Maria Mendes
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NL Rotterdam – Jazz / Classical Crossover / Jazz / Worldmusic / Vocal Jazz
Maria Mendes

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Label / Release Type Year
Sony Music Portugal/Harmonia Mundi
Edit-artist-releases-release-placeholder Innocentia Album 2015
Dot Time Records NYC
Edit-artist-releases-release-placeholder Along the Road Album 2012
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The first thing that strikes you about Maria Mendes is the purity of her tone and her graceful, lyrical phrasing.

She glides over her band, adding emphasis here, lingering there, scatting in unexpected directions and occasionally soaring to a heady high when the mood takes her. Clearly, she has spent time on her craft.
With her recent sold out concerts at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Casa da Música Oporto and Sesc Pompeia São Paulo, (a.o.) she has drawn the attention of the jazz specialist worldwide, among them QUINCY JONES who has stated: “I see a promising, shining future for this young talented singer.”
Her debut album “Along the Road” (2012) was introduced to the American audience at the prestigious BLUE NOTE JAZZ CLUB in New York City on January 2014.
On November 2015 Maria released her second album "Innocentia". More exhilarating and emotionally complex than its predecessor, Innocentia also features virtuoso clarinet player ANAT COHEN and her band members who represent the best in the Dutch jazz scene: KAREL BOEHLEE - piano (Toots Thielemans band, Hein van de Gein trio), CLEMENS VAN DER FEEN - acoustic bass (Franz van Chossy trio, Jesse van Ruller trio, Harmen Fraanje trio), JASPER VAN HULTEN - drums (Eric Vloeimans trio, Tuto Puoane band).
There are many high points to savour on "Innocentia". A rendition of ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ sets the standard free from its occasionally mawkish confines as Boehlee ups the tempo and embarks on a Glasper-esque excursion. Then there’s Mendes dueling with drummer van Hulten on Hermeto’s "O Ovo" before a mischievous Cohen muscles in and almost steals the show. Elsewhere Mendes demonstrates that she’s a highly capable scat singer a la Ella on "Água de Beber". And let’s not forget their version of Portuguese composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ "Bachianas Brasileiras Nr 5" (Cantilena), featuring some lovely lyrical interplay between Mendes and Cohen.
The album also features imaginative readings of songs by the likes of Sting and Jimmy Woode – not your typical bedfellows. That is another hallmark of Mendes. She is open and inquisitive when it comes to her music, yet able to put her stamp on a tune, whether it is sung in English or Portuguese. "Fragile" is typical of the mood of this album – wistful, rooted in innocence and vulnerability.
Innocentia is a marked progression in the career of Mendes. Under the guidance of composer and close collaborator Martin Fondse, she has obviously grown as a composer and bandleader, and not just a vocalist. But it is as a performer that she truly excels, moving the listener … stirring the soul. Press play, catch her in concert and prepare to be quietly stunned by her depth of emotion.