Maria Mendes, Metropole Orkest & John Beasley - Saudade, Colour of Love

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:48
Size: 137,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:43) 1. Com Que Voz
(6:58) 2. Tudo Isto É Fado
(7:49) 3. Verdes Anos
(5:24) 4. Foi Deus
(5:43) 5. Hermeto's Fado for Maria
(4:30) 6. E Se Nâo for Fado
(6:59) 7. Dança Do Amor
(8:06) 8. Quando Eu Era Pequenina
(5:32) 9. Meu Pobre Capitão

Saudade, Colour of Love isn’t so much a follow-up to Netherlands-based vocalist Maria Mendes’ 2019 album Close to Me, which won the Dutch equivalent of a jazz vocal Grammy Award. Rather, it’s a captivating elaboration featuring much the same material and the same cast of characters.

Like Close to Me, her third album, Saudade is a sumptuous collaboration with pianist John Beasley conducting the Metropole Orkest, a mainstay of the Dutch music scene since the end of World War II. But whereas the former release was a studio project, the new album is a concert recording that offers Mendes and some orchestra members a little more leeway to stretch out on a fado-centric program. Trained as an opera singer, the Portuguese-born Mendes veered off the conservatory path with her discovery of jazz, attaining real authority in the tradition after years of study.

Working with Beasley, who produced and orchestrated the Saudade arrangements they wrote together (part of a most impressive run for Beasley, with Saudade arriving the same year as his spectacular work on Chucho Valdés’ late-career masterwork La Creación), Mendes takes another step into a largely uncharted realm where jazz inflects the ritualistic laments of fado, a blues-like song form that evolved on Lisbon’s hard-scrabble waterfront. By Andrew Gilbert https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/maria-mendes-saudade-colour-of-love-challenge/

Saudade, Colour of Love

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Maria Mendes - Close to Me

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:30
Size: 116,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:39) 1. Há Uma Música do Povo
(4:39) 2. Tudo Isto É Fado
(4:41) 3. Dança do Amor
(4:37) 4. Verdes Anos
(5:52) 5. Barco Negro
(4:46) 6. Fado da Invejosa
(3:51) 7. Foi Deus
(3:36) 8. Hermetos Fado for Maria
(3:18) 9. Tempo Emotivo
(5:03) 10. Asas Fechadas
(4:24) 11. E Se Não for Fado

A great affection for fado music and its poetic lyrics, an appreciation for how a jazz palette can color the form, and a love of orchestral seasonings all influence this expansive outing from Maria Mendes. It's an effort that's far from the norm and right where the Portuguese vocalist lives and loves to be.

Teaming up with pianist/arranger extraordinaire John Beasley, Mendes delivers originals, fado favorites, and, for good measure, a new number written for her by the great Hermeto Pascoal. Each piece has its own character, but they're all bound by a sense of longing that has long served as a foundational aspect of fado. Supported primarily by a combo including Beasley on keyboards, Karel Boehlee on piano, and Jasper van Hulten on drums, Mendes flys, sways and soothes. And regardless of where she finds herself in the 5/4 swing of "Tudo Isto É Fado," the sweeping atmosphere of "Dança do Amor," the vibrant and haunting spaces of "Verdes Anos," or the light-touch waltz of "Foi Deus" her voice complements the scenery.

While Mendes and the core band carry the album, and songs like the perky "Hermeto's Fado For Maria" and the aforementioned numbers show them to be a tight and sympathetic unit, additional personnel additions also prove valuable to the work. Vibraphonist Vincent Houdijk joins the vocalist, who's artfully overdubbed in places, for a winding duo performance on "Tempo Emotivo," and the Metropole Orkest appears on four tracks, giving the music a multi-hued complexion. A yearning sensibility underscores the rich sounds they add to songs like "Há Uma Música do Povo," which opens the album, and "Asas Fechadas," resting in the penultimate post.

While familiarity with fado, an understanding of the Portuguese language and an openness to cross-genre creations can enhance the experience of hearing this music, none are prerequisites for enjoyment. Priming need not be provided to understand the beauty of Close To Me.~Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/close-to-me-maria-mendes-justin-time-records

Personnel: Maria Mendes: vocals, percussion, compositions; John Beasley: keyboards, orchestrations, percussion, conducting; Karel Boehlee: piano; Jasper Somsen: acoustic bass; Jasper van Hulten: drums, percussion Metropole Orkest: chamber music line-up (1, 5, 6, 10); Vincent Houdijk: vibraphone (9).

Close to Me

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Maria Mendes - Innocentia

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:25
Size: 118,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:28)  1. Smile
(3:51)  2. Innocentia
(3:58)  3. When You Wish Upon a Star
(4:03)  4. O Ovo
(4:52)  5. Inverso
(4:01)  6. Handful of Soul
(4:02)  7. Innocent Travels
(3:33)  8. Sonatina Coreografica: IV. Baiao
(6:08)  9. The Summer Knows
(6:51) 10. Bachianas Brasileiras: V. Aria Cantilena
(3:42) 11. Fragile
(2:50) 12. Agua de Beber (Bonus Track)

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. Born in Portugal and classically trained from the age of 12, it was at Codarts University (in her adopted home of Rotterdam) that the long-time classical music enthusiast decided to explore her connection to Brazil through jazz improvisation. There she would join the dots between Western standards by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker and Betty Carter, and the freer, percussive styles of Brazil  artists such as Hermeto Pascoal, for instance. Listen closely and you will also hear Shirley Horn’s deft use of silence, and the precision and spoken melodies of Carmen McRae. Periods of study and training followed in Brussels, New York and Rio. Then came a series of commanding performances and prizes in several international competitions such as Montreux Jazz Vocal competition. In 2012, debut album Along the Road (Dot Time records) announced her arrival on the world stage as a vocalist with a unique touch. Original composition ‘Saia Preta’, inspired by a saudade-soaked taxi ride through Rio de Janeiro, revealed Mendes’ potential as a songwriter, not to mention the deep affection that she has for her mother’s homeland. Musicians and critics were lining up to praise her … even legends. Quincy Jones had this to say about Mendes: “I see a promising, shining future for this young talented singer.”

