Algodão Maria João & André Mehmari

• 1Duplo Falso Par05:21
• 2Festa dos Pássaros04:53
• 3Lendas Brasileiras06:01
• 4Alcachofra03:04
• 5Ninguém Compreende04:32
• 6Alfama03:17
• 7Piquenique04:03
• 8Alpendre02:40
• 9Catavento e Girassol07:28
• 10Canção do Lobisomem06:29
• 11O Sonho03:44
• Total Runtime51:32

Info for Algodão

A musical encounter between two great artists: Maria Joao meets the pianist and composer André Mehmari. The result is 11 wonderful songs that take the listener on a journey full of fantastic images. A journey characterised by dreams, spherical structures and lots of little surprises.

Music is always the best way to bridge distances and promote great partnerships. And to prove this theory, Europe will be the witnessing the great gathering between Portuguese singer Maria João and Brazilian pianist and composer André Mehmari. A concert full of surprises and dreams, which promises to create a new chapter in the history of this duo. Mehmari's repertoire includes new songs composed especially for his duo with Maria João, which will be released on an album on 19th July 2024, by Galileo Music Germany, with lyrics created by Maria João. An unprecedented show with surprises and some new songs by the duo. Guinga/Aldir Blanc that the duo has already performed in previous concerts, and which have become aesthetic references for the artists. Aldir, in fact, is a godfather to this project, since “O Sonho” is the partnership between Mehmari and Blanc, requested by Maria João for her album “A Poesia de Aldir Blanc” (label Sesc).

Maria João's career has been characterized by her participation in the world's most prestigious music festivals. A career that began at the Hot Clube de Portugal Jazz School and which, in just a few years, has transcended borders, making Maria João one of the few Portuguese singers to receive global acclaim. Her recognition for spreading Portuguese culture around the world earned her the Order of Infante D. Henrique by President Jorge Sampaio. She is also the only Portuguese artist to have been nominated for the European Jazz Prize along with Jamie Cullum and Bobo Stenson. Possessing a unique style, she has become a point of reference in the dicult and competitive field of improvised music. Her remarkable vocal ability and singular interpretative intensity have earned her not only international recognition, but also a place among the best singers of our time. From her partnership with pianist Mário Laginha, among the 13 albums she has recorded are: “Cor” dedicated to the cultures of the Indian Ocean; “Lobos, Raposas e Coiotes” with the Hannover Philharmonic and “Chorinho Feliz”. Maria João's recording career, however, is much longer: she released her first album, “Quinteto de Maria João”, in 1983 and immediately gained a place of prominence on the national scene. Two more albums with the quintet followed, still in the 1980s, and then her career progressed with various encounters with artists such as Aki Takase, Carlos Bica and others. Her wide-ranging artistic ability has led her to be called upon by other internationally renowned artists such as Bobo Stenson, Bobby McFerrin, Egberto Gismonti, Gilberto Gil, Joe Zawinul, Laureen Newton, Lenine, Guinga, Trilok Gurtu, Ralph Towner and Manu Katché, among many others. Alongside his work with Mário Laginha, in 2009 he took on the Ogre project, which includes musicians João Farinha (piano and keyboards), Júlio Resende (piano), Joel Silva (drums) and André Nascimento (electronics). With this line-up, the singer once again flies to new places, exploring electronic sounds in songs from her repertoire or versions by other authors. The Ogre band has played at venues such as Hot Club de Lisboa, CCB, Onda Jazz or Fábrica Braço de Prata and made its debut on record in 2012 with “Eletrodoméstico”, a record that was followed by four more albums including “Songs For Shakespeare”, released in 2022. Aer that, he worked closely with bassist Carlos Bica, with whom he released the acclaimed “Close To You” in 2023. Her capacity for innovation, her free fluctuation between genres and her constantly renewed spirit of adventure make Maria João's career, which has now spanned four decades, an example of permanent freshness and an inexhaustible source of surprises. A rare mark that only great artists can achieve.

André Mehmari is considered one of the greatest exponents of contemporary Brazilian creative music and his vast production is absolutely unique, ranging from the piano solo to jazz, opera, choro, orchestral and chamber music, to popular songs in more than fiy-five albums released since 1998, many of them produced in his own Monteverdi Studio, located in the heart of the Atlantic Forest. Born in the city of Niterói-RJ in 1977 and raised in Ribeirão Preto-SP, he became known to the general public when he won the first edition of the Visa MPB Award, already established in São Paulo. Twice nominated for a Latin Grammy, André's compositions and arrangements have been played by many orchestral and chamber groups in Brazil and abroad. He has appeared as a soloist in more than forty countries and at important jazz festivals such as Chivas Jazz, Heineken Concerts, TIM Festival, Spoleto Festival USA (André Mehmari Trio), Juan Les Pins (France), Umbria Jazz (Italy) as well as numerous tours in the USA, Europe and Japan. He has performed as a pianist alongside Antônio Meneses, Emmanuele Baldini, Maria Bethânia, Milton Nascimento, Sérgio Santos, Hamilton de Holanda, Ná Ozzei, Guinga, Mônica Salmaso, Mário Laginha, Maria João Grancha, Makoto Ozone, Toninho Horta, Fafá de Belém and Alaíde Costa, among many other leading names on the national and international scene, transcending genres and stylistic barriers with elegance and brilliance. Alongside touring, he also produces music for ballets and soundtracks for documentaries, series and films. In 2022 he won a triple prize at the Music Professionals Awards and in 2023 he premiered the opera O Machete and the Cello Concerto, receiving the Concerto Grand Prix for his intense production of classical music that year.

