Raul Midón
The New York Times has declared Raul Midón “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.” Following the singer/songwriter’s GRAMMY® Award nominations for his two previous releases – Bad Ass & Blind and If You Really Want, each for Best Jazz Vocal Album – he is returning with his 11th studio album: The Mirror, to be released via Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Music Group on March 13, 2020. The Mirror finds Midón balancing jazz ballads and tropical grooves with spoken-word pieces and contemporary pop and soul; the album includes collaborations with vibraphone virtuoso Joe Locke and pianist-composer Gerald Clayton. Bad Ass & Blind saw Midón working with such top jazz soloists as trumpeter Nicholas Payton, spurring National Public Radio to note that the 2017 album continued Midón’s “streak of records that cross boundaries with ease and head-turning musicality.” His 2018 follow-up, If You Really Want, featured Midón performing old favorites and new songs with the Metropole Orkest (the GRAMMY-winning Dutch ensemble that has backed artists from Elvis Costello to Snarky Puppy), with orchestrations by acclaimed arranger Vince Mendoza.
Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.