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

“One of the most important composers, vocalists and singers of modern jazz – she has something new to suggest every time. Phontas Troussas, Diskoryxeion

“It’s quite a journey, and told with care and clarity. Her songs have tension, but they are always under control. She succeeds; she controls the maelstrom. Her careful enunciation is important here. It brings calmness after her collisions; it hides (and heals) the divisions that open up. Encounters and Collisions shows that Sara Serpa continues to widen her range and her artistic terrain.” Richard John Walker, Outsideleft

The voice of Sara Serpa possesses an innate intimacy, so subtle and graceful as to feel like a whispered confession no matter the lyric, or whether there’s a lyric at all. Writing about Night Birds, Serpa’s 2023 duo album with her husband, guitarist André Matos, Nate Chinen said that the music, “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.”

Despite that, Serpa has long avoided writing her own lyrics because, she says, “they’re so personal and show so much about you.” With her breathtaking new album, Encounters and Collisions, she changes course, embracing the art of intimate revelation with the most autobiographical music of her career. The album, due out November 15, 2024 via Biophilia features Serpa’s longtime collaborators Ingrid Laubrock on saxophone and Erik Friedlander on cello, joined by pianist Angelica Sanchez.