Maria João | OGRE – Press Pack

Maria João | OGREMARIA JOÃO

vocals

JOÃO FARINHAfender rhodes & synthesizers

ANDRÉ NASCIMENTOlaptop & electronics

JOEL SILVAdrums

JÚLIO RESENDEpiano

CultureWorks | Sabina Schebrak | sabina@cultureworks.at | +43-664-5132367

Maria João | OGRE – Press Pack

OGRE is Maria João's latest adventure - a hybrid of jazz and electronicmusic. An unusual instrumental line-up and an outside-the-box approach takes audiences on a trip through a world of sounds, criss-crossing the borders between digital and analogue.Maria João's voice will be your guide through this journey!

In OGRE, the amazing voice of singer Maria João joins forces with an essentially electronic and digital instrumental section - João Farinha's Fender Rhodes and synthesizers, André Nascimento's laptop and keyboards, Joel Silva's hybrid electronic and acoustic drumkit and Júlio Resende's piano. The band acts free from specific definitions of genres and styles and makes music in the true sense of the word, without predefined aesthetically limitations. Jazz is present in all of these musicians' professional backgrounds; Lusophone and Portuguese music is in their blood; and their souls are infused with a great desire to cross borders, mix different influences and aesthetics together. At the heart of it all, we find an unconditional love for music.

This music is not limited to the Portuguese and Lusophone elements that decorate it, nor to the jazz language that forms the basis of its structure nor the electronic sounds that guide it. It transforms all these approaches into other realities, creating experiences at razor's edge, combining references of different kinds of popular music.

This is fresh music, a project that is different from any other band that one might find in Portugal. Its work does not belong to a specific category, but it could, according to common parlance, be identified with "fusion" tag. Drum'n'bass, dub, electronica, «8-bit music» and electroacoustic are some of the sonic worlds explored by these musicians, with original songs and compositions as anchors, as well as their own very particular interpretations of pop/rock and jazz.

CultureWorks | Sabina Schebrak | sabina@cultureworks.at | +43-664-5132367

Maria João | OGRE – Press Pack

BACKGROUNDIn 2012, OGRE released its debut album “Electrodoméstico” (published by JACC Records) and over the past few years has performed in some of Portugal's main venues and events: In Lisbon, both in Centro Cultural de Belém and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (during the 30th Anniversary of the Foundation's Modern Art Center - CAM), also in Teatro Académico Gil Vicente, in Coimbra; Rivoli in Porto and Jazz no Palácio Festival, in Tavira. OGRE is seen frequently playing outside their homeland, with festival concerts in Chile, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary.OGRE have a new album coming out soon! The concept is “Plástico” (plastic) and we can’t wait to show it to the world!

BIOGRAPHIES

Maria João has built a surprising and brilliant career, highlighted by her performances in the world's most prestigious jazz festivals. Her career began at the Hot Clube de Portugal jazz School, and crossed over the borders in a just a few years - Maria João became one of the few Portuguese singers to achieve success and acclaim outside her country.

Her unique style has become a reference in the difficult and competitive world of improvised music. Her remarkable vocal abilities and the unequaled intensity of her performances have turned her into an internationally renowned artist who has earned her place as one of the greatest

contemporary singers. Both the audience and the critics have been unanimous in their applause and consider her "a voice that goes all the way to the limit" and a "singer who is continually evolving".

Besides her long running partnership with Mário Laginha, Maria João's own discography includes: “Sol”; “João”, an album dedicated to Brazil's popular music; “Amoras e Framboesas”, with the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos; and “Electrodoméstico” with her most recent project, OGRE, as well as several other collaborations. She has worked internationally with prestigious artists such as Aki Takase, Bobo Stenson, Christof Lauer, Gilberto Gil, Joe Zawinul, Laureen Newton, Lenine, Ginga, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Trilok Gurtu, Ralph Towner, Manu Katché, Saxofour, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Frankfurt Big Band, and many others; her portfolio also includes a duet with Bobby McFerrin.

CultureWorks | Sabina Schebrak | sabina@cultureworks.at | +43-664-5132367

Maria João | OGRE – Press Pack

João Farinha cofounder, manager and main composer for the OGRE project, began his musical studies at the age of 19 in schools such as the Hot Clube de Portugal (Filipe Melo) and Academia de Amadores de Música (Alexandre Diniz, Mário Delgado) in Lisbon, as well as the Prins Claus Conservatorium, where he contacted with musicians from all over the world.

