Maria Mendes + John Beasley + Metropole Orchestra

The nostalgia and desire inherent to fado and the Portuguese folk music style are strongly present in the new adventure of jazz diva Maria Mendes. Together with the Metropole Orchestra she expresses on her new album Close to Me a contemporary vision on the genre. The Portuguese-Dutch singer performs her own compositions alongside original fado songs in lush symphonic orchestrations by John Beasley, the American pianist/conductor who collaborated with Miles Davis.

Maria Mendes is known for her purity of tone and her graceful, lyrical phrasing. Her voice brings together all her backgrounds: classical music, jazz, fado and latin. No wonder she has been praised by greats such as Quincy Jones and Hermeto Pascoal, who has written a song specially for this project. John Beasley has performed with an awe-inspiring list of music icons including Dianne Reeves, Chaka Khan and Herbie Hancock.