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

• 1 Com Que Voz 08:43
• 2 Tudo Isto É Fado 06:58
• 3 Verdes Anos 07:49
• 4 Foi Deus 05:24
• 5 Hermeto's Fado for Maria 05:43
• 6 E Se Nâo for Fado 04:30
• 7 Dança Do Amor 06:59
• 8 Quando Eu Era Pequenina 08:06
• 9 Meu Pobre Capitão 05:32
• Total Runtime 59:44

Info for Saudade, Colour of Love

A live recording with Maria Mendes joined by the Grammy award winning Metropole Orkest conducted by John Beasley.

"Fado music is undeniable for the Portuguese people and for all of those who seek for nostalgic love in the past and present. And so is saudade a Portuguese word that doesn't translate to any other language in the world. Fado and saudade are forever bond. They both express the melancholic longing for the past and the hopes it becomes present once again. They also express the belief in destiny as a fortunate and fatalistic power that you cannot escape from. Surprisingly, I find these comparable with love, as love can strike at any moment leaving us powerless, colouring our lives with grey as well as bright rainbow colours. When I first listened to Fado, I felt an indescribable connection with how words and melody were delivered so intensively. That experience stayed with me over the years until I could no longer escape from the desire to combine my love for Jazz with my affection for Portugal.

A project was taking shape. And magical things started to happen. Advised by my dear friend, my bassist Jasper Somsen, I've reached out to John Beasley for a collaboration on arranging and producing these Portuguese folk songs. Alongside, I have written originals and was gifted a song by Hermeto Pascoal. The Metropole Orkest joined us opening up new musical possibilities. My third album Close To Me (2019) is the result of this enriching collaboration that gracefully wasn't doomed to be over then.

This album you are holding in your hands is a result of a long-awaited dream. A live recorded album represents the truthful and thrilling opportunity to expand the music in ways you cannot when recording in a studio. New songs and new orchestrations were specially written for this material, premiered and recorded in Amsterdam, at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in May 2022. On stage: an exceptional team of thirty musicians my band and the Metropole Orkest conducted by John Beasley. With us in the venue was the audience who kept ignited the joy of why live music is irreplaceable. Wittgenstein said "the limits of my language mean the limits of my world". I believe in music as an unlimited language that can defy stylistic boundaries and can trigger (in us musicians, and you, the listener) surprise and enchantment. This music is about how I feel Fado and how I love it, free of definitions, free of limitations. This is no Fado album. This is no traditional Jazz music. This is an adventure that is real and can be felt by everyone. As love is." Maria Mendes

Maria Mendes, vocals
Metropole Orkest
John Beasley, conductor

Maria Mendes
From her native Portugal to her adopted home in the Netherlands, Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated vocalist and composer Maria Mendes has traveled a world of musical expression. Hailed by DownBeat magazine as “a jazz singer of the highest order,” Mendes’ praises have been sung by such legends as Quincy Jones and Hermeto Pascoal. With Wayne Shorter’s blessings, Mendes premiered his contemporary jazz piece “Gaia” in June 2022 in Germany alongside the Bielefeld Philharmonieker, saxophonist Magnus Lindgren and pianist John Beasley. Mendes’ song “Inverso,” featuring Anat Cohen, was featured on the soundtrack of the International Emmy-winning Portuguese soap opera Ouro Verde in 2018. The vocalist has released four striking solo albums, most recently blending symphonic jazz and Portuguese Fado on the acclaimed Close To Me and the stunning live album Saudade, Colour of Love. Mendes’ wealth of influences and experiences help make up what Exclusive magazine called “one of the most engaging, enchanting vocal approaches… that exists today.”

Metropole Orkest
When you think of an orchestra, you think classical music. That’s not the Metropole Orkest. Playing jazz, pop, world music and film scores, the Metropole Orkest has shared the stage with legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Brian Eno, Herbie Hancock, The Basement Jaxx and Bono. The MO invests just as much in playing with the next generation of stars like Kovacs, Robert Glasper, Snarky Puppy, Cory Wong, Gregory Porter, Jacob Collier and Ledisi. Over the years, Metropole Orkest has received no less than 21 Grammy nominations and worked on 4 Grammy-winning productions. The orchestra has produced more than 150 albums and thousands of radio and television broadcasts, requiring over 600 arrangements per year in every imaginable style.

John Beasley
Grammy winning and Emmy nominated keyboardist, composer, and arranger John Beasley began his career working with such icons as Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard and has gone on to perform with a wide range of artists, including Dianne Reeves, Ivan Lins, John Patitucci, Chaka Khan, Christian McBride, Carly Simon, to name a few. Beasley served as Music Director for international tours with Steely Dan, AR Rahman and Queen Latifah and co-MD for Chucho Valdes. He is also the Music Director for the International Jazz Day global gala concerts hosted by the Herbie Hancock Jazz Institute. He has released three albums on Mack Avenue featuring his acclaimed, Thelonious Monk-inspired big band the MONK’estra.

This album contains no booklet.