MEDIA

Sara Serpa- voice

Matt Mitchell-piano

With 15  striking tracks weaving through composition and improvisation, the album End of  Something captures the deep musical  connection Serpa and Mitchell have cultivated over years of collaboration. The music on End of Something feels simultaneously intimate and expansive—anchored in the trust and  creative fluency that Serpa and Mitchell have developed over many years of collaboration. Known for their  fearless and genre-defying work, they craft a sonic landscape that feels like memory in motion: layered,  shifting, sometimes dissonant, and deeply human. End of Something stands as a document of two artists shaping a space that is entirely their own—refined,  exploratory, and deeply attuned.

Sara Serpa- voice|  composition| drawings | storytelling

Ingrid Laubrock- tenor sax

Angelica Sanchez-piano

Erik Friedlander-cello

“An ambitious, multilayered exploration of identity, filled with both quiet grace and emotional depth.” Jazz Sketches

Encounters and Collisions is the most autobiographical music of my career. What began as composing music for someone else’s story gradually revealed itself as my own. That realization gave me the courage to explore my experiences more deeply, writing down memories of pivotal moments that shaped my journey as a newcomer to the United States. Encounters and Collisions traces these episodes from my life since leaving Portugal. The project originated as a composition commissioned by Chamber Music America and evolved into a book featuring my own drawings. The audio version features my narration of each story. Designed to be experienced with or without the accompanying music, the book stands as both a visual and sonic reflection on adaptation, loss and transformation.

Sara Serpa- voice

André Matos - electric and acoustic guitar, bass, percussion

Dov Manski - piano/ synth

João Pereira - drums

Okkyung Lee - cello

Sofia Jernberg - voice

“The new album is their most sophisticated and varied project together (…) The music feels weightless, filled with delicate motion, as if the musicians are dancers floating in the ether." Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street

“Night Birds, the new album by singer Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos, feels like a peek inside a private conversation; the depth of their musical interplay, an extension of their personal bond, has the sense of something irreplaceable and precious.” Nate Chinen, WRTI

Seven years after their last duo album, vocalist Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos return with Night Birds: the duo’s third release captures and crystallizes their uncanny musical connection.  A collection of original compositions, improvisations and a Bartok bagatelle, the dozen tracks on Night Birds reflect on the fast-paced societies of the modern world, questioning the consumption and exploitation of natural ecosystems. Serpa’s distinctive singing and Matos’ spectacular sonic landscapes are enhanced by original and creative artists in jazz and improvised music including Brooklyn-based pianist Dov Manski, South-Korean avant-garde cellist Okkyung Lee (John Zorn, Nels Cline, Chris Corsano, and Thurston Moore), Ethiopian-Swedish experimental vocalist Sofia Jernberg (Fire! Orchestra, Mette Rasmussen), Portuguese up-and-coming drummer João Pereira, and on two tracks, Serpa and Matos’ child Lourenço.

Sara Serpa – voice, composition
Emmanuel Iduma – text, spoken word
Sofía Rei - voice
Aubrey Johnson – voice
Matt Mitchell -piano
Qasim Naqvi – modular synth

The New York Times – Best Jazz Album of 2021 

#1 Os Melhores Álbums Nacionais de 2021 – Rimas e Batidas

Vocalist of 2021- El Intruso Critics Poll

Best Albums of 2021 – The Nation

Best of 2021 – Arts Fuse

Os Melhores do Ano 2021- Jazz.pt

“The ultimate vision belongs to Serpa, who’s among the most singular talents working in music today.” Michael Roberts, Jazziz Magazine

A collaboration between Portuguese vocalist-composer Sara Serpa and Nigerian writer Emmanuel Iduma, drawing inspiration from Iduma’s latest book, A Stranger’s Pose, a unique blend of travelogue, musings and poetry. In a combination of music, text, image and field recordings collected by Iduma during his travels, Intimate Strangers explores such themes as of movement, home, grief, absence and desire in what Iduma calls “an atlas of a borderless world”.

