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Maria Aurigema

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Aurigema means "golden gem" in Italian. There couldn't be a more fitting title for this talented artist. Maria Aurigema was born in Buffalo, NY on March 30, 1969, the fourth child in a family of all boys. She shares her birthday with two influential individuals in her life; her mother Brigitte and Eric Clapton. 1969 was a year of love and passion; two words that perfectly describe Maria's interpretation of the blues.

Maria grew up amid the musically explosive years of the seventies and had a very early exposure to life in the entertainment industry. Her multi-talented father, Jay Aurigema, owned a 30 room mansion in North Tonawanda, NY which became the stop-over for many artists and entertainers performing at Melody Fair. The DeGraff Mansion still contains a room in which the walls are covered with signatures of famous entertainers such as Anna Marie Alberghetti, Donald O'Connor, Dean Jones, Sylvia Sydney, Martha Raye, John Raitt (Bonnie Raitt's father) and scores of others. Though Maria was only a little girl at the time she remembers the frequent late-night parties that filled the mansion and added to the tense relationship between her mother and father.

Maria's early musical talent was something she shared with her father but which was nurtured and developed with the help of her mother. Beginning with guitar lessons at the age of eight, and flute lessons at the age of nine, Maria began her musical journey.

Guitar took on a more serious nature for Maria at the age of thirteen with the discovery of Led Zeppelin and the late night blues shows on WBFO, Buffalo. Being one of the only girls in school who could really play the guitar provided a comfortable niche for Maria and guitar playing quickly became her "thing." Maria began to study jazz with Buffalo guitarist, Stu Weissman and was a hungry listener when it came to the music of the guitar. She would document names of guitar players on index cards and write in artist information as she became aware of it. Early jazz influences included: Al Dimeola, Joe Pass, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlan.

Maria performed in all the school music ensembles through middle school and high school, including playing the flute in concert, symphonic, marching band and orchestra and guitar in the jazz ensemble. In 1987 Maria was the field commander of the champion Lumberjack marching band, and that same year became the first female "all- state" (New York) jazz guitarist. Maria continued her studies in jazz with Stu Weissman and became increasingly immersed in the local music scene. She would argue with her mother to let her borrow the car so that she could go to the Central Park Grill in Buffalo where she would sit for hours to listen to the seductive fusion music of Gamalon (Teddy and Tommy Reinhardt, George Puleo, Bruce Brucato and Geoff Perry), and the heartfelt blues of the Black Cat Blues Band (John Brady and Willie Haddath and the Reinhardts).

Maria enrolled at SUNY Fredonia in 1987 where she began classical training under the instruction of James Piorkowski, formerly of the Buffalo Guitar Quartet. During her undergraduate years at Fredonia, Maria was a member of a few different bands that played a variety of material. From jazz to classical to classic rock, Maria never felt truly at home until she began digging into the blues. One of her most memorable band experiences was when she played guitar in a world beat band where master drummers and dancers from Senegal, West Africa were the featured performers. A core member of that band was Emile Latimer, who drummed for Ritchie Havens. Rhythm comes very natural for Maria and playing in this group gave her the opportunity to learn a great deal about West African rhythms.

Through all of Maria's formal training continually lay of love and understanding of the blues. With all of the musical training and music theory that Maria was buried in, somewhere the art of listening became lost. Too many rules made improvisation frustrating and heartless. Upon graduating from Fredonia, NY with a degree in multicultural music education, Maria decided to strip down her knowledge of music and get back to basics. Beginning with one note, she began to listen and create out of feeling while being aided by the great technique she had gained over the years. Her love of guitarists such as Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, Jeff beck, and Eric Clapton, gave her the inspiration to play the guitar where artists such as BB King, Albert King, Buddy Guy gave her a solid foundation for learning to communicate the blues.

In 1994 Maria put her early feel for the blues to work when she became a member of local buffalo band. For four years Maria played the club scene on a weekly basis while also teaching music in a catholic school and working in management at a local drug store. She began to hone her skills as a performer and, without her awareness of it, prepared to play the role for which she now enjoys. "It was a huge blow for me when that band fell apart" says Maria, I just couldn't understand what went wrong." The band's demise was the precursor and driving force that has helped mold Maria into the performer she is now. She learned from the mistakes of her experiences and within the next couple years was not only fronting her own band, but singing and writing original material as well. " I had an argument with a producer once", says Maria, "I told him I would never sing. Well, as the saying goes, never say never." Maria uses her vocal abilities to make her songs come to life. Her singing is real and passionate. "Lessons of life come hard", says Maria, "but through song, artist and audience alike can find solace in the stories that one another have to offer."

Maria has emerged on the local and national blues scene as a promising new artist with a bright future. Maria enjoys a growing following in Canada and has performed at a variety of clubs in Ontario such as Old Chicago's and Boomerz in London, Arizona's and Poor Folks Deli in Brantford, and the Regal Beagle in St. Catherines. Maria has frequently performed at the Lafayette Tap Room, Buffalo's home of the blues, where she has been known to perform with national artist's such as Tommy Castro, Kenny Neal, Joe Beard and Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, and Scott Holt. One of Maria's most memorable moments was when she was asked by Jimmy Thackery to be a "special guest" in the Eureka Springs Blues Festival 2000 where she performed for a sold-out crowd along with Debbie Davies, Maria Muldaur, Kelley Hunt, Reba Russell, Mark Stutso and Ken Faltinson.

Currently Maria teaches instrumental music in the Ken-Ton School district (a suburb of Buffalo) and has recently completed her Masters Degree in Creative Studies at Buffalo State College. "The time has come for me to be devoted to my own project". Maria released her debut C.D. entitled "Take Me" which contains mostly original music and hosts Downchild Blues Band members: Gary Kendall (bass), Mike Fitzpatrick (drums), Mike Fonfara (keyboards) and Pat Carey (sax). Also rounding out the line-up are: Larry Goodhand (guitar), Wayne St. John (percussion) and Toronto's own Jeff Healey appears as "special guest" guitarist on three tracks.
It's hard to imagine anyone not being impressed with Maria and her music! Backing up Maria locally are: Mike Reid on bass, Marty Reimondo on drums and Dan Delano on organ and keyboard. Check the events calendar at mariaaurigema.com to see when and where you can catch Maria Aurigema and her band. It's sure to be a performance you won't soon forget!

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