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MARIA MENDES

Inspiring. Provocative. Portuguese. MARIA awarded with GRAMMY 2024 and Latin GRAMMY 2023 nominations

Maria Mendes is a multi-GRAMMY and Latin Grammy nominated Jazz singer-songwritter from Portugal, with four striking solo albums and accomplished collaborations live on stage and in studio with the multi-Grammy winners Metropole Orkest, John Beasley and Anat Cohen.

Hailed by DownBeat magazine as “a jazz singer of the highest order,” Mendes’ praises have been sung by such legends as Quincy Jones and Hermeto Pascoal. With Wayne Shorter’s blessings, she premiered his contemporary jazz piece “Gaia” in Germany in 2022, furthermore, her song ‘Inverso,’ featuring Anat Cohen, was part of the soundtrack of the Emmy-winning soap opera ‘Ouro Verde’.

Mendes’s thrilled audiences around the world, from small clubs to grand stages including the world-renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as well as the North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals. She had the honour of being the first Portuguese artist to headline New York City’s iconic Blue Note Jazz Club, as well as being the first female Portuguese artist to garner four Grammy nominations and the winning of the most important Dutch music award, the EDISON Jazz for Best Jazz Vocal Album

2024 & 2025: what to expect?

March 2025: NEW ALBUM “WM” & European tour

An ode to women and their resilience. The power of the sung and spoken word of women poets and composers from the past 10 centuries. Original compositions braiding electronic with acoustic sounds in 4Tet through vocal effect pedals and synths. Prepare to embark on a multi-texture sound odyssey steered by four creative musicians who spare nothing to defy genre categorisation!

Tour 2024-2025: “Saudade, Colour of Love”, a 4X GRAMMY award-nominated spirited blend of Jazz and Fado project, played live in Europe and South America with local Big Bands and/or chamber orchestras feat. her 4Tet. *COLLABS with orchestras/Big Bands are possible! 8 to 12 orchestrated pieces ready for both chamber and brass line up*

BOOKING

LINE UP
MM 4TET

optional to collaborate w/ local Big Bands & Chamber Orchestras

MARIA MENDES (vocals, compositions, arrangements, percussions)

CÉDRIC HANRIOT (piano and synths)

JASPER SOMSEN (acoustic bass)

MÁRIO COSTA (drums, percussion)

VIDEOS Maria Mendes 4TET

VIDEOS ft. Metropole Orkest

Photo credits: Nathalie Hennis

Press Quotes

“A jazz singer of the highest order. The lush symphonic sound sparks when it meets the interplay of Mendes’s brilliant quartet and the singer’s fervent vocals” DOWNBEAT (USA)

4 1/2 **** ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)

“An adventuresome and extremely innovative recording that never ceases to be beautiful, even as it is daring. Mendes is a superb jazz singer“

“Mendes takes another step into a largely uncharted realm where Jazz inflicts the ritualistic laments of Fado. (…) a real authority in the jazz tradition. Captivating!” JAZZTIMES (USA)

4 **** JAZZWISE (UK)

“A remarkable live recording with extraordinarily committed and impassioned performance from both vocalist and orchestra. A love letter both to fado and to jazz, and the boundless possibilities that come from marrying the two, Saudade, Colour of Love represents a stunning achievement“

“Crystal clear voice, strong and confident (…) has the courage to make the classic Fado sound absolutely contemporary and of the moment”

JAZZVIEWS (UK)

5 ***** CONCERTO (Austria)

“Impressively atmospheric with excellent soloists among them Maria Mendes. More than what Mendes delivers on her new live album is almost impossible”

“A mixture of fado and symphonic jazz that sounds big, opulent and yarning. (…) there is no trace of grey in the glowing and vibrant songs (…) as Maria can draw on a wide palette of colours”

JAZZTHING (Germany)

4 **** STEREO MAGAZINE (Germany)

“Mendes’ voice and improvisation are paramount art” NRC (Netherlands)

“Mendes immediately profiles herself as a strong jazz singer. Intimacy and beauty from the first track” JAZZISM (Netherlands)

“Longing, love, nostalgia are the themes, performed with a voice that is unsurpassed in purity and variability” JAZZ ’N’ MORE (Switzerland)

