Contact email: https://www.mariakimgrand.com/contact

Biography: María Kim Grand (born 1992, Switzerland) is a tenor saxophonist, recording artist, bandleader, vocalist, composer, visual artist, and educator. She has been based in New York City since 2011. Grand has performed with musicians such as Vijay Iyer, Steve Coleman, Greg Fox, Craig Taborn, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Doug Hammond, Jen Shyu, Rajna Swaminathan, Nicole Mitchell, Tamara Renée, Aaron Parks, Fay Victor, and others. She leads the ensemble DiaTribe. She has toured Europe, the United States, and South America, as both a leader and ensemble member, playing in clubs and concert halls, and at festivals. Her debut EP, TetraWind, was released in 2017 on the Biophilia label, and featured accompaniment by Román Filiú, Rashaan Carter, David Bryant, and Craig Weinrib. NYC Jazz Record selected the EP as “one of the 2017’s best debuts.” Her first full-length album, Magdalena, was issued in 2018 on Biophilia. Along with Carter and Bryant, the album’s ensemble included Jasmine Wilson, Amani Fela, Mary Halvorson, Fabian Almazan, and Jeremy Dutton. The album was hailed in Billboard as one of “The 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2018: Critic’s Picks.” In 2019 she recorded in a quartet setting as part of drummer Devin Gray’s Algorhythmica. In 2021, she issued Reciprocity (Biophilia Records), a trio setting with Kanoa Mendenhall on bass and Savannah Harris on drums. Honors include Jazz Gallery Residency Commission (2017), Roulette Jerome Foundation Commission (2018), and Artist-in-Residence at the Brooklyn club Roulette (2019). In 2018, Grand was voted Best New Artist for the Jazz Times Extended Critics Poll, and was nominated for the Jazz Journalist’s Association Up-And-Coming Musician of the Year Award. The New York Times described Grand as “an engrossing young tenor saxophonist with a zesty attack and a solid tonal range.”

List of works: https://www.mariakimgrand.com/discography

Recording: The Joy Of Being (2021)

The recording for The Joy Of Being is found in the album Reciprocity, which can be purchased for USD15 here: https://mariagrand.bandcamp.com/album/reciprocity-2

The Joy Of Being is the opening track from the album Reciprocity and the first composition of the Creation suite, which comprises 7 compositions that are interspersed with the 6 other compositions in the album. In the Joy Of Being, there is a gradual opening from an abstract melody to a faster improvising form.

From the album description: Reciprocity presents music that Grand wrote and recorded at a pivotal time in her life, in early 2020 when she was five and a half months pregnant with her son, Ayní. On one level, ​Reciprocity​ speaks to the mother-child bond, something Grand felt already forming as she set out with her indispensable trio mates, bassist ​Kanoa Mendenhall​ and drummer ​Savannah Harris​. No doubt, Reciprocity​ also pertains to the vibrant rapport of these players as they delve into Grand’s music, so rich in melodic expression, complex kinetic rhythm and cagey formal logic. “On tour while I was pregnant he would dance when we played with Savannah and Kanoa,” Grand recalls of Ayní in her liner notes. “He would kick and jump around and we became a quartet for a while. It makes me smile to think of the many times he was onstage inside my womb while we were both transforming and growing.” That loving, welcoming energy pervades the recording session as well.

CV: https://www.mariakimgrand.com/itinerary

Composer’s website: https://www.mariakimgrand.com/

Resources:

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tetrawind-maria-grand-self-produced-review-by-geannine-reid

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/reciprocity-maria-grand-biophilia-records

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/best-jazz-albums-2018-top-10-8491638/

https://roulette.org/event/maria-grand-music-as-a-users-manual/

https://jazztimes.com/features/lists/2018-expanded-critics-poll-results/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/arts/music/pop-rock-and-jazz-in-nyc-this-week.html