The Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC has awarded a 2021 Summer Music Grant to Magos Herrera to complete her new project, “Tropical”, a recording with her Quartet and The Knights Orchestra. This project will produce a body of work that convene conversations among 3 musical traditions (Jazz, Classical and Latin American music) in a contemporary, imaginative way that is the cross cultural sound of today’s plural America.

"Tropicalizar" according to Magos means the constant cultural exchange and assimilation process that shapes new musical conversations in all directions by creating a deeper understanding of where we come from, who we are and how we can all create new richer paradigms. 

Born in Mexico City and currently based out of New York City, Magos Herrera is a dazzling jazz singer-songwriter, producer, and educator. Magos is regarded as one of the most expressive, beautiful voices and most active vocalists 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 Latin American melodies and rhythms singing in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, in a style that elegantly blends and surpasses language boundaries. 

Magos has recorded six solo albums, has worked on joint collaborations for two more albums 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 a variety of leading international cultural venues such as Carnegie Hall, 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, Duc des Lombardes in Paris,  Kamani Auditorium in Delhi, Palau de la Musica in Valencia, and has been part of the line-up of some of the most memorable jazz festivals around the world including Montreux Jazz Festival , Montreal  Jazz Festival, Festival Internacional Cervantino, to mention a few.

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 is the only female artist to have received the Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award.

Magos is well known for championing women’s causes and currently serves as spokesperson for UN Women, and has contributed to important campaigns including UNITE to end violence against women and He For She, as a promoter of gender equality. She serves as an artistic advisor of the “National Sawdust”, one of Brooklyn’s most innovative venues, and as a frequent collaborator for radio and television programs in Mexico, Magos produces and hosts a weekly radio program from New York for Mexico’s Public Radio. In 2017 she was invited as a guest artist to participate in a album to celebrate renowned Mexican poet, Octavio Paz and in Paco de Lucia’s tribute documentary, “La guitarra vuela” and celebrated the memory of the iconic Mercedes Sosa in New York along with Pedro Aznar and Ed Simon Trio.

Please visit Magos’ Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and her website for more information.