Featured Artist:
Carla Rigolin Hassett,
Vocalist
On her third day in Los Angeles, Carla
Rigolin crashed Madonna’s invite-only audition.
Thinking that LA must be like this all the time, she never
went back to Chicago. Within three months she was touring
as a backup singer with British one-hit-wonder Curiosity
Killed the Cat and then with REO Speedwagon and Sergio
Mendez. The short-lived Sergio Mendez gig brought it all
home for Carla, a native of São Paulo, Brazil,
and she spent the next two years singing Brazilian music
around Los Angeles. Carla also contributed her voice to
films, television, commercials, and an occasional album
like Gino Vannelli’s Inconsolable Man and Jon Anderson’s
Deseo. Then Billy Idol whisked her away for the year long,
Grammy nominated, full-blown chaos that was the Charmed
Life Tour.
After Charmed Life, Carla joined Christopher
Cross’s band and continued to sing on commercials
and film. She appeared in an episode of 7th Heaven as
Joy Enriquez’s backup singer and in a Mariah Carey
music video. Equally at home in the Latin world, Carla
sang backups for Mexico’s Christian Castro and recorded
with Javier Iglesias and Brazil’s Marcelo Augusto.
She also joined a team of top session singers who recorded
regularly for Disney in Spanish.
When Carla turned the focus on her own
music, she released two consecutive, critically acclaimed
CDs that blend Brazilian and American pop. Her 2007 full
length CD “Quero Saber” garnered critical
acclaim from respected magazines like URB and Global Rhythm
as well as a full page write-up in the prevalent Latin
newspaper, La Opinión.
While recording her first CD, Carla traveled
with Gary Sinise’s band and sang on Robert Towne’s
film Ask The Dusk with Salma Hayak and Collin Ferrell.
She also took a teaching gig at Flea’s (Red Hot
Chili Peppers) Silverlake Conservatory of Music. While
recording Quero Saber, Carla reunited with longtime friend
Mike Patton and collaborated on a hauntingly beautiful
recording and live video of John Lennon’s “Julia.”
Carla currently fronts the band Electrotropic-Brasil
whose debut performance included the legendary team of
Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. By chance, several reviews
of Quero Saber compared Carla to vintage Flora. Look for
more of Carla’s collaborations with the legend and
new solo recordings in the new year.
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