Portland-based vocalist Belinda Underwood is a young (29) star on the rise. Celebrating her debut recording, Underwood Uncurling, the multi-talented Underwood not only sings but also plays bass and ukulele. In a rare foray to the Midwest, Underwood makes her Twin Cities debut at the Dakota on Wednesday, February 9th, and moves over to the Loring Pasta Bar on February 10th. A multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter, Underwood defies classification. "It's hard to classify myself but here goes.....jazz, Latin jazz, vocal jazz, instrumental jazz, swing, blues, vintage jazz, lounge, free jazz, big band, pop, rock, folk, country, middle eastern, world, electronica, singer/songwriter....I dabble in it all because it is all valid and interesting to me."

Daughter of a jazz pianist, Underwood notes that she was exposed to jazz in the womb and from birth as she napped under her mother's piano. As a child she studied violin and harp, falling in love with the upright bass at age sixteen. In high school she traveled to Australia with the Monterey Jazz Festival Honor Band as a bassist, and in college played and traveled with the UC Berkeley Wednesday Band. She came rather late to vocal jazz: "It was hard for me sometimes, to translate my musical thoughts onto the bass during improvisation. There were lines in my head but my fingers couldn't find them fast enough, and rather than get frustrated during practice, I would just sing the bass solo." While at Berkeley, she met David Friesen at a workshop, and after a short detour to study dance and music in Havana, moved to Portland to study with Friesen. She attributes her interest in song writing to Friesen, who appears on her recording.

Around Portland, she gigs with several different ensembles, playing jazz and middle eastern music. The self-produced recording Underwood Uncurling features Friesen, Airto Moreira, John Gross, Dan Balmer, Clay Giberson, Chad Wagner, Jason Levis, and Pink Martini members Phil Baker and Martin Zarzar. Primarily a vehicle for her vocal chops, the recording includes Underwood's original compositions as well as jazz standards. Wrote George W. Carroll (The Musicians' Ombudsman), "She can burn hard on her acoustic bass, while she delivers her rendition of The American Songbook. Belinda possesses a voice that renders song with a mastery of inflection.......all backed up by her bold, innovative, non-compromising, and tight jazz group."

"We have seen the power of music affect change in our own age by inspiring people to ask questions about the paradigms that keep our society from growing...I want to create music that lifts people up, gets people down, causes beautiful feelings as well as uncomfortable feelings... whatever it takes to help people (myself included) break free from the habitual ways of thinking about ourselves and about life... I feel that I have been called to create music to put some positive energy into the universe and also because making music is a journey that takes me deeper into myself." -Belinda Underwood

Catch Belinda Underwood on February 9, 7 pm at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis, 1010 Nicollet Mall (www.dakotacooks.com). On Thursday, February 10, Underwood performs with the John Devine Trio at the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown, http://loringpastabar.com. More on Belinda Underwood online at www.belindaunderwood.com