Magos Herrera

Born in Mexico City and currently based out of New York City, Magos Herrera is a dazzling jazz singer-songwriter, producer, and educator declared as "One of the greatest contemporary interpreters of song” by The Latin Jazz Network. With a sultry voice and an unparalleled presence in the contemporary Latin American jazz scene, she is best known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her singular bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with Ibero-American melodies and rhythms  in a style that elegantly blends and surpasses language boundaries.

“She gets way under the skin of the song, recalling great communicators like Edith Piaf or Billie Holiday” is how NPR describes Herrera’s talents who has recorded 9 albums including joint collaborations with producer Javier Limón in addition to having participated as a guest artist of several recordings and albums. An accomplished artist, Magos has performed in leading international cultural venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in NYC, Kennedy Center in DC, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City,  Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Union Chapel in London, Palau de la Musica in Valencia, and has been part of the line-up of some of the most memorable jazz festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, to mention a few. Featured as one of the most creative Mexicans in the world by Forbes Magazine, throughout her career, Magos has garnered important awards and recognitions, including a Grammy short-list nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for her album Distancia (2009), and received the Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award.

In 2018 Magos released her album Dreamers (Sony Music) in collaboration Brooklyn Rider. ”Dreamers is not only a work of art, setting musicians of the highest order to accomplished music with purpose, but it is a work of love as well” wrote Sounds and colors on this highly acclaimed album that rapidly got into the Top lists of The New York Times, Billboard classical, NPR Music,  among others and was nominated for the Grammys for Best arrangement with the song “Niña”.

Created and recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic and in collaboration with composer Paola Prestini, in December 2020 Herrera released her tenth album “Con Alma” (National Sawdust Tracks) exploring the question of how we can find communion a in a time of isolation. With more that 30 musicians around the globe  this artifact of our time was presented as a virtual digital experience. In March 2023 Con Alma concert was presented as part of the UN Women 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Headquarters to celebrate the power of creative activism, innovation, solidarity and resilience, as well as the leadership of women while humanity faced the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Herrera is as a spokesperson for UN Women for UNITE to end violence against women campaign and He For She, as a promoter of gender equality, Herrera is a 2020 Chamber Music Americas New Jazz Works Award, 2021 South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residencies and 2022 Cafe Royal grants recipient . She is also part of Mannes conservatory and The New School faculty in New York.

In May 2023 Magos Herrera released her eleventh album Aire (Sunnyside records) a celebration of our humanity and the healing power of music featuring The Knights orchestra, her trio with Vinicius Gomes, Sam Minaie, Alex Kautz and guests Ingrid Jensen and Dori Caymmi including Magos original music and jewels from the Great Latin American Songbook with arrangements by Gonzalo Grau, Diego Schissi and Jaques Morelenbaum.

Awards

Magos Herrera has garnered important awards and recognitions. Her album Distancia (2009), earned her a Grammy short-list nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category and a nomination for best arrangement by Gonzalo Grau with her most recent album “Dreamers, in 2018.

In 2018 Magos received the Omecíhuatl Medal, an award granted by the Women's Institute of the government of Mexico City in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the empowerment of women through the arts and culture and has been included as one of the most creative Mexicans in the world by Forbes Magazine in 2018 and 2023. In a first award of its kind presented to a female artist, she received the Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award in May 2015 for her contributions to developing and showcasing Latin American music, as well as her own, in a contemporary context around the world. In addition, from 2010-2013, she was a recipient of the Mexico National Grant Program for Performing Artists, presented by Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA), for representing Mexican jazz internationally.

Leading Spanish language lifestyle women’s magazine, Siempre Mujer, featured Magos Herrera alongside Michelle Obama in 2011 as one of the Top 10 Women of the Year for her outstanding work as a ambassador for Latinamerican contemporary music. In 2010, music journalist Tom Moon, included her in his 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die.

She was twice nominated in 2006 y 2009, for Lunas del Auditorio Awards, presented by Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional to the best live performances, for Best Jazz Concert of the Year, among the likes of jazz greats Bobby McFerrin and Bill Frisell.

Herrera is a 2020 recipient of Chamber Music Americas New Jazz Works Award, 2021 South Arts Jazz Roads Creative Residencies and Cafe Royal Foundation grants recipient and currently she serves as a Cultural Diplomatic Advisor for the Mexican Government.