Linda’s album “The Glass Hours” was released in 2023 and it has been a thrill to be on the road with her. She’s one of my favorite bandleaders and her musical vision pushes me to unexpected places- I love the challenge, growth and the multiple opportunities to continue exploring her music. Our performance from last year was included as one of the best gigs in 2023:

“A highlight of the Winter Jazzfest, and one of the year’s first head-turning gigs, this showcase by bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh introduced a book of slippery new tunes that would later see release on an album. Oh’s nimble accord with vocalist Sara Serpa, and the confident hum of her hookup with drummer Obed Calvaire, imbued the set with a combination of balletic grace and spring-coiled power.” Nate Chinen, The Gig

Saturday, Jan 20

Tucson Jazz Fest, Arizona

Sunday, Jan 21

Athenaeum Music And Arts, LaJolla, San Diego

Monday, Jan 22nd

Just Jazz Tv presents @Townhouse Venice, Los Angeles

Wednesday, Jan 24

Kuumbwa Jazz, Santa Cruz

Thursday, Jan 25

University of the Pacific, Stockton

Friday, Jan 26

Stanford Live, Bing Concert Hall, Stanford

Sunday, Jan 28

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay

On December 2nd 2023 I was received the Artist of the Year 2023 by the Portuguese RTP/Festa do Jazz Award. I was not able to attend the ceremony in person but my dear friend Inês Barreiros represented me at Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisboa.

Here is my speech:

“It is a great honor and a nice surprise for me to receive this award today. The life of a jazz musician is not easy, especially in a world that increasingly devalues music that is not commercial or easily categorized. As a woman musician, I work hard to create and imagine new realities and contexts for myself and for the work of musicians of underrepresented genres to be normalized and valued. The jazz scene in Portugal was very different when I left for the United States. It wasn’t easy to leave behind the comfort, friends and family. I salute, celebrate and respect all musicians who continue to fight to keep this music alive in a country where opportunities are limited. I salute the persistence, the resistance, the endless hours of unpaid work to keep schools, clubs, festivals, publishing houses, publications and radio stations alive and active.

I thank the Jazz Festival for supporting me throughout all these years. I thank the jury for listening to me and valuing me. I thank my family: André Matos, Lourenço, my mother and my sister Joana for their infinite support. It’s been 5 years since my father José Luís Serpa died today and my life wouldn’t be what it is today without your infinite support in this adventure. I dedicate this recognition to him, knowing that he would be very proud. Thank you very much.”

Dear friends,

After so many months of preparation, Night Birds, my new album with André Matos will be released this coming Friday, September 29, by the Lisbon-based label Robalo Music. To celebrate this release we have several concerts in the East Coast and would love to see you there!

We kick off this mini-tour tomorrow, Thursday September 28 in New York at Joe’s Pub and on Saturday, September 30 at Regatta Bar in Boston. Get your tickets!

André Matos and I have spent the last months working tirelessly to make this tour happen (it is our first tour in the US, believe it or not!) and this could not have been possible without the support Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts (which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.)

::::::Get your tickets, bring your friends!

Sept. 28 Joe’s Pub, NYC- click to reserve your seat

Sept. 30 Regatta Bar, Boston – click to reserve your seat

Oct. 10 Fire Museum Philadelphia, PA*- click to reserve your seat

Oct. 11 Georgetown Day School Washington, DC* – click to reserve your seat

Oct. 12 An Die Musik Baltimore, MD* – click to reserve your seat

Oct. 13 Firehouse 12 New Haven, CT* – click to reserve your seat

Oct. 14Rough Draft Bar & Books, Kingston, NY* 

I am happy to announce the release of the second single, “Degrowth” in all platforms (listen here), and the Bandcamp pre-order of our new album, Sara Serpa & André Matos Night Birds! (pre-order here)

Much of this music reveals reflections on what family means for us, as immigrants and as New Yorkers, how parenting has changed our lives and how horrified we are about the overconsumption of resources and the destruction of the natural world. How do we nurture this precious and fragile microcosmos of watching a child grow while we witness our planet’s destruction? What will be left for him?

Available September 29, 2023 on Robalo Music, Night Birds establishes Serpa and Matos’ gifts as a creative and an expansive duo in a program of contrasting beauty and darkness, with mesmerizing and textural pieces featuring Dov Manski, Sofia Jernberg, Okkyung Lee and João Pereira.

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.

:::
Sara Serpa-  voice
Sofia Jernberg – voice
André Matos – electric guitar
Okkyung Lee – cello
Dov Manski – piano/ synth
 

Recorded by Nolan Thies at The Bunker Studio
Mixed by Pete Rende
Mastered by Nate Wood at Kerseboom Mastering
Produced by Sara Serpa & André Matos with the generous support of Fundação GDA, Portugal
::: LISTEN HERE
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

I am happy to announce the release of the first single, “Carlos” in all platforms, and the Bandcamp pre-order of our new album, Sara Serpa & André Matos Night Birds!

Available September 29, 2023 on Robalo Music, Night Birds establishes Serpa and Matos’ gifts as a creative and an expansive duo in a program of contrasting beauty and darkness, with mesmerizing and textural pieces featuring Dov Manski, Sofia Jernberg, Okkyung Lee and João Pereira.

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.

:::
Sara Serpa-  voice
André Matos – electric guitar
Dov Manski – piano/ synth
João Pereira – drums

Recorded by Nolan Thies at The Bunker Studio
Mixed by Pete Rende
Mastered by Nate Wood at Kerseboom Mastering
Produced by Sara Serpa & André Matos with the generous support of Fundação GDA, Portugal
::: 

LISTEN HERE
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

Sara Serpa will sing with bassist/composer Linda May Han Oh, performing the music of her new album The Glass Hours in Europe in July:

July 7th- North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam

July 8th – Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, Poland

July 10th – Albinea Jazz Festival, Italy

Sara Serpa will sing with Erik Friedlander’s new project Floating City and the Chicago Jazz String Summit, curated by Tomeka Reird, on May 12, at Constellation at 8pm. Tickets here.

Serpa will also perform with her trio with Ingrid Laubrock and Erik Friedlander at The Jewish Museum in New York on Thursday, May 18th, 7.30pm.

Purchase your tickets here.

Next week, 2 special concerts in NYC!

Encounters and Collisions

Thursday, April 6th, 8pm at Seeds, Brooklyn

Friday, April 7th, 7pm, National Jazz Museum in Harlem

Sara Serpa presents her new work “Encounters and Collisions”, a commission by Chamber Music America, drawing inspiration from her own migration experience in the US, exploring themes such as traveling, assimilation, identity, motherhood, loneliness and language. This new work features Serpa’s long-time collaborators Ingrid Laubrock, Erik Friedlander and Angelica Sanchez.

Encounters and Collisions portrays episodes from my life since moving from Portugal to the US. I think so many times about how we deal with change and loss. From moving to another country, to giving birth or grieving a loved one, my different reactions have often surprised me. And yet, life is change in itself. Sometimes drastic, most of the times subtle, we all go and move through constant change. We lose ourselves, countries, landscapes and cities, loved ones, thoughts and emotions. I wrote this music for someone else’s story only to realize I was writing my own story.