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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 7, 9:30 PM
Maria João and Orquestra de Guimarães
Abundância - Celebration of 40 years of career
Maiores de 6
Event
It was in 1991 that Maria João first stepped onto the stage of Guimarães Jazz. She returned five years later, at a time when the vocalist’s musical life was about to change radically, as shortly after, her music would gain media visibility that would propel her to unusually high levels of public recognition, both in Portugal and within the international jazz and world music circuits. In 1995, Maria João was not yet iconic, but she was already talented and charismatic, performing alongside pianist Mário Laginha, who would later form a duo with her that stands as one of the most interesting cases in Portuguese jazz—not only in terms of popularity but, above all, creative originality.
Almost thirty years after that concert at Guimarães Jazz, itself during an early phase of Mário Laginha’s artistic development, and forty years after the start of a distinguished (and, if we may use this adjective, very beautiful) career in music, celebrated in this aptly titled show “Abundância” (“Abundance”), Maria João looks back at the deepest roots of her music and personal life. These are situated in a shared history between Portugal and Africa, which in this project is embodied by the contribution of a group of Mozambican musicians and vocalists.
Maria João was born in Lisbon and began her musical journey in 1982, the year she started attending the Jazz School at the Hot Clube de Lisboa. The formation of the Maria João Quintet marks the beginning of her original work and led her to perform throughout Portugal and Europe, awakening early signs of audience appreciation and critical recognition. An example of this is the award she received for Best Group in Competition at the prestigious San Sebastian Jazz Festival (Spain) in 1985.
During this period, the vocalist engaged in collaborations with renowned international musicians, such as German saxophonist Christof Lauer and Japanese pianist Aki Takase, relationships that evolved over time into artistic complicity. The 1990s began with the founding of the band Cal Viva, a project influenced by traditional Portuguese music which, in many ways, anticipated one of the most relevant trends in Portuguese pop music during the first decade of the 2000s, and continued in the following years with intense creative activity.
In addition to her own recordings (among which the landmark album Fábulas, featuring an exceptional group of musicians including Ralph Towner and Kai Eckhardt, stands out), Maria João and pianist Mário Laginha, with whom she had been collaborating for several years, began to deepen an artistic partnership of fundamental importance both to her career and to Portuguese jazz, given the magnitude of media attention and international reputation achieved by the duo.
Over the past two decades, although more low-key in the media, Maria João’s career has developed along a path of expansive creativity in various configurations and styles — in more intimate projects (such as the album Pele, co-created with guitarist José Peixoto), experimental ones (notably the interesting case of Ogre, an electronic jazz ensemble), and orchestral collaborations (expressed through work with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra and the Orquestra de Jazz de Matosinhos), among many other explorations across a wide range of musical territories.
For this concert at the 34th edition of Guimarães Jazz, accompanying Maria João’s band — composed of a keyboardist (João Farinha), a drummer (Texito Langa), and a three-voice choir (Mariana Ramos, Mariana Brissos, and Inês Almeida) — and following the arrangements and musical direction of Pedro Lima, will be the Orquestra de Guimarães. The orchestra once again takes on a challenge as exciting as it is demanding, adding another chapter of professional experience to its already significant history of activity within Portuguese jazz.
Maria João – vocals
João Farinha – keyboards
Texito Langa – drums
Mariana Ramos – choir
Mariana Brissos – choir
Inês Almeida – choir
Orquestra de Guimarães