Me entregaré, me dejaré llevar,
dentro de mí, descubriré mi voz.
Sara Valenzuela first lured us into her musical world, a mystical space of dreamy pop and sweet yearning, with her solo debut album Lado Este, after a successful run with popular Mexican funk-rock band, La Dosis. The singer-songwriter, jazz enthusiast and Guadalajara culture guide continues to be one of our go-to indie/pop favorites. Always productive and performing as much as possible, Valenzuela is currently on the verge of recording and releasing a new album called Rumbo al Tercerowhich is being crowdsourced through Fondeadora while she continues her production and broadcast as host for Solo Jazz.
Originally from Mexico City, Valenzuela actually grew up in the state of Jalisco’s capital where she began her musical journey early on. Being gifted a guitar on her tenth Christmas, she learned to play and write her own songs. She also loved the arts and years later while at university, performed in musicals and theater productions including touring of the region with live performances. She also began a radio broadcast through her university’s station which focused on jazz music.
While continuing her broadcast journalism studies, Valenzuela decided to fully embark in music and dedicated her time to her first band, Mala Vida. After some time with that project she regrouped and became part of La Dosis, the seven-piece, 70s deep, fusion-funk rock band. They recorded their first albums, La Dosis and Radio Acapulco, in Guadalajara establishing themselves as pivotal to the emerging rock community in Mexico. They then sought California to record what would be their last album, Hydro. They’re in celebration mode of their upcoming twentieth anniversary and fans have been happy to see them reunite in sporadic performances as well as through new projects like Belanova, Troker and Telafunka.
Valenzuela took time after the band’s dissolution to produce her own music and in 2003 shared a single, “Para Continuar“, for The Best of Mexican Divas soundtrack (Opcion Sonica). It quickly became a hit and soon more of her music was picked up by Universal Music and Virus who released Esta Vez, an EP featuring collaborations with the likes of Sussie 4 and Orko from Azul Violeta.
https://soundcloud.com/lao/sara-valenzuela-esta-vez-fase
The requests for Valenzuela’s music as soloist grew while she performed locally and began to head out on mini-tours. We remember her exquisite performance at an LAMC showcase, the always anticipated acoustic one at SOBs, in 2005, the year she released Lado Este. Motherhood took some time away from music production the year after her debut and during this time she formed Tonica, an organization dedicated to providing educational experiences through jazz and contemporary Mexican music in Guadalajara. This also allowed her to cultivate her love of the arts by organizing festivals, workshops and conferences. Returning to music, she released En La Cocina in 2011.
Today, Valenzuela continues to host the ever popular radio program Solo Jazz on Radio Universidad de Guadalajara, XHUDG 104.3 FM which you can stream live online or via podcast. She is also ready to record and release her new album and is handling the project through crowdsourcing on Fondeadora. The album is called Rumbo Al Tercero and she explains, “Like the previous albums [Lado Este and En La Cocina] this album is just another step in finding my own voice as a songwriter and hopefully it will allow me to establish a direct, honest communication with those who lend their ears to these new songs.”
Once you take a listen to her voice, whether through her wonderful musical recordings or on her jazz broadcast, we’re sure you’ll forever lend your ears, and your support, to anything created by Sara Valenzuela.
Sara Valenzuela – Website
Sara Valenzuela – Twitter
Solo Jazz – Twitter