Vince Mendoza
Monday 1 February 2010
Born in 1961 in Norwalk, Connecticut, Vince Mendoza began learning classical guitar and piano from an early age. His musical influences ran from Bach to Aretha Franklin, from Miles Davis and Gil Evans to Igor Stravinsky and Alban Berg. Taking up the trumpet during high school, he later earned a degree in music composition at Ohio State University. The music of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter became a strong influence on his big band writing. He completed his post-graduate composition and conducting studies at the University of Southern California. He met a kindred spirit in drummer Peter Erskine, with whom he collaborated in several recordings.
Start Here
His early solo albums on Blue Note Records, ‘Start Here’ and ‘Instructions Inside’, were critical triumphs that featured such artists as John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Ralph Towner, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine and others. Through his profile-building stint as guest arranger and conductor of the WDR Big Band, based in Cologne, Germany, Mendoza became widely known in Europe as a multi-talented composer and arranger with a deep understanding of contemporary styles. Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, Andy Narell, Kurt Elling and John Abercrombie have prominently featured Vince Mendoza's compositions and arrangements on their albums. Mendoza's alliance with the Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands began in 1995. Since November 2005 he is chief conductor and is frequently seen working with the Metropole at concerts, festivals and recordings with the likes of Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, The Brecker Brothers, Silje Nergaard and Ivan Lins.
Grammy Awards
Mendoza’s arranging has appeared on many critically acclaimed projects that include dozens of albums with song writing legends such as Björk, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin and Joni Mitchell. In February 2008 he received his fourth Grammy Award for his arrangement of Joe Zawinul’s In A Silent Way (‘Best Instrumental Arrangement’). The collaboration with the Brasilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins culminated in the album Ivan Lins & The Metropole Orchestra which was released in August 2009. Here Vince Mendoza conducted the Metropole Orchestra in popular numbers by Ivan Lins, most of them in arrangements by Mendoza. In November 2009 this album was awarded the Latin Grammy 'Best Brasilian Album'.
In 2007 Some Skunk Funk with Randy Brecker and WDR Big Band Köln was awarded with a Grammy for ‘Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album’. 2001 saw Mendoza collect the Grammy for ‘Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist’ for his arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s Both sides now and again in 2004 for the epoch-defining song Woodstock for Mitchell’s final studio album Travelogue. Mendoza has written commissioned compositions and arrangements for world-renowned classical and jazz groups that include the Yellowjackets, Al DiMeola, Gino Vanelli, Joe Zawinul, Mike Stern, Kyle Eastwood, the GRP All Star Big Band, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Debussy Trio, the L.A. Guitar Quartet, the Metropole Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the BBC. His music was featured at the Berlin Jazz Festival. He has performed major works at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and he actively conducts concerts of his music in Europe, Japan, Scandinavia, and the U.K.