André Mehmari, piano, synthesizer, Clavinet, harpsichord, guitar, drums, percussion, marimba
Maria João, voice, beat box

Maria João
Maria's career has been characterised by her participation in the world's most prestigious music festivals. A career that began at the Hot Clube de Portugal Jazz School and which, in just a few years, has transcended borders, making Maria João one of the most acclaimed Portuguese singers abroad. Her official recognition for spreading Portuguese culture around the world earned her the Order of Infante D. Henrique by President Jorge Sampaio. She is also the only Portuguese artist to have been nominated for the European Jazz Prize along with Jamie Cullum and Bobo Stenson.

Maria João has the jazz/electric project OGRE electric with João Farinha and, in February 2023, she also inaugurated ‘Songs for Shakespeare’ with João Farinha, a kind of ‘poetic trip’ of eight original songs.

André Mehmari
is considered one of Brazil's most talented musicians. His activities as pianist, composer, and arranger are highly regarded in both popular and classical music. As his compositions have been performed by leading orchestras such as Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and chamber ensembles such as the São Paulo String Quartet, his career in jazz and Brazilian popular music has attained wide attention with performances in all of Brazil's major jazz festivals and abroad at Umbria Jazz in Italy and Juan Les-Pins in France. ​

Born in 1977 in Niteroi (RJ), he began to study music with his mother at the age of five, and completed an organ course in the Conservatory of Ribeirao Preto (SP). At age ten, having taught himself jazz improvisation, he wrote his first compositions; and, at 15, while teaching organ in the Conservatory, he was invited to compose a method for keyboard beginners. The result was a 20-piece collection, a work greatly appreciated by young musicians and their teachers. Mehmari’s precociousness as a composer and multi-instrumentalist was well documented by the media.

He began study at São Paulo State University (USP) in 1995 and, in the same year, won the University’s competition for original Brazilian popular music (MPB). Two years later, the same honor was awarded to him for classical music. Both his performing schedule and composing activity grew busier as he began touring and writing orchestral arrangements for major musical events in São Paulo. In 1998, he won the first national Prêmio VISA de MPB competition, the most important award for popular music in Brazil. The competition's prize is the recording of a new CD, which became Mehmari's first release and brought him concert opportunities throughout Brazil.

More than twenty albums have followed, including Lachrimae (2004), featuring two different piano trios and singer Mônica Salmaso; Piano e Voz (2006) with singer Ná Ozzetti; De Árvores e Valsas (2008), devoted entirely to André's compositions; Miramari (2009), a collaboration with clarinet master Gabriele Mirabassi; Gismontipascoal (2010), with mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda and winner of the 2011 Prêmio da Música Brasileira; Afetuoso (2011), a return to his dynamic piano trio music; Canteiro (2011), a two-CD set with performances by thirteen of his favorite Brazilian singers; Triz (2012), with Chico Pinheiro and Sérgio Santos; André Mehmari e Mário Laginha ao vivo no Auditório Ibirapuera (2012), a concert recording with Portuguese pianist Mário Laginha; Angelus (2013), a collection of Mehmari's chamber music works for several Brazilian ensembles; Tokyo Solo (2014), a solo piano concert recording; Miramari (2014), a DVD of performances by Mehmari's duo with clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi; Ouro sobre azul (2014), a solo piano recording devoted to interpretations of the works of composer Ernesto Nazareth, known as the inventor of modern Brazilian piano; As Estações na Cantareira (2015), a new album for piano trio. In 2017, he has collaborated with Nailor “Proveta” Azevedo, Rodolfo Stroeter, and Tutty Moreno to create Dorival, a tribute to composer Dorival Caymmi. While each of these works offers musicians distinct from the others, they share Mehmari's blend of lyricism, dynamism, and elegance. ​

In 2006, he won the Carlos Gomes award for classical music revelation of the year, and was appointed resident composer for the São Paulo State Wind Band. The Pan American Games commissioned him in 2007 to compose music based on themes by Villa-Lobos, Jobim, and Chico Buarque for ceremonies at Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã Stadium; and for her Spanish Schubertiade, pianist Maria João Pires commissioned him to write Viagem de Verão. In 2008, he premiered his Jazz Concerto for piano trio and strings with Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo as well his double concerto for jazz piano, clarinet, and winds with clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi and the São Paulo State Wind Band. The following year brought forth more premieres including Ballo, a full scale ballet commissioned and performed by São Paulo Companhia de Dança with choreography by Ricardo Scheir. The German network Deutsche Welle commissioned him in 2010 to create a new work for the Sinfônica Heliópolis, an orchestra organized in one of São Paulo's poorest slums and now one of the world's finest youth orchestras. Mehmari composed Cidade do Sol (City of Sun), a portrait of the orchestra itself, which it premiered at Beethovenfest in Bonn and Berlin. The Miami Symphony Orchestra commissioned to compose and perform a new concerto for two pianos and orchestra, which he premiered with pianist Christopher O'Riley in May 2015. Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais commissioned him to write Divertimento, which was premiered in December 2015. The São Paulo String Quartet commissioned Re: Cordare and premiered it in May 2016. He has been commissioned to write arrangements for the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. A new work commissioned by Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Variações Concertantes sobre um tema de Ernesto Nazareth, was premiered by the orchestra in 2017 at the Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão. ​

His active performing calendar includes his trio, duos with singer Mônica Salmaso, mandolinist Danilo Brito, clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi, vibraphonist-percussionist Antonio Loureiro, and pianist Mário Laginha, as well as solo piano concerts. He continues to be one of the most sought-after composers in Brazil.

This album contains no booklet.