Loopholes, the new project by Andrea Motis, will be released in 2022. The
premiere is scheduled at Sala Apolo, within the Guitar BCN Festival (Barcelona) on May
5 and at the National Music Auditorium (Madrid) on May 8th. In Loopholes, Andrea has moved away from her comfort zone, and has chosen to venture into sounds and colors that have always belonged in her musical preferences, such as funk, electric jazz and neo-soul.
Andrea explains that, as well as seeking to create a characteristic sound that would
give the album its thread, she has been nourished by her many and diverse
inspirations: from the loops of Robert Glasper or the Californian sound of Jack Johnson,
to Fats Waller and his “Honeysuckle Rose” (which she cites as a —not so obvious—
influence on her composition “Babies”), the Blues or even Latin American folklore ,
embodied in his personal version of the cumbia “El Pescador”, by José Barros
(popularized in the versions of Totó la Momposina and Los Folkloristas).
The album has counted on the collaboration of Christoph Mallinger and Steph Kondert
as co-producers, who have added their contributions in the composition and —along
with the participating musicians—, in the identity and character of the sound. The
album has been recorded together with an exceptional line-up: in addition to the
aforementioned Mallinger (guitar, violin and mandolin) and Kondert (electric bass), the
group is completed by the Japanese keyboardist, New York based, Big Yuki, Gregory
Hutchinson a drums, Zé Luis Nascimento on percussion, and Raja Kassis on guitar.
Andrea Motis (Barcelona, May 9, 1995) —singer, composer, trumpeter and
saxophonist— is one of the most international artists to arise from the Spanish jazz
scene. At the age of eleven she joined the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, and at fourteen she
recorded her first album of standards, Joan Chamorro Presents Andrea Motis, which
was followed, in 2012, by Feeling Good.
Following the repercussion of her first albums came her first worldwide release,
Emotional Dance (2017) on Impulse! and, later, Do outro lado do azul (2019), on Verve,
which made her the first Spanish artist to publish under these labels, both emblematic
in the history of jazz.
Throughout her career, Andrea has collaborated with legendary artists such as Quincy
Jones, Omara Portuondo, Milton Nascimento, Gil Goldstein, the WDR Big Band, Scott
Hamilton or, in 2021, together with Yo-Yo Ma, with whom she performs as a duet “El
cant dels ocells”, on the latest album by the remarkable cellist. He has performed
concerts in some of the most representative jazz venues on the planet, such as the
Tokyo Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Jazz a Vienne, Festival de Jazz
de Barcelona, Blue Note Japan, the National Music Auditorium in Madrid, or the Palau
de la Música in Barcelona.
Andrea Motis (Barcelona, May 9, 1995) is a Spanish jazz singer, trumpet and
saxophone player who sings in Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, German and English.
From the age of seven, Motis developed musically at the Municipal School of Music of
Sant Andreu, a neighborhood of Barcelona, becoming the school's lead trumpeter and
later saxophonist. In 2007, at twelve, she began to collaborate with the Sant Andreu
Jazz Band, led by teacher and musician Joan Chamorro.
In 2010, at the age of fifteen, she recorded an album of jazz standards, Joan Chamorro
Presents Andrea Motis. In 2012, she went on to record a second album, Feeling Good
which led to a continued growth in popularity.
She made her major label debut with the worldwide release of Emotional Dance
(Impulse!, 2017), produced by Brian Bacchus & Jay Newland, followed by Do outro lado
do azul (Verve, 2019) (both of which made her become the first Spanish artist to ever
release under these legendary jazz labels.)
Throughout her career Andrea has collaborated with renowned artists such as Quincy
Jones, Yo-Yo Ma, Omara Portuondo, Milton Nascimento, WDR Big Band, Gil Goldstein,
Michael Mossman and Scott Hamilton, to name a few.
All these steady progresses made Andrea became the most popular jazz artist in Spain
and one of the most popular European jazz artists. She tours worldwide regularly and
she. Along her career she has offered performances in world-class stages around the
world (i.e. Tokyo Jazz Festival, New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz a Vienne, Blue
Note Japan, Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid, or Palau de la Música de
Barcelona).
In September 2021, Yo-Yo Ma released his album Notes for the future, featuring
Angélique Kidjo and Lila Downs, among others renowned artists, where the Maestro
Yo-Yo Ma and Andrea Motis (on vocals and trumpet) perform El cant dels ocells, a
traditional song made famous by the great Pau Casals.
Colors and shadows, Andrea’s album with WDR Big Band, is due to release in November
2021 on German label Jazzline.