancholic, melodic, rhythmic and from the heart.’
Speransa
Speransa (Hope in Papiamento) is the title of Izaline Calister’s fifth solo-album, which she, like all her other albums, produced herself. For input and inspiration she contacted producer Jacques Ehrhart (Henri Salvador, Camille, Mayra Andrade) whose work she admires.
Jacques, impressed with her skills for songwriting and ‘creating a beautiful atmosphere’ gave her the confidence and inspiration to proceed in her writing and producering process. The result is this beautiful, intimate and personal album that gives you a glimpse of Caribbean Sun and Sea.
Speransa discovers her as a gifted producer and the solid confirmation of Izaline’s writing and composing talents.
‘I collect stories’, she says, ‘stories of friends and of the little things that happen to the people around her, or newspaper reports’. She combines them with her own views and feelings about her life on Curaçao and in Holland, divided between two worlds.
On Curaçao(with Aruba and Bonaire known as the ABC-islands), as indeed everywhere in the Caribbean, diversity and renewal, change and tradition have melded to create an irresistible mix. Influences from Africa, Europe and more recently America, have spawned an electrifying new cocktail that ranges from vibrant lust for life to dark melancholy. Izaline does not want to see its cultural heritage getting lost. And it goes without saying that she writes her lyrics in Papiamentu, the language of the ABC-islands. It is a Creole blend of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and English that is unique in the world.
Uptil now, the musical traditions of Curaçao have tended to be overshadowed by other Latin American music such as salsa, merengue, reggae and soca. Izaline has injected a rejuvenating vitality into the traditional music of her homeland, incorporating new musical directions without pandering to fashionable technical fads. Already, she is being hailed as Curaçao’s cultural ambassador and received the Excellence Award of Curaçao for her musical career.
Izaline grew up on Curaçao with her family, with whom she has close bonds. Although her mother died when Izaline was very young, she still remembers her as a woman who filled the house with singing from morning to evening in the first years of her life. Music was not something you learned. It was simply there. Music was everywhere.