Sara Serpa – voice | composition | film production

Mark Turner – tenor saxophone 

Zeena Parkins– harp

David Virelles - piano

Best of 2020:

The Wire Magazine

New York Music Daily

Plastic Sax

The Jazz Trail

The Absolute Sound

The New Noise

Jazz.pt Magazine

Downbeat Magazine Top-Rated Albums of 2020

Mulheres Que Causaram Ondas em 2020 – Rimas e Batidas

A unique interdisciplinary experimental documentary that traces the historical legacy of Portuguese colonialism in Africa through moving image and sound. Directed by Portuguese vocalist-composer Sara Serpa, in collaboration with film director Bruno Soares, it features never-seen footage from Portugal and Angola shot in the 1960’s in the then colony ruled by Salazar’s notorious fascist regime, highlighted with texts by the revolutionary Amílcar Cabral. The material, discovered in Serpa’s family archives, was edited and transformed to create a sensory experience in which music and image, invite the viewer/listener to reflect on history in a visceral way. The extraordinary musical score features Zeena Parkins (harp) and Mark Turner (saxophone) and David Virelles (piano), probes deep into the emotional core of this era through scored material and flowing improvisation. Several motivations animated Serpa's work on this project, including the desire “to highlight the power of music as a tool for social evolution, reflection and education,” and “to break the silence about Portuguese colonialism and institutional racism.”

Sara Serpa – voice | composition 

Ingrid Laubrock – tenor | soprano saxophone 

Erik Friedlander – cello

Close Up In Best Of 2018 Lists:

The 2018 Npr Jazz Critics Poll  (#3)

Feminist Jazz Review: 5 Best Records Of 2018 

20 Buenos Discos 2018 

Favorite Jazz Albums Released In 2018 

Melhores De 2018  Jazz.Pt

The configuration of voice, saxophone and cello exposes each instrument in a vulnerability that sometimes verges on discomfort, much like a Close Up photograph that is saturated with detail. As a trio, we are faced with the challenges of finding a way to work together while playing within this hyper-detailed setting and this uneasy close range. From within this exposure, we look for cohesion, and collective sound. I wrote the material, but the music took shape in the process of our rehearsals and the time we spent together, discussing and trying. The recording process, too, continued the concept of exposure. All of us were present in the same room as we recorded, taking away the possibility of correcting mistakes—no chance of going back. In Close Up we, together, become actors and directors, performers and listeners, the others and ourselves. You too are part of this process. Thank you for listening.

Sara Serpa - voice, piano, & Fender Rhodes
André Matos - guitar, electric bass, percussion
Pete Rende - synthesizer 
Billy Mintz - drums and percussion 

“All the Dreams is a stunning album. (…) But by simply settling into a gorgeous melody and channeling every facet of it to its extreme, the duo of vocalist Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos have unleashed an album of such beauty it can move aside mountains like a sunrise wanting more space for its bright light.  And just like that sunrise, the power is generated through subtlety and grace, seeming almost effortless as its presence envelops the entire horizon and everything within its reach.” Bird is the Worm Blog

As with Primavera – which All About Jazz lauded for being “sonically lustrous,” with an “intricate melodic sense” – the new All the Dreams glimmers with luminous melodicism and magical atmosphere, the music again casting a spell. The sound of All the Dreams mixes the organic and the electronic seamlessly, with Serpa & Matos playing multiple acoustic and electric instruments along with using the studio as an instrument; several tracks also feature Billy Mintz on drums and Pete Rende on ambient, Eno/Budd-like synthesizers. Along with Serpa’s signature wordless vocalese and the duo’s own lyrics, there are songs that draw on words of great poets, both Portuguese and English. Atmosphere and image, poetry and melody – this is the stuff of which All the Dreams is made.

