Vince Mendoza

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vince Mendoza

Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961 in Norwalk , Connecticut ) is an American jazz musician (keyboard), composer and arranger .

Live and act

Mendoza played the trumpet while in high school . He studied composition at Ohio State University and completed his training by studying composition and conducting at the University of Southern California . During this time he met the drummer Peter Erskine , with whose band the album "Transition" was created. In the following years he composed and arranged several other titles for Erskine. He also arranged for the Yellowjackets ("Greenhouse", 1991).

His first two solo albums, Start Here and Instructions Inside , were released with great success on Blue Note Records . Through his work with the WDR Big Band in Cologne, he became known in Europe as a composer and arranger; The CD The Vince Mendoza / Arif Mardin Project: Jazzpaña brought him the German Jazz Award and a Grammy nomination for the best instrumental arrangement. In the following years, musicians such as Gary Burton , Pat Metheny , Michael Brecker , Charlie Haden , Andy Narell , Kurt Elling and John Abercrombie recorded his compositions and arrangements.

His collaboration with the Metropole Orkest of the Netherlands began in 1995 with a project with saxophonist Bob Mintzer . As the orchestra's first guest conductor, he worked with musicians such as Elvis Costello , Herbie Hancock and The Brecker Brothers , and in 2005 he became chief conductor and artistic director. He arranged the music for dozens of jazz albums and for legendary songwriters such as Björk , Chaka Khan , Al Jarreau , Jane Monheit , Bobby McFerrin and Joni Mitchell . He received a Grammy in 2001 for the reworking of Both Sides, Now for Joni Mitchell, and another in 2004 for the song Woodstock . The orchestral arrangement for the album Swing When You're Winning by Robbie Williams just come from him as to Lars von Trier's film Dancer in the Dark .

Mendoza has also composed for television productions (and was nominated for an Emmy Award) as well as for classical ensembles and orchestras. The Turtle Island String Quartet , the Debussy Trio and the Berliner Philharmoniker played his compositions. In 1999 his album "Epiphany" was released with the London Symphony Orchestra .

Discographic notes

Albums under your own name

  • 1989 - Vince Mendoza (Vince Mendoza)
  • 1990 - Start Here (World Pacific)
  • 1991 - Instructions Inside ( Blue Note )
  • 1992 - with Arif Mardin : Jazzpaña (ACT) (DE: Gold in the Jazz Award)
  • 1993 - Sketches (Blue Jackel)
  • 1999 - with the London Symphony Orchestra : Epiphany (Zebra)
  • 2008 - Blauklang (ACT)

With the Metropolis Orkest

Albums as accompanist

swell

  1. ↑ Gold / platinum database of the Federal Association of the Music Industry, accessed on June 27, 2016

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mendoza, Vince
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician, composer and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH 17th November 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Norwalk , Connecticut