Artists
Maria João
Biography
Maria João’s career started at Lisbon’s Hot Club Jazz School, in 1982. One year later, she formed a quintet with Mário Laginha, Carlos Martins, António Ferro and Carlos Vieira. Together they recorded two albums Quinteto de Maria João (1983) and Cem Caminhos (1985 – with David Gausden instead of António Ferro).
At the time, she was already considered a true revelation in the jazz universe, having received several awards, namely from the San Sebastian Jazz Festival (Spain). The first big turn in Maria João’s career occurred in 1986, when she went to Germany looking for new challenges. Her third record, Conversa, was released that year with a new quintet of which base player Carlos Bica was a member.
In one of the concerts while touring Germany, Maria João had a special spectator: Japanese free-jazz pianist Aki Takase, who invited her to begin a duo project. She left the quintet to tour Europe with Aki and her piano. From 1987 to 1990, singer and pianist challenged their limits, risking everything on the slippery field of improvisation, astounding the audiences of Jazz Festivals all over Europe, that surrendered to the freedom and irreverence of their music. João and Takase recorded two live albums together – Looking for Love (1997) and Alice (1990).
In 1991, Maria João became involved in a new project with Portuguese group Cal Viva. This project marks her reunion with Mário Laginha. The record Sol, a fusion of Portuguese traditional music with the sounds of jazz, toured intensely all over Portugal.
The regularity of her work with Laginha and the musical complicity established between the two incited them to put together a new personal acoustic project. This is how the record Danças was born (1993), the beginning of a duo that persists until today, with their eighth album, Tralha, recently released.
Besides her regular work with Mário Laginha, which has given them the possibility to work with very prestigious artists, Maria João has also worked with big names in Portugal (António Pinho Vargas, Carlos Bica) and abroad (Gilberto Gil, Joe Zawinul, Laureen Newton, Bob Stenson, Christof Lauer, Saxofour, among others). She has also been part of artistic fusion shows, such as Raizes Rurais, Paixões Urbanas, and the choreography ‘Ao Vivo’, by the Paulo Ribeiro Company.