CAROLINA WAS BORN AUGUST 18 IN 1966 IN FRANKFURT/GERMANY FROM A GERMAN MOTHER AND ITALIAN FATHER.

AT AGE FOUR SHE MOVED TO ROME WITH HER MOTHER, WHO HAD STARTED WORKING IN THE FILM BUSINESS, SO SHE GREW UP SURROUNDED BY MANY ARISTS AND HER HOME BECAME A REFERENCE FOR MANY MUSICIANS AS WELL: SOUTHAMERICAN MUSICIANS INITIALLY AND LATER ON THE WHOLE JAZZ SCENE THAT CIRCLED AROUND THE “MUSIC IN” CLUB IN ROME .

SHE PRETTY SOON STARTED TAKING GUITAR ,VOICE AND PIANO LESSONS, SWITCHING DRASTICALLY FROM ONE STYLE TO ANOTHER. WHILE STUDYING JAZZ PIANO IN THE 80’S SHE’D START JOIN LOCAL ROCK AND FUNK GROUPS AND STARTS PERFORMING AS A VOCALIST.

IN 1983 SHE SPENDS A YEAR IN BERLIN AND IS OVERWHELMED BY THE INTENSITY AND ENERGY OF THE CITY. 1985 SHE’S BACK IN ROME TO FINISH HER HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE AT THE GERMAN SCHOOL AND IN 1986 SHE MOVES TO NYC WHERE SHE INITIALLY GETS ABSORBED BY THE NEW TECHNOLOGICAL TREND TAKING CLASSES IN “AUDIO ENGENEERING” ETC. AT THE NEW SCHOOL.

AT THE SAME TIME SHE TAKES ACTING CLASSES AT THE ACTOR STUDIO AND BECOMES MEMBER OF THE CULTURAL JAZZ THEATRE LED BY BARRY HARRIS. 1988 SHE MOVES TO BOSTON,MASS,WHERE SHE STUDIES AT BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC UNTIL GRADUATING IN 1992 IN PROFESSIONAL MUSIC,WITH CONCENTRATED STUDIES IN MUSIC SHYNTHESIS, COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE.

THROUGHOUT HER PERMANENCE IN BOSTON CAROLINA HAS ESTABLISHED HERSELF AS A RESPECTED MUSICAL LEADER: HER BAND “RED IN BLACK” INCLUDED KURT ROSENWINKEL, SCOTT KINSEY, YORAI ORON, BRUCE ARKIN, DAN RIESER AND HAS PLAYED IN ALL MAJOR JAZZ CLUBS OF THE AREA.SHE FURTHERMORE COLLABORATES WITH MUSICIANS SUCH AS ABE LABORIEL JR., MATT GARRISON, DONNY MCCASSLIN, JIM BLACK, ETC. AND TAKES PART ON VARIOUS PERFORMANCES AND RECORDINGPROJECTS.

1990 SHE WINS A SCHOLARSHIP FOR “OUTSTANDING MUSICIANSHIP” AND SOONAFTER IS ELECTED BEST FEMALE VOCALIST AND COMPOSER BY RED TOP BOX,A N ASSOCIATION PROMOTING NEW FEMALE TALENTS IN JAZZ.

IN 1992 SHE SPENDS A WHILE BACK IN ROME PERFORMING WITH HER QUINTET, NAMELY MARCO SINISCALCO, ALESSANDRO GWIS, HORACIO HERNANDEZ AND YAVIER GIROTTO AND IN 1993, AFTER HAVING WON THE “GREEN CARD”, SHE MOVES TO NYC REFORMING HER BAND WITH K.ROSENWINKEL, KEVIN BRUCE HARRIS AND HORACIO HERNANDEZ. COLLABORATING WITH JAY RODRIGUEZ,FABIO MORGERA, SASI SHALOM, TOS DEWINKEL,ETC.… AND MARVIN SEWELL (C.WILSON, J.DEJOHNETTE), WITH WHOM SHE PERFORMS WEEKLY IN A DUO SETTING AT THE ZINC-BAR.

FROM 1989 TO ’91 SHE WORKS AS AN ASSISTANT FOR THE BERKLEE SUMMER CLINICS HELD IN PERUGIA/ITALY DURING THE UMBRIA JAZZFESTIVAL AND FOR THE MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC CLINICS HELD IN VENETO.

1995 SHE IS BACK IN ROME COLLABORATING AT VARIOUS MUSICAL PROJECTS WITH PERFORMANCES AT MAJOR JAZZCLUBS AND SUMMERFESTIVALS(CLASSICO VILLAGE, ALEXANDERPLATZ, VILLA CELIMONTANA, ASSISI JAZZ FESTIVAL ETC.) SHE PERFORMS AS AN ACTRESS IN “FORAMINIFERI”,DIRECTED BY IMOGEN KUSCH AND REPRESENTED AT TEATRO COLOSSEO BESIDES O.M.P, CURRENT PROJECTS INCLUDE THE “DUO TRIANGOLARE” WITH BASSIST LUCA PIROZZI AND THE ”CAROLINA BRANDES’ GROUP” WITH STEFANO MICARELLI, LUCA PIROZZI AND DAVIDE PETTIROSSI, ALWAYS PERFORMING HER OWN COMPOSITIONS BUT IN AN UNPLUGGED VERSION.

SHE FURTHERMORE TEACHES VOICE AND RELATED HARMONY CLASSES IN MAJOR JAZZ SCHOOLS OF THE CAPITAL AND ARRANGES AND DIRECTS VOCAL CHOIR CLASSES. AT THE MOMENT CAROLINA IS WORKING ON RECORDING HER MATERIAL.

WHEN IT WILL COME OUT, WE’LL FIND OUT… HOPEFULLY SOONER THAN LATER