Cologne Jazzweek: Chiquita Magic

When the GEORGE quartet, led by drummer John Hollenbeck, was formed, the keyboardist and singer Chiquita Magic—aka Isis Paola Giraldo—was perhaps the most surprising member of the group because, unlike her fellow musicians, had no explicit jazz background. However, the musician—born in Bogotá, Colombia, and living for some time in Toronto, Canada— DJ, and producer, is a welcome guest in projects such as the duo KNOWER by Genevieve Artadi and Louis Cole, who appreciate her aesthetic openness and stylistic versatility.
On the keyboard, she loves to venture into microtonal realms and make the space between the notes resonate, which she in turn combines with the urgent timbre of her voice. Her music can be heard as a mashup: Colombian cumbia blends with techno, funk, soul, and hip-hop. As if that weren’t enough, in 2025 she released a freely improvised “Solo Piano” album, which she dedicated to the Canadian pianist Paul Bley.