In 2008 he met Maria João, with whom he found to have a great musical empathy. He began his professional career by playing with the singer and since then he has had the opportunity to perform in countries like Italy, France, Greece and Chile as well as reputable Portuguese venues such as Centro Cultural de Belém, Gulbenkian Foundation and Hot Clube de Portugal. He has played with some of Portugal's top jazz musicians such as Júlio Resende and Joel Silva (with whom he shares the stage in this project); also Mário Delgado, Carlos Barretto, Bernardo Moreira and Bruno Pedroso.

André Nascimento was born in Lisbon, Portugal and began his musical activity as a guitarist in 2001, exploring the worlds of jazz and rock. He first studied at the Hot Clube de Portugal, where he was tutored by Mário Delgado, Filipe Melo and Bernardo Moreira. He then completed a music technology degree at Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge, UK), where he studied electroacoustic music and sound design with Julio D’Escrivan and improvisation with Kevin Flanagan, and performed with MEME (Mechanical and Electrical Music Experience) and Anglia Ruskin Jazz Orchestra.Since 2005 he has worked as a sound designer and composer for video, theatre, digital arts and new

media.He is also a live electronic musician, performing with a mixed setup of laptop, keyboards and other instruments. Over the years he has shared the stage with artists such as Maria João, Júlio Resende, Savina Yannatou, Evelyn Toth, Orquestra de Jazz de Matosinhos, Kevin Flanagan and Julio d’Escrivan.

CultureWorks | Sabina Schebrak | sabina@cultureworks.at | +43-664-5132367

Maria João | OGRE – Press Pack

Joel Silva was born in Leiria, and began his career in rock bands. In 1997, he began his studies at E.M.O.L (Orfeão de Leiria Music School), where he studied percussion with Rui Gomes and Manuel Campos. He attended several jazz workshops with Peter Erskine, John Riley, Dan Weiss, Ari Hoenig and Billy Hart. In 2008 he graduated in Jazz at E.S.M.A.E (School of Music and Performance Arts) where he studied drums with Michael Lauren.

He has performed in several venues and festivals in Portugal, Spain, France, U.S.A., Netherlands, Italy, Angola, Macau, Slovenia, and Greece, with musicians such as Carlos Barretto, Maria João, Nelson Cascais, Abe Rabade, Bob Sands, Big Band H.C.P., Matt Penman, Francesco Bearzatti, Júlio Resende, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Baptiste Trotignon, Franck Amsallem, Nuno Ferreira, Jon Irabagon, Perico Sambeat, Ole Morten Vågan, and Mário Delgado, among others.Between 2011 and 2012 he was a teacher at the Universidade de Aveiro's Masters Degree in Jazz Music. He currently teaches Combo and Instrument (Drums) at the JBJazz and the Hot Clube de Portugal music schools.

Júlio Resende Portuguese musician, pianist and composer, born in Faro. One of the most significant forces in the new generation of Fado and Jazz musicians in Portugal, Júlio Resende started playing at age four. Resende had a Classical background, but soon he found out he was not satisfied to play compositions he could not improvise over. Júlio participated in several workshops where he worked with

the best masters of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Berklee College of Music, and Bill Evans Academy, Hot Clube during his stay in Université Paris - VIII. In 2006, he completed his Philosophy studies at the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He currently teaches Jazz Piano at the Universidade de Aveiro for their Master's degree in Jazz Music. The intense and very relevant path through the universe of jazz led him to think about improvisation in other musical genres. Through this path he discovered Fado, where he crosses tradition with modernity and uses his piano to cast a new look on the Portuguese song.

CultureWorks | Sabina Schebrak | sabina@cultureworks.at | +43-664-5132367

Maria João | OGRE – Press Pack

VIDEOS“ Há Gente Aqui” @Torres Vedras, Portugal [2012]

“Reggae da Maria” @Torres Vedras, Portugal [2012]

DISCOGRAPHYMaria João | OGRE - ”Plástico” Mar 2015

Maria João | OGRE - ”Electrodoméstico” Abr 2012

OTHER LINKSmariajoao.org/mariajoaomgrancha/mariajoao.ogre/ogremariajoao

CultureWorks | Sabina Schebrak | sabina@cultureworks.at | +43-664-5132367