world tree (EPK)
luca mendoza
Personnel
Keyon Harrold - Trumpet (sing, first sight, olivier, the source, still)
Logan Richardson - Alto Saxophone (sing, first sight, olivier, the source, still)
Steve Lehman - Alto Saxophone (casa, almost home, in media res, freight, collider, growing wings)
Luca Mendoza - Piano (all)
Logan Kane - Bass (all, unless noted)
Harish Raghavan - Bass (the bell, the source)
Jermaine Paul - Bass (still)
Justin Brown - Drums (all)
Luca Mendoza (27) is a multi-genre pianist, composer, and producer. As a Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellow and a two-time Downbeat SMA best soloist, he's had multiple premieres in Disney Hall and toured across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
Mendoza became a Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellow at 17, studying with Pulitzer finalist Andrew Norman. There, he had his compositions performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Calder Quartet and Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, and members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
He has been active performing both abroad, most recently touring with Keyon Harrold, and also investing in the Los Angeles jazz scene, forging partnerships with traditionally classical institutions like the Los Angeles Music Center. His co-presentation with them brought LA artists to the Moss pavilion, performing alongside Mark Guiliana, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, David Binney, Logan Richardson, Damion Reid, and Gretchen Parlato, among others.
Other accolades include the National YoungArts Foundation Award, Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Award, the Monterey NextGen Jazz Festival “Triple Crown” (one of two in history), the USC Thornton Presser Award, the Gerald Wilson Award, and 10 Downbeat SM Awards. He was part of the 2018 Ravinia Steans Institute, Monterey NextGen Jazz Orchestra, Vail Jazz Workshop, and the NARAS Grammy Band. He is also the musical director for the Grammy Nominee events and a former lecturer at USC.
Album Note
In other genres it may be debatable, but in jazz it is what defines us: There is a connective tissue between all players, both on this earth and above. When anyone plays, it’s not one person who sits at the piano, but all that came before. Strong roots nourish richer blossoms.
The lineages grow like a tree, with intertwined roots and stems of mentorship and collaboration. From Steve Lehman to Anthony Braxton to Roscoe Mitchell. From Luca Mendoza to Alan Pasqua to Jaki Byard. Or you could say from Alan Pasqua to Tony Williams to Miles Davis to Charlie Parker.
Post-internet, we can get to know the greats of all generations digitally, with infinite access to records, live performances. At the same time, former traditions of mentorship and intergenerational dialogue are dwindling; many of my well-studied contemporaries never get the playing opportunities they would have had 20 years ago.
In Los Angeles, I was lucky to come of age at a time where many musicians were moving from New York, spurred by COVID and NYC’s shifting city dynamics (economic/cultural/gentrification). Through their openness to young musicians and creating a new scene, I could forge real relationships with many of my personal heroes whose work I had already learned so much from digitally; I could experiment and form my sound actually on the bandstand and learn from their real nature as people, not as Instagrams.
My debut album is dedicated to the people and worlds that formed me – a new leaf on the world tree, connected and in gratitude of above and below.