AYELET ROSE GOTTLIEB, vocals
SOFIA REI, vocals
SARA SERPA, vocals
MALIKA ZARRA, vocals

” (…) astonishingly beautiful, a high point in the series: The singers’ individually rigorous tones and dispositions and arranging impulses surround the music and give it another dimension of originality; it sounds medieval and new at the same time.” Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

One of the most beautiful of all Book of Angels ensembles, Mycale is an evocative a cappella vocal quartet featuring four of the most creative voices in New Music. In their second CD release they are tighter than ever and approach the Masada music with a sensitive ear, an open heart and a creative imagination. Using a variety of texts in Portuguese, Berber, Hebrew, French and Spanish, they fashion lush harmonies and strong rhythmic drive to bring Zorn’s lyrical and elusive melodies to life like never before. A transcendent follow up to their debut recording, Gomory is truly Music of the Angels.

Sara Serpa - voice, fender rhodes, piano
André Matos - guitar, electric bass, cymbal

With Guests:
Greg Osby - soprano saxophone 
Leo Genovese - melodica, kosikas, bombo leguero, piano, toy guitar
Pete Rende - Prophet keyboard 

Ms. Serpa, a vocalist, and Mr. Matos, a guitarist, recently made a calmly stunning duo album, “Primavera,” that capitalizes on their many affinities: as limber improvisers, as thoughtful composers, as selfless ensemble players, and as internationalists hailing originally from Portugal (by way of Boston and New York). (…) “Primavera” is gemlike in its beauty and precision, and manages to be purely about the depth of their rapport(…)“  Nate Chinen, The New York Times

” (…) an enchanting new recording.”   The New Yorker

“ (…) one couldn’t ask for a more sonically lustrous offering.  There is never an extra note or a false move on this album“‘ Robert Bush, All About Jazz

“(…) Primavera, Serpa’s first venture alone with Matos takes their shared audacity to breathtaking heights.“ Jazz Times Magazine

” Sara Serpa e André Matos conceived a sublime record. “Primavera” is a seductive place of harmony“.   O Público

” (…) Most of all, the collaboration of Sara Serpa and Andre Matos is so bright and full of life. (…) In Portuguese, “Primavera” means “in spring”, the season of renewal and creation. Listening to this music, you’ll say “yes” to all counts”.   Step Tempest Blog

“ A tour de force.”  A Jazz Listener’s Thoughts

“(…)an exploration of voice, tone and structure. This use of toughness to offset clarity is all over “Primavera” and it makes for a mesmerizing listen (…)“ Canadian Audiophile

“(…)pin back your ears for something delightful when you listen to this CD. Ethereal, flowing, interweaving harmonies and rhythms that suggest jazz as JS Bach may have written it, with hints of the sound of free jazz on some tracks. (…) The whole CD is a gem.”  Bebop Spoken Here Blog

Sara Serpa- voice

André Matos- guitar

Kris Davis- piano

Ben Street- bass

Ted Poor- drums

“.. the work of art in motion that can be experienced from a fresh perspective with every listen.” Chicago Jazz Magazine

“Serpa’s vision for the project is impressive – the creativity of her vocal work is yet another reason for one to explore this music time and again.”    Step Tempest

”Serpa is completely integrated into her exceptionally fine band. The composing here is also world-class, and Serpa’s music is consistently far more substantial than the typical jazz vocalist fare. Her tendency towards musical risk-taking pays huge artistic dividends throughout “Mobile.” Jazz Review

“Mobile” revolves around stories I read while in New York, Boston, Amsterdam and Lisbon, in stillness or in motion. The choice of books was unconsciously arbitrary. After a year and a half, I glanced at my bookshelf and realized that there was a common theme among all the authors. They were all solitary travelers, adventurers encouraged by the discovery of the unknown, spirits filled with curiosity. It has been inspiring to read about their travels in India, Africa, United States, and Middle East, in the sea, in the desert… For each of these texts, I focused on the most meaningful episode, passage or emotion I could remember. Characters, places and instants of the narrative stayed in my mind for a long time; these songs are my musical translations of those.

The enthralling common aspect of authors such as Herodotus, Kapuscinski, Naipaul, Steinbeck or characters like Ahab, Ulysses or Corto Maltese is, the fact that, real or imagined, they have abandoned the comfort and safety of sedentary life and traveled, constantly or temporarily, to unknown destinations. The torment of being still, trapped in a physical space, made them move. What were they looking for?