Backing her every step of the way from the recording studio to the Blue Note in New York – is her highly attuned band of Dutch all-stars: Karel Boehlee on piano (Toots Thielemans Band, Hein van de Gein Trio); Clemens van der Feen on acoustic bass (Franz van Chossy Trio, Jesse van Ruller Trio) and Jasper van Hulten on drums (Eric Vloeimans, Tuto Puoane Band). Thankfully, Mendes has kept faith with the same team and together with her close collaborator Martin Fondse, the highly acclaimed composer and pianist, they have conceived follow-up album Innocentia for your pleasure. More exhilarating and emotionally complex than its predecessor think lazy summer days in the throes of childhood or the finding hope in moments of despair Innocentia also features virtuoso clarinet player Anat Cohen from Israel. There are many high points to savour. 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. http://maria-mendes.com/jazz-innocentia-about/

Personnel:  Maria Mendes: vocals;  Anat Cohen: clarinet on tracks n. 4, 5, 8,10;  Karel Boehlee: piano;  Clemens van der Feen: acoustic bass;  Jasper van Hulten: drums

Innocentia

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Maria Mendes - Along The Road

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:04
Size: 105.5 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:29] 1. Love Dance
[4:20] 2. Obsession
[4:38] 3. Saia Preta
[4:05] 4. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[6:21] 5. Olha Só No Meu Olhar
[3:25] 6. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
[6:19] 7. So Many Stars
[3:18] 8. Chorinho Pra Ele
[4:04] 9. Verão
[4:00] 10. Começar De Novo

Maria Mendes: vocals; Wim Dijkgraaf: harmonica; Karel Boehlee: piano; Clemens van der Feen: acoustic bass; Jasper van Hulten: drums.

Virtuosity needn't be on display at every moment; restraint, in fact, is an important yet often overlooked aspect of true virtuosity. Norma Winstone is a clear example; certainly capable of plenty, more often than not the British singer's performances are defined by nuance, subtlety and a direct line to the heart of the music. Maria Mendes is another, with the spirit of Brazil looming large over this young Portuguese-born/Netherlands-resident singer's impressive debut, Along the Road—a nine-song set of standards, material by well-known South American composers, one original and one very pleasant surprise.

With harmonicist Wim Dijkgraaf sharing the frontline, Mendes is ably supported by a trio of Dutch musicians clearly conversant in both jazz and Brazilian traditions. The set opens on a gently optimistic note with Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins' enticing 1989 hit, "Love Dance." From the get-go, Mendes finds the essence of these songs and, with a pristine, pure voice and the slightest turns of phrase, makes each one her own. "Love Dance" also features a lovely, lyrical solo from Dijkgraaf; unmistakably influenced, in his formative years, by the great Toots Thielemans, with Dijkgraaf's now-personal confluence of "elegance, sophistication and emotion," as accurately described on his website, the harmonicist may well turn out to be the aging Belgian's torch-carrier.

The session doesn't exactly burn, but it does simmer on Dori Caymmi's "Obsession," a showcase for Mendes' accurate (and impressive) articulation, empathically supported by pianist Karel Boehlee, who—alongside bassist Clemens van der Feen (pianist Harmen Fraanje's trio) and drummer Jasper van Hulten (trumpeter Eric Vloeimans' Gatecrash)—ratchets the energy up, pushing and pulling with Dijkgraaaf during the harmonicist's thematically focused solo. Mendes' wordless improvisation at the song's end epitomizes her effortless control, leading to a final upper register note that she holds, crystal clear and strong, for ten full seconds before fading with a gently introduced vibrato.

Unlike some singers, Mendes' vibrato is simply one more color on her palette rather than a stylistic constant. And if she avoids overt virtuosity at the end of "Obsession," Mendes proves she can scat with the best of them on Hermeto Pascoal's enduring "Chorinho Pra Ele," which also gives bassist van der Feen a rare but fine moment in the spotlight. As for Mendes, her articulation is rapid-fire and absolute accurate, as she proves as capable of navigating Pascoal's changes as her band mates.

But beyond a soft look at "Come Rain or Come Shine" and a metrically playful yet wholly organic look at "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," it's Mendes' "Olha Só No Meu Olhar" that's Along the Road's biggest surprise. On this reverent yet personal adaptation of Pat Metheny's "Always and Forever," from the guitarist's classic Secret Story (Nonesuch, 1992), the singer takes the more expansively orchestral original and, with the addition of her own Portuguese lyrics, makes it even more intimate.

All too often, young jazz singers feel the need to prove something and all the attendant excesses that go along with it; on the elegant, gentle, joyous Along the Road, Mendes makes clear she has absolutely nothing to prove but plenty of promise and much to say. ~John Kelway

Along The Road

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