MEDIA

_{The New York Times – Best Jazz Album of 2021} 

_{Sara Serpa – voice, composition
Emmanuel Iduma – text, spoken word
Sofía Rei - voice
Aubrey Johnson – voice
Matt Mitchell -piano
Qasim Naqvi – modular synth}

_{“The ultimate vision belongs to Serpa, who’s among the most singular talents working in music today.” Michael Roberts, Jazziz Magazine}

_{A collaboration between Portuguese vocalist-composer Sara Serpa and Nigerian writer Emmanuel Iduma, drawing inspiration from Iduma’s latest book, A Stranger’s Pose, a unique blend of travelogue, musings and poetry. In a combination of music, text, image and field recordings collected by Iduma during his travels, Intimate Strangers explores such themes as of movement, home, grief, absence and desire in what Iduma calls “an atlas of a borderless world”.}

_{Sara Serpa- voice|  composition| drawings | storytelling}

_{Ingrid Laubrock- tenor sax}

_{Angelica Sanchez-piano}

_{Erik Friedlander-cello}

_{“An ambitious, multilayered exploration of identity, filled with both quiet grace and emotional depth.” Jazz Sketches}

_{Encounters and Collisions is the most autobiographical music of my career. What began as composing music for someone else’s story gradually revealed itself as my own. That realization gave me the courage to explore my experiences more deeply, writing down memories of pivotal moments that shaped my journey as a newcomer to the United States. Encounters and Collisions traces these episodes from my life since leaving Portugal. The project originated as a composition commissioned by Chamber Music America and evolved into a book featuring my own drawings. The audio version features my narration of each story. Designed to be experienced with or without the accompanying music, the book stands as both a visual and sonic reflection on adaptation, loss and transformation.}

_{Sara Serpa- voice
André Matos - electric and acoustic guitar, bass, percussion
Dov Manski - piano/ synth
João Pereira - drums
Okkyung Lee - cello
Sofia Jernberg - voice}

_{“The new album is their most sophisticated and varied project together (…) The music feels weightless, filled with delicate motion, as if the musicians are dancers floating in the ether." Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street}

_{“Night Birds, the new album by singer Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos, feels like a peek inside a private conversation; the depth of their musical interplay, an extension of their personal bond, has the sense of something irreplaceable and precious.” Nate Chinen, WRTI}

_{Seven years after their last duo album, vocalist Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos return with Night Birds: the duo’s third release captures and crystallizes their uncanny musical connection.  A collection of original compositions, improvisations and a Bartok bagatelle, the dozen tracks on Night Birds reflect on the fast-paced societies of the modern world, questioning the consumption and exploitation of natural ecosystems. Serpa’s distinctive singing and Matos’ spectacular sonic landscapes are enhanced by original and creative artists in jazz and improvised music including Brooklyn-based pianist Dov Manski, South-Korean avant-garde cellist Okkyung Lee (John Zorn, Nels Cline, Chris Corsano, and Thurston Moore), Ethiopian-Swedish experimental vocalist Sofia Jernberg (Fire! Orchestra, Mette Rasmussen), Portuguese up-and-coming drummer João Pereira, and on two tracks, Serpa and Matos’ child Lourenço.}