“Breathtaking. A dazzling version of a versatile ode to Fado” JAZZHALO (Belgium)

“Maria’s extraordinary vocals and the virtuosity of all the musicians are the highlight on this album. Mendes singing is anchored on the jazz language but is in her creative incursions that she shows all her artistic freedom” REVISTA VISÃO (Portugal)

5***** O GLOBO (Brazil)

Legends Quotes

“I see a promising shining future for this young talented singer”
QUINCY JONES (USA)

“As Metropole Orkest we are always looking to combine music styles. This project intelligently combines Fado and Jazz in a well-balanced and vibrant manner. John Beasley’s charts are rich and his work on this recording can be compared to that of a great fashion designer. Maria, her incredible voice and her songs are his muse in creating a garment that fits perfectly and makes the Metropole Orkest shine” METROPOLE ORKEST (Netherlands)

“Fado music needs an impressionistic voice that can express the longing and loss in these stories of melancholy. Maria Mendes surprised me with her stunning timbre of voice. She also has the charisma and personality that is needed to connect the music to the words and context of the songs. And, with Maria’s soul-reaching voice, which is clear as a bell and can trigger a wide range of feelings, when you listen, you are left with how to handle the beauty and artistry of what you just experienced. With “Close to Me”, you hear two genres –fado and jazz– infusing each other creating a new blend –a new musical appetite that stirs your soul” JOHN BEASLEY (USA)

“Beautiful singing and great scat”
HERMETO PASCOAL (Brazil)

“An album sung from the heart”
SHEILA JORDAN (USA)

“Maria Mendes singing is wonderful”
DORI CAYMMI (Brazil)

“I hope her crystal-clear voice and her precise diction will conquer your hearts like it did mine”
DAVID LINX (Belgium)

“Her crystal-clear voice, perfect tuning and smoothness are unique”
ROSA PASSOS (Brazil)

Significant
awards

GRAMMY Award 2024 *nomination*
BEST ARRANGEMENT | Saudade, Colour of Love

LATIN GRAMMY Award 2023 *nomination*
BEST ARRANGEMENT | Saudade, Colour of Love

GRAMMY Award 2020 *nomination*
BEST ARRANGEMENT INSTRUMENTS & VOCALS | Close To Me

LATIN GRAMMY Award 2020 *nomination*
BEST ARRANGEMENT | Close To Me

*winner* EDISON JAZZ Award 2020
BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM | Close To Me

Montreux Jazz Voice Competition Award
SWITZERLAND | 2010
(president of the jury was jazz legend Quincy Jones)

*winner* Best Jazz Vocalist Award at the Nederlands Jazz Vocalisten Concours
NETHERLANDS | 2009

Relevant
shows

2024-2012 NETHERLANDS: North Sea Jazz Festival, Het Concertgebouw, Bimhuis, Lantaren Venster, Tivoli Vredenburg, Paradox, Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ

2024-2022 GERMANY: Rudolf Oetker Hall Bielefeld, JazzNacht Zollverein

2022-2015 PORTUGAL: CCB, Casa da Música, Teatro São Luiz, Teatro Rivoli, Festival de Jazz de Tavira

2018-2017 BELGIUM: Handelsbeurs, De Bijloke

2018-2010 SWITZERLAND: Montreux Jazz Festival, Off Beat Jazz Festival, Bird’s Eye Jazz Club

2016 FRANCE: Sunside Paris

2014 USA: Blue Note Jazz Club New York

2013 BRASIL: SESC Pompéia São Paulo

Relevant
collaborations

Bielefelder Philharmoniker | Chamber line up on German tour 2024

Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras | Chamber line up on Portuguese tour 2023-2024

LoveMetropole Orkest | Chamber line up on Saudade, Colour of Love (2022) and Close to Me (2019) projects & tours 2019-2022

John Beasley | Arranger, producer, pianist and Metropole Orkest’s conductor for Saudade, Colour of Love and Close to Me projects & tours 2019-2022

Brussels Jazz Orchestra | Big Band on De Bijloke project 2017

Andre Ceccareli | Drummer on Innocentia tour 2017

Anat Cohen | Clarinetist on Innocentia project 2015

Steven Kamperman, Alex Simu & Ricardo Toscano | Clarinetists on Innocentia tour 2015-2018

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MARIA MENDES