Maria João

biography Maria João Monteiro Grancha, known as Maria João, is a Portuguese jazz singer, born in Lisbon on June 27, 1956. Daughter of a Portuguese father and a Mozambican mother. He dedicated himself to sport for several years, practicing swimming, judo, karate and aikido, where he became a black belt. In the 70s, he also began giving swimming lessons to autistic children. In 1976 he discovered his passion for music, when he attended a lifeguard course and discovered that he had a good voice. In 1982, a friend challenged her to enroll in the Hot Club Jazz School, in Lisbon. During the audition, she improvised Cole Porter's classic, “Night and Day” and was admitted immediately. Still at Hot Club, in 1983, he formed his first group and debuted singing live at a restaurant opening, where he performed a series of improvisations. Since then, he started singing in nightclubs in Lisbon. In 1985, he definitively launched his career, after receiving good reviews thanks to his performance at the Cascais Jazz Festival. In the same year, he recorded the album “Cem Caminhos”, and also toured Germany. The following year, he returned to the studio to record the album “Conversa” and began a collaboration with Japanese pianist Aki Takase. Contact with the pianist marked the turning point towards a style and repertoire that was more his own, oriented towards free jazz. In 1990, his son, João Carlos, was born. Maria João returned to Portugal, after traveling around Europe, getting involved in a project with the Portuguese group Cal Viva, by Carlos Bica, José Peixoto, José Salgueiro and Mário Laginha. In 1992, Maria João worked with singer Lauren Newton and in a quartet with Christof Lauer, Bob Stenson and Mário Laginha, also participating in Europália and Expo de Seville. In the same year, he signed a contract with the publisher Verve. With Mário Laginha, in 1994, he formed a duo. From this partnership, we can highlight the albums “Cor” (1998) — which evokes the 500 years of Portuguese discoveries — and “Lobos, Raposas e Coiotes” (1999), in which he recorded two famous Brazilian songs, “Beatriz” and “Asa Branca”. The album “Chorinho Feliz”, (2000), released in celebration of 500 years of Portuguese presence in Brazil, features musicians such as Gilberto Gil and Lenine and other musicians such as Helge A. Norbakken, Toninho Ferragutti and Nico Assumpção. In 2001, the album by the Mumadji project was released, a quartet formed by Maria João, Mário Laginha, Helge Norbakken and Toninho Ferragutti.