Music – Toronto
In 2007 Kaleena was a 16 year old rising RnB singer with a video featured on Much Music and an album of original songs. At 18 a three year battle with sickness led her on a life changing trip to Europe, where she discovered the music of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. On her return she decided to leave the pop life behind and reinvented herself as jazz chanteuse Kalyna Rakel. She taught herself to play guitar and started busking on the street, where she wrote most of her songs and developed her sound. Since then she has since released 4 albums of original music, performed across Europe, Canada and the United States and been featured in festivals and on radio stations all across the world.
On June 15th 2016 Kalyna released her latest album The Other Side. A brooding, atmospheric journey, the songs tell stories of finding hope in the darkest of times and learning to love yourself and those around you. The album has been featured on CBC’s Here and Now, The Signal and Metro Morning where host Matt Galloway called Kalyna Rakel one of the most exciting new voices in Canadian jazz. The CD release show was a sold out performance at Toronto’s Supermarket venue, featuring an eight piece band with backup vocalists and strings.
Kalyna is currently hard at work on her next album, and playing around Ontario with her quintet, made up of some of Canada’s top young jazz musicians. She also works regularly with philanthropic causes in Toronto, including The Matthew House (www.matthewhouse.ca), peace activist Emmanuel Jal and a recent commission to write a song raising awareness of the 1932 Ukrainian genocide. To keep up with Kalyna and her music visit www.kalynarakel.com or find ‘Kalyna Rakel’ on YouTube or any major social network.