Performance: María Grand, saxophone and Shakoor Hakeem, percussion
Room: Dweck Center, Lower Level
María Grand is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and vocalist. She has performed with her ensembles all over Europe and North America; she has also played and/or recorded with creative music luminaries such as Joel Ross, Mary Halvorson, Aaron Parks, Nicole Mitchell, and more. Her debut EP “TetraWind” was picked as “one of the 2017’s best debuts” by the NYC Jazz Record and her full-length albums Magdalena and Reciprocity were praised by major publications such as the New York Times, Downbeat, JazzTimes, Billboard, JazzIz, and others. The New York Times calls her “an engrossing young tenor saxophonist with a zesty attack and a solid tonal range”, while Vijay Iyer says she is “a fantastic young saxophonist, virtuosic, conceptually daring, with a lush tone, a powerful vision, and a deepening emotional resonance.”
María is a recipient of the 2017 Jazz Gallery Residency Commission, the 2018 Roulette Jerome Foundation Commission, the 2019 Roulette Residency, and the 2020 Jazz Coalition Commission Award, and the 2024 Pulse Foundation Award. She was nominated for the Jazz Journalist’s Association Up-And-Coming Musician of the Year 2018 and named the 2018 Newcomer Musician for the El Intruso 11th Annual Internation Critics Poll, as well as Best New Artist in the 2018 JazzTimes Reader’s Poll.
In 2022, María was commissioned by the Metropolitan Orchestra to write a chamber piece; she composed a piece mixing elements of healing somatic practices with music titled “your very own sun”. The same year, she also was a Women In Jazz Organization mentor, working with a young musician to transmit her knowledge and study ways of overcoming hurdles specific to young women in the music industry. Her latest album, Anohin, a duo with pianist Marta Sanchez, was released in March 2024; during its release tour Maria was deemed « excellent on the tenor horn » and « an unpretentious and incredibly soulful singer » by JazzWise.
In 2024, Maria also had her debut as conductor, directing Roscoe Mitchell’s piece Cards in Mantova, in the presence of the composer; she also began touring as a sideman with Joel Ross’ Good Vibes. On December 6th 2024, she is set to release a new album, Altered Visions, a collaborative effort with musicians Marta Sanchez, Camila Nebbia, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Iago Fernandez, on the recently formed label Lilaila Records.
Fearless sideman percussionist Shakoor Hakeem, prolific up-and-coming talent, has a gift; Making experimental, Afro-diasporan, rhythmic improvisational music immediately enjoyable. Hakeem’s unique old-soul has him adhering to the cultural traditions of mysticism and folklore, within which are contained the secrets of his elders. The mythical experience of his stage presence evokes feelings that you are witness to a ceremonial gathering, of an ancient rhythmic history. In building this, he has long supported many of the most forward-thinking legendary improvisors, including Antione Roney, Graham Haynes and the illustrious Wallace Roney. Performing live with these great artists, he refrains from over- playing and prefers minimalism, playing within the musical, compositional contexts of colours and texture, delivering limited solo’s, all the while occupying the eye of the hurricane.
