Emy Tseng.

Given our fair city’s rich jazz heritage, it’s no surprise that D.C. has produced many great jazz vocalists. While they are not all native to the area, Shirley Horn, Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway all cut their teeth here in the nation’s capital. So it’s no surprise that within the explosion of talent the last decade has brought to the city, there are a number of excellent vocalists carrying on this deep tradition. Christie Dashiell, Lena Seikaly and Akua Allrich are just a few performers who are due for more widespread recognition. These artists, like many of their instrumentalist counterparts, are also spreading D.C.’s jazz reputation by putting out fine albums. Now, we can add another recording to the District’s discography with Sonho, the debut release from vocalist Emy Tseng.

A math/physics major in college, who went on to get a Master’s degree from MIT and now works for the federal government, there are not many places where Tseng would fit the mold of a jazz singer, especially one who specializes in Brazilian music. However, she is in many ways emblematic of the changes the District has seen in recent years with the arrival of thousands of motivated young people with diverse interests and talents.

As with so many other children around the world, Tseng’s first exposure to music was through piano lessons, which she began at the tender age of four. She began singing in high school and studied classical voice at the Longy School of Music at Bard College, after which Tseng began performing with early music ensembles in Boston and New York. She only discovered jazz after moving to the Big Apple in 2001. There, she began going to jazz clubs regularly and also took lessons in jazz and improvisation. After a move to the Bay Area, she immersed herself in Brazilian music through studies at the Jazzschool in Berkeley. Paula Morelenbaum, Joao Gilberto, Elis Regina, Caetano Veloso, Luciana Souza are just a few of the singers she cites as influences.

Tseng’s career brought her to D.C. in 2009, and she took no time in finding mentors among the city’s best Brazilian jazz musicians, many of whom play on Sonho, and she began playing regularly in local clubs. The album was recorded over the course of 2011 and 2012, and the official release party will take place this Friday and Saturday at Twins Jazz, with another event scheduled for March in Oakland. Sonho is now available through iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby.

DCist interviewed Tseng about the new album and her upcoming shows.

What did you want to accomplish with this album? Was there any thematic concept you had in mind?

I wanted to produce an album that reflects my tastes and interests in Brazilian, modern jazz and acoustic music but was uniquely me. I love the combination of voice and acoustic guitar and wanted the sounded to be centered around that. There are some emotional themes common throughout – including saudade, a Portuguese word that means “wistful longing,” or “to miss someone or someplace” Then there’s also this flirtatious, seductive aspect to Brazilian music. The name of the album Sonho, means “dreams” in Portuguese, so there’s a dreaminess to the sound. I also put in a lot of effort to learn the Brazilian style. Though I don’t at all claim to be authentic, I try to treat the style respectfully and hope that comes through.

How did you go about choosing the material for the album?

I tried to choose a variety of songs and include music that may be unfamiliar to people. The Brazilian music spans over 40 years, and different Brazilian music genres from bossa nova, MPB [Música Popular Brasileira] to a song by a contemporary guitarist/composer, Chico Pinheiro. I also wanted take familiar songs and put a different spin on them – like “California Dreamin'” and an arrangement of the Freddie Hubbard tune,”Little Sunflower”. I moved from the Bay Area in 2009, so “California Dreamin'” expresses the homesickness I still feel.

I chose the jazz standards “I Thought About You” and “Close Your Eyes” because they fit in with longing and flirtatiousness of the Brazilian songs. We stripped down the instrumentation, to get to their essence. For example, “Close Your Eyes” is just me and David Jernigan on acoustic bass.

You are an Asian American woman singing Brazilian songs. That’s not an image that many people would hold in their minds. Do you find any difficulties in overcoming stereotypes because of the music you sing or your ethnicity?

It’s funny, people seem more surprised here in D.C. than in the Bay Area to see an Asian woman sing this music. Brazilians sometimes initially think I’m Japanese from São Paolo, since there’s a huge Japanese population there. But then when I speak they realize I’m not. But yes, people are surprised.

Who is in your core band, and why did you choose these particular musicians?

All of the musicians are from D.C., except for the guitarist Rogério Souza who was visiting from Rio, and we all play together often. I met most of them sitting in with the Wayne Wilentz Trio at the Utopia Brazilian jazz nights, when that was still happening. Matvei Sigalov was my primary collaborator – he plays guitar and violin, co-produced the album, arranged some songs. There are two primary rhythm sections: one with Matvei, David Jernigan bass and [drummer] Alejandro Lucini who play more of the “modern” arrangements; and another with Rogério Souza guitar, [bassist] Leonardo Lucini and Alejandro who do more of the traditional Brazilian material. Percussionists Bruno Lucini and Roberto Berimbau play with me often as do [pianist] Wayne Wilentz and [saxophonist] Lyle Link. [Saxophonist/clarinetist] Andy Connell plays with DC-Choro and the Lucini brothers have a great local Brazilian jazz band, Origem. I wanted this album to reflect this community, not just be “Emy Tseng’s” album.

How would you like your career to develop in the short, medium and long term?

I’d like to perform more this year, both in the D.C. area and in the east like New York and Boston. Last year, I didn’t have much time for gigs, doing the recording on top of my job at the Department of Commerce. I started work on my next project. Matvei and I have been working out arrangements of ’90s pop songs and will preview a couple this weekend, including one by Suzanne Vega. I have a bunch of other songs in mind. It’s harder for me to say what my specific long term music career goals are. I enjoy my work helping under-served communities access technology and want to find a balance between that and my music career. I want to further develop my musicianship – especially rhythm, work on percussion, learn more jazz theory and piano. Eventually, I want to do my own arranging, maybe even some songwriting. I want to spend time in Brazil learning Portuguese. There’s so much to learn and do, it’s an ever-evolving process, but that’s the fun of it.

Now that you’ve recorded an album, what have you learned from the process?

I’d never been in the recording studio before, so I learned so much. You’re very exposed In the recording process, both emotionally and technically. I think this is especially true for acoustic music. My producer Marco Delmar was a great coach. He helped me get to the emotional core of the songs, and how to convey the songs in a subtle, yet expressive manner. I also had to improve my skills during the process – spent many hours with the metronome.

Who will be playing with you at the album release? What can the audience expect in terms of the program?

There will be two different bands for Friday and Saturday. Friday will be more of an acoustic jazz group, Matvei on acoustic guitar, David Jernigan on acoustic bass and Leland Nakamura on drums. Saturday will be my Brazilian band: Matvei on both acoustic and electric guitar, Leonardo Lucini on electric bass and Alejandro Lucini on drums. We’ll play most of the songs from the album, other Brazilian standards with our own twist, a couple new arrangements of pop songs.

What do you hope people will walk away with after seeing your show or listening to your album?

I want people to be able to enjoy the music at different levels. I want it to be accessible to people unfamiliar to jazz and Brazilian music, yet appeal to music geeks because of the complex rhythms and harmonies. I hope the music resonates with people emotionally – even if they don’t understand Portuguese, that they can get the gist of the story and feelings being expressed. I hope people are intrigued by Brazilian music and want to explore more.

Emy Tseng & Co. will perform 8 and 10 p.m. sets on Friday and Saturday at Twins Jazz. $15 + $10 food/drink minimum.