Sara Serpa- voice

Ran Blake- piano

As if you found yourself in an adjacent cave, and because you entered alone the projector begins with the sea run over itself and then silvering away. The memory here is always white light and ink with the possibility of gold and ocher at the end. At the end of the story we cannot say whether or not it was true that the horses transcended their carousal. Up and away and off of the pier, over the bridge leaves torn from trees in you hair. You wake into a minor register--the oil shine of the Boulevard in the rain and this capital suddenly empty. But the voice begins again, ribboning through the pulse of the city, the film rewound leading you back through the city the park the bridge the pier and up, back up onto the platform of the carousal and now the sea and the shore washing and washing away from you. Circled back. No longer alone. (Karla Kelsey)


As with many other forms of artistic expression, Music lives through paths of experience, searching, and understanding. If the first two aspects are the evidence of one's artistry of being, the latter, understanding, reveals a complexity of thought. With Camera Obscura, Serpa and Blake achieve this complexity in a masterful way. With open ears and attentive eyes, they transform each tune into an extraordinary journey without a fixed destiny. The episodes flow around uncertain structures and through each note's impressionism. In the immensity of this space, there is an undefined moment of common search and musical essence. It is an intimate place of constant provocation and unique sharing, in which the listener becomes a participant through the images suggested by this duo. Be aware: Camera Obscura exists to be rediscovered each time we hear it. In my view, this will undoubtedly make an important mark on the universe of the voice and piano. In fact, it will make its mark on the entire universe of new improvised music. (Bernardo Sassetti)

Sara Serpa- voice

Ran Blake- piano

At a time when so many singers and accompanists play it safe, it’s refreshing to hear vocalist Sara Serpa and pianist Ran Blake do something different—maybe even risky—with the standard jazz song repertoire. Their second album together, Aurora (Clean Feed), give listeners a deeper and more intimate view of one of the most remarkable partnerships in jazz. Recorded live in concert at Lisbon’s Auditório da Culturgest and at private session at the theater the day before, the music covers a wide range. Some of it humorous, at other times it is imbued with a sense of tragedy or tender romance, but at all times it is daring. It’s little wonder that All About Jazz critic Ken Dryden said of their debut release Camera Obscura (Inner Circle) “the magical blend of Blake's piano with Serpa’s voice proves captivating.

Sara Serpa (voice)

Greg Osby (alto sax)

André Matos (guitar)

Vardan Ovsepian (piano)

John Lockwood (bass)

Nick Falk (drums)

This album is a collection of songs written in between Lisboa and Boston. It reflects my adaptation to USA, to a different life with new people, and also my feelings of longing for my landscapes, friends and family. Moving to Boston in 2005, was a turning point in my life. Having had the opportunity to meet so many inspiring teachers/ musicians and to have the time and space to learn, share, compose and play with others was definitely something I will never forget.

The desire of recording an album has been with me for a while, but there was never the right moment and too many questions without good answers (where, with whom, what, how?). I didn’t want to force anything and always thought that the right moment would come. Everything flowed naturally- by the end of 2007 I had already enough material to record and had found the right musicians in Boston that gave so much life and shape to my music. So…we went in studio on January 31st 2008. It was really cold outside.

Sara Serpa- voice

Ran Blake -piano

There is much to gain in collaborations between musicians from different generations. The younger receives an education, lessons in history, technique and taste that only experience can provide, while the older can utilize the youthful energy and drive, challenging themselves further.

The legendary pianist Ran Blake has long been known as a unique and eloquent stylist, his style ranging from the evocative to romantic to avant-garde. He is also known as a tremendous and supportive accompanist to vocalists. Sara Serpa is a vocalist of a much younger generation, who approaches the songs of the American songbook, music from her native Portugal, and her own original material with equal expertise.

The duo has worked together since Serpa studied with Blake at the New England Conservatory. Together, they showcase their unique musical bond on Kitano Noir, a live recording from New York City’s Kitano Jazz venue and their third release as a duo, the others recorded live in Boston and in Lisbon, Portugal. Here their advancement as a pair can be heard as they focus on well-rehearsed originals written by Blake, and intriguing standards.