Playlist for the week of April 23, 2021

I am hungry for peace and connection today, and these are sounds that bring me sustenance. In times of great strife, great awakening, and generally fast tracked change, I look for musical tales that focus me, center me, and help me identify with something greater than myself. All the artists in this playlist help me expand who I am; they bring nuance, consciousness, transformation, and love through their music. These songs are sounds that accompany me through this learning, this uncovering, this remembering. —María Grand

About María Grand

María Grand is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and vocalist. She moved to New York City in 2011. She has since become an important member of the city’s creative music scene, performing extensively in projects including musicians such as Nicole Mitchell, Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn, Mary Halvorson, Jen Shyu, Fay Victor, Joel Ross, Aaron Parks, Miles Okazaki, etc. María writes and performs her original compositions with her ensemble, DiaTribe; her debut EP “TetraWind” was picked as “one of the 2017’s best debuts” by the NYC Jazz Record and her full-length album Magdalena was 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.” More »

Metropolis Radio: Fill your day with music from the Metropolis community

In 2020-21, we created a weekly series of curated Spotify playlists from Metropolis composers and performers. We supported over 40 artists directly through this project during the pandemic.