María Grand Quartet

The new repertoire of the New York-based Swiss saxophonist, singer and composer María Grand is all about interaction. Created during a composition residency in Guatemala, the pieces interweave personal experiences with universal questions: What happens when sounds, people and places resonate? Precise and energetic improvisations meet edgy yet fragile vocal lines, from which a multi-layered musical fabric is formed.

Her quartet consists of Haggai Cohen Milo, who lives in Berlin and is also known as the bassist of the Omer Klein Trio. Arnaud Dolmen, who comes from Guadeloupe and lives in Paris, is one of the hottest drummers in France. Percussionist Shakoor Hakeem is regarded as a virtuoso of Afro-diasporic, rhythmic improvisational music.

In Europe, Maria Grand last wowed audiences in the band of vibraphonist Joel Ross. The Geneva-born musician has lived in New York since 2011, where she soon attracted attention as an exceptional talent. The album "Magdalena" (2018), which won Grand several awards, still sounds like the impressive debut of an extraordinary musician who seemingly effortlessly fuses a multitude of influences into a personal sound on the saxophone.

In her never-ending flow of ideas, Grand develops melodic lines of great narrative quality from motifs, always in dialog with her fellow musicians and blessed with a tone on the tenor that always retains a warm foundation, from tender to expressive. She attributes this to the fact that singing is also part of her artistic spectrum of expression. On her second album "Reprocity" (2021), Maria Grand also sings occasionally in English, French and Spanish as the daughter of a Swiss mother and an Argentinean father living in New York.