MAGOS HERRERA

GRAMMY NOMINATED | CMA New Jazz Works Award

“One of the great modern singers of our time.” — Latin Jazz Network

“Herrera gets way under the skin of the song, recalling great communicators like Edith Piaf or Billie Holiday.” —NPR

“She's stretching the very notion of jazz singing, pushing past the diva pleasantries into a sound that's bold, thrilling and effortlessly global.” — NPR

AIRE

ft Magos Herrera Quartet & Chamber Orchestra

The work of an artist often suggests that of an alchemist. In her new project, Aire, Mexican singer and composer Magos Herrera transformed the grief, fears, and loneliness of a deadly plague into a luminous collection of songs representing "a celebration of our humanity and the healing power of music." 

"We have been dealing with something we didn't see coming and was beyond anything we could've imagined,” she says. “But in the process, we found ourselves facing our vulnerability — and, in that, rediscovering our humanity. That's why this project it's unique for me. As we come out of the pandemic, we are not only reconnecting with each other but discovering a new world, too, and we need to find a new way to live in it.”

Aire features twelve songs and includes her new compositions, commissioned by Chamber Music Americas New Jazz Works, and gems from the Great Latin American Songbook, such as "Alfonsina y el Mar" and "Gracias a la Vida." Those two classics suggest bookends of the experience in Aire, "Alfonsina ..." as an acknowledgment of impermanence and death; "Gracias a la Vida" as a prayer of gratitude for the many gifts of life.

But for two exceptions — the voice and guitar duo of "Passarinhadeira" and the octet reading of the Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell's classic "Samba em Preludio" — Magos sings over a musical canvas provided by her jazz trio augmented by an orchestra under the artistic direction of Eric and Colin Jacobsen, of Brooklyn Rider fame.

The arrangements in Aire are by three of Magos' long-time collaborators: Venezuelan multi-instrumentalist Gonzalo Grau, Brazilian cellist, arranger, and conductor Jaques Morelenbaum and Argentine pianist and composer Diego Schissi.

And then, there is the anchoring presence of Magos' Mexican roots, even as she addresses universal themes. Magos sings in Spanish, Portuguese, and English and embraces her condition as a musician immigrant in New York by opening her work to various musical traditions. Aire "became a way to reach out," says Magos, who wrote much of her music in the project during isolation. "We're here, we're alive, and we can heal each other by coming together and celebrating our humanity with compassion and gratitude."

BIO.

(See Artist Page)

• Magos Herrera + Trio (Guitar, Bass, Percussion) + Chamber Orch (below)

(Other non Orchestra configurations available here)

• 1.1.1.1 - 1.1.1.0 - Harp - Piano - 4.3.2.2.1 (21 Total)

• Conductor

TOUR DATES.

(See Artist Page)