RENATO DIZ | MARIA ALEJANDRA QUINTANILLA
Renato Diz - Piano & Extended TechniquesMaria Alejandra Quintanilla - Voice & Spoken WordRecorded by José Diogo Neves at Daniel Lee Concert Hall, Los Angeles, USA.Mixed & Mastered by José Diogo Neves in Tallinn, Estonia.Photography by Sammy Yonjai Sohn.Cover Design by Marta Soutinho & Nelson Luís.© 2016 W&J Productions. All right reserved.Renato Diz | Maria Alejandra Quintanilla is one of the most promising and exciting acts in the International arts scene today.
Based in New York City, this power duo is a constant source of surprise with each new performance being a radically different event from the previous.
In the beginning of 2015, after almost a year of cross country collaboration since meeting through Facebook Group “Jam of the Week” , they recorded their debut album Distance Chemistry in Los Angeles. This recording was comprised entirely of improvised genre defying arrangements of timeless classics, with no cuts, edits or separation between the musicians. That summer, Maria relocated to New York City where she and Renato had a sold-out album release show at the prestigious Rockwood Music Hall. Inspired by their unique musical approach, prominent movie director Pedro Marnoto invited them to create a short movie based on their original composition Conversation II. Since its release on W&J Productions, Distance Chemistry has sold more than a 1000 hard copies worldwide.
In 2017 their were commissioned by ARTE Institute and the Embassy of Portugal in USA, to create a special work to honor the 1150 years of Portugal’s formation. Portugal: Sonic Paths & Possibilities featured original compositions and arrangements that explored Portugal’s deepest origins and its inevitable influence throughout Africa and South America. It showcased these two incredible artists not only on their primordial instruments, as well as on flute, percussion, spoken word and extended techniques. After a very successful premier at the legendary Joe’s Pub they were invited to present this work at The Festival Portugal International de Montreal in Canada, with a yearly attendance of 20,000 people.
In 2019 they travelled to Africa to headline the prestigious Kinshasa Jazz Festival, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thanks to the sponsorship of the American Embassy in Kinshasa, Portuguese Embassy in Kinshasa, and Instituto Camões.
Since their formation, they have been relentlessly performing in North America and Europe and collaborating with cross-disciplinary artists of different backgrounds. They are currently in the post-production phase of their upcoming double album.
