Maria Mendes just won the significant EDISON award for her latest album “Close To Me”. The awards were announced yesterday at the end of the day in the Netherlands, but the delivery ceremony will take place tomorrow, the 4th at 7:30 pm.
Maria Mendes will play “Barco Negro”, fado made famous by Amália Rodrigues and part of the line-up for “Close to Me”. The journalist Imme Schade van Westrum, representative of the jury that assigns EDISON, left the following comment:
With Close To Me, the Portuguese Maria Mendes managed to translate Fado for contemporary Jazz into a chamber music format. Although Mendes studied in New York and was praised by Quincy Jones, Close To Me is also a Dutch musical story.
In this disc, in addition to the songs with Metropole Orkest – in a chamber formation of 30 musicians – there are songs in which the musical format is accompanied by the best of Dutch musicians Karel Boehlee (piano), Jasper Somsen (acoustic bass), Jasper van Hulten (drums and percussion) and Vincent Houdijk (vibraphone).
The singer, who has lived in the Netherlands for some time, also works closely with John Beasley who plays a prominent role on the record. Not only as a conductor, but also as an arranger, producer and pianist.
Beasley, who has worked with Miles Davis, gives Maria Mendes the wings to fly far beyond what is expected. Another mention, this album also Grammy nominated American and Latin Grammy, that deserves attention is the Fado For Maria song, dedicated to Mendes, written by Hermeto Pascoal especially for this disc.
In both the small and the symphonic scene, Mendes sings her “longing” as it should be: passionate, intense and convincing.
Edison has been in existence for 60 years and is the oldest and most prestigious music award in the Netherlands. It is divided into three musical genres: Edison Pop, Edison Classic and Edison Jazz/World. It is the equivalent of the American Grammy or the British Brit Awards. Award consists of bronze statue made by Dutch sculptor Pieter d’Hont
Follow us on social media: Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Youtube.
