"Reciprocity, the impressive new album by tenor saxophonist María Grand, embraces a notion of generative potential in more ways than one. Informed by her personal experience of pregnancy and childbirth, and partly inspired by mythic archetypes of the Tree of Life, Grand set out to create music that folded its ample intricacies into a human narrative. A good portion of the album consists of the suite she calls "Creation."
Nate Chinen, Take Five - WBGO
"Swiss-raised, New York-based tenor saxophonist María Grand’s second album is a gem, the product of a nimble working trio that includes bassist Kanoa Mendenhall and drummer Savannah Harris. The 13 originals manage an artful balance of the cerebral and the visceral, moving gracefully between free rhythms, pulses and pronounced grooves, often within the same piece."
JazzIs Magazine
"Grand is a mesmerising new voice on the tenor sax."
JazzTimes Magazine
"Reciprocity unfolds in a programmatic manner as the compositions ebb and flow in a cyclical fashion. Throughout, Grand casts a ceremonial vibe that imbues the music with an enticing sense of mystery."
Downbeat Magazine
María Grand's debut "Magdalena" was named #6 best Jazz Album of 2018 by Billboard; she was named Best New Artist of 2018 by the JazzTimes Readers Poll, #4 Artist to Watch in 2019 by JazzIz Magazine, was chosen one of the Promoter Picks Artists to Watch for 2019 by JazzFuel.com, was nominated for Best Up-And-Coming Musician of 2018 by the Jazz Journalists Association Awards, and was elected Best Newcomer Musician by the 11th Annual Critics Poll of El Intruso.
"..the way Grand has grown as a singer in balance with her skills on the reeds is unparalleled”
"On Magdalena, Ms. Grand unspools a constant flow of ideas, serene and deftly paced..."
"There’s a sense of interior mystery in Magdalena, the full-length debut of María Grand. The 26-year-old Swiss native uses her tenor saxophone like a truth-illuminating candle, her haunting lines exploring every crevice of her equally somber and arresting compositions. No matter how rapt the improvisations, an itch of unknowing pervades the search."
-She plays with a rare combination of warmth and conviction, and has just released Magdalena, an angular, stripped-down album. {..}With song titles like “Isis”, “Maria” and “Magdalena”, this project is a tribute to powerful women, and should be compulsory listening for inside the jazz world and out.
Her full-length leader debut, Magdalena, was released on Biophilia Records in 2018. Featuring her dauntless ensemble Diatribe and tackling subjects ranging from mythology to family relationships, the album positioned Grand as an improviser of piercing insight and a composer of vast ambition.
“Luckily, most jazz fans were savvy enough to hear the genius of the 26-year-old’s new direction in modern bop with the excellent Magdalena. Backed by her core rhythm section of bassist Rashaan Carter and drummer Jeremy Dutton (with guest turns from guitarist Mary Halvorson and pianists David Bryant and Fabian Almazan), Magdalena presents a more confident, assured performer and composer than who first emerged on her self-released 2017 debut EP, Tetrawind. She exhibits tremendous growth as both a singer and a reedist.”
"On “TetraWind,” an EP released this year, Ms. Grand, 25, unfurls a teetering logic. She conjoins the spiky rhythms of Rashaan Carter’s bass with tilting sheets of harmony, built by her tenor saxophone, David Bryant’s keyboard and Roman Filiu’s alto saxophone. As an improviser, the Swiss-Argentine Ms. Grand is both measured and frank, often venturing into gentle provocation."
-The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello
"A Revelation!"
-Jazz Magazine
"The two "finds" of the [Newport Jazz] festival for me were coincidentally both women: Maria Grand, tenor player with Steve Coleman, and Kris Davis, pianist with Eric Revis' group. Grand navigated the always tricky Coleman music with a big, broad sound and tremendous melodic acuity." -Pat Donaher, Visionsong