Sara Serpa is a vocalist, composer and improvisor originally from Lisbon and based in New York since 2008, with a musical career primarily located withing the perimeters of classical jazz, but with occasional forays into more experimental circles. A non-verbal singer who perceives the voice as pure sound, non-contaminated by language, Serpa began her trajectory in international music alongside several prominent artists of North-American jazz (such as, among others, Danilo Pérez, Ran Blake or Greg Osby) and has released ten records to date, the latest of which, titled “Intimate Strangers”, was the result of an interdisciplinary project created in partnership with Nigerian writer Emmanuel Iduma. Over time, the Portuguese vocalist has also been involved in several collaborations, both in the context of mainstream jazz as well as in more heterodox formats, alongside numerous relevant musicians from the contemporary musical landscape, among whom we may highlight the names of Zeena Parkins, John Zorn, Mark Turner or Angelica Sanchez.

The musical trajectory of Portuguese guitarist André Matos began with a formative period in which he attended the jazz school of the Hot Club of Portugal, having later completed his high education studies in the United States of America (notably at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory). Since the beginning of his professional career Matos has so far released five albums under his own name, including the most recent “Múqina”, and, in addition to his past activity as member of the André Carvalho Quintet and the Gonçalo Leonardo Quartet and to his creative relationship with Sara Serpa, he is currently active in the context of a trio in partnership with saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Milly Mintz. In regards to his work beyond his strictly musical activity, it is important and fair to Highlight André Matos’ meritorious work disseminating and promoting Portuguese jazz in his role as founder and artistic director of the unfortunately defunct record label TOAP, with which Guimarães Jazz has collaborated for many years.

Considering his trajectory in music over the last fifteen years, and also taking into account his close relationship with Guimarães Jazz – where he has performed on several occasions, the last of which in a superlative concert as a duo with Vijay Iyer –, Craig Taborn does not need to be introduced with great detail to the festival’s audience. It suffices to mention that he is a great composer and instrumentalist with a creative work spread across different musical contexts and territories – jazz, electronic music, rock and avant-garde – and an impressive record of collaborations with, simultaneously, several historical figures of modern jazz and some of the most important musicians of the new generation – such as, for example, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Chris Lightcap or the aforementioned Vijay Iyer. Taborn’s authorial projects as leader cover a wide spectrum of formats and aesthetics (from composition work for piano solo to incursions in minimal electronics, and including collaborative formations), and this pianist’s personal musical language, between melody and dissonance, positions him in a lineage which begins in Monk and converges on a myriad of references where we find both echoes of canonical jazz swing as well as of Cecil Taylor’s neo-expressionist approach.

A Californian, Jeff Ballard (b. 1953) is a reputed drummer with a career spanning over five decades at the highest-level of jazz, during which he shared the stage with great musicians and established several creative relationships of artistic relevance, as is the case of those that resulted from his contributions to groups led by Chick Corea or Brad Mehldau. Ballard began his career in music as a member of Ray Charles’ band and, after moving to New York in 1990, he introduced himself to the jazz scene that was then emerging in the North-American global capital, led by a group of musicians who are now fully established in contemporary musical culture, among whom we may highlight the names of Kurt Rosenwinkel (with whom he collaborated extensively) or Joshua Redman. Since then, Ballard, a musician with eclectic references and an expressive approach to his instrument, has pursued a trajectory of artistic affirmation alongside some of the greatest names in jazz recent history (namely the aforementioned Chick Corea or Pat Metheny, among others), as well as in collaboration with some of his generation companions, with whom he followed the paths of stylist renewal inaugurated during the last decade of the 20th century.