If you’re looking to get your boogie-woogie, blues, and jazz piano fix, Ladyva is the musician for you.
Having started playing the piano aged 14, the musical sensation began performing just two years later with her brother, Pascal Silva.
She has since made appearances on TV and performed at prestigious musical festivals… but of course, quarantine has all that on hold this year.
Artists are having to think outside the box, finding ways to entertain their audience without putting on in-person shows.
Thank goodness for the internet, which has been more important than ever before in 2020.
Not only has it kept us connected with friends and family, but it has also allowed musicians like Ladyva to continue to showcase their work to their online fans.
Naturally, Ladyva named her April 2020 performance “Quarantine Boogie” – there could be nothing more fitting.
Performing online has its benefits, as Ladyva is keen to show.
When you watch a musician on stage, you’re never close enough to appreciate the skill and technique that goes into playing an instrument.
But in her “Quarantine Boogie”, Ladyva has set up multiple cameras from different angles, so we can watch her play from the side and get a good view of her fingers on the keys.
And with Ladyva, the movements of her fingers are what ultimately make her such a standout performer.
She’s so incredibly quick to hit all the keys at once, yet she’s never a second off-beat. Her fingers almost look as if they’re dancing to the tune she’s playing.
This sort of performance could only result from pure talent – especially as Ladyva only started to play the piano aged 14.
Yes, practice makes perfect, but most people reach a point in piano-playing where they can’t get any better, because they’re just not cut out for it.
But not Ladyva!
Playing from her home in the Dominican Republic, Ladyva puts on the sort of performance people would pay hundreds of dollars to see.
It’s unsurprising that she won an award for “Best Boogie Woogie Pianist 2017” at the Boisdale Music Awards.
The Boogie Woogie isn’t an easy tune to play, either.
You need incredible stamina to pull it off in full succession, with the left hand setting the pace and the right hand playing patterns and melody lines that can either be memorized or improvised.
As if that wasn’t confusing enough, a typical Boogie Woogie piano solo introduces new melodic ideas with every new chorus, which challenges the average musician’s imagination.
But perhaps Ladyva has played the Boogie Woogie so often that she’s nailed it, because she definitely isn’t struggling in her “Quarantine Boogie”.
If anything, Ladyva looks as calm as if she’s playing something far less challenging, like the triangle.
She doesn’t even need to focus on the piano, and spends most of her time smiling at the camera. Now that’s some impressive muscle memory!
Less than a year after it was posted, the “Quarantine Boogie” has more than 1 million views. People just can’t get enough of Ladyva, and if they can’t watch her perform in real life, YouTube is the next best thing.
She doesn’t often post videos from home, preferring to share her live performances on-stage, so this video is a special one-off.
If you haven’t yet listened to this truly amazing pianist, click the video below for her quarantine performance.
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