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About

ESTER ANDÚJAR

Ester holds a Master in Music Performance and Research by the VIU (International University of Valencia) and a Degree in Jazz Performance from the Conservatory of Navarra. Courses of different vocal techniques (Estil Voice Training, The complete vocal technique).Jazz singing lessons with Sheila Jordan, Miles Griffith (Manhattan School of Music), Bob Stoloff, Carme Canela, among others.

In December 1995 she began singing in Valencian clubs, that same year she won the award for “Best Vocalist” in the Valencia Jazz Club contest “Black Note '95”. She has attended seminars and master-classes with Mike Mossman, Astrid Krone, Carme Canela, Mario Rossi, Kurt Rossenwinkwel, etc? 

In 1996 she decided to dedicate herself professionally to music, performing all over Spain with her own group “Ester Andujar Group” or with outstanding groups and soloists such as: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Idris Muhamad, Jorge Pardo, Ximo Tebar, Sam Yahel, Carles Benavent, Dennis Rowland, Ramón Cardo, Sedaví Big Band, etc. In 1998 he began to work with Ximo Tebar's band, performing in the most important jazz clubs and festivals in the country, such as the Barcelona Jazz Festival, Madrid Jazz Festival, Valencia July Fair, Seville Jazz Festival, Jamboree Jazz Club, Clamores, etc. In 1999 he toured Spain as a quartet with New York organist Sam Yahel, and also collaborated in the recording of the new albums of the Nova Dixieland Band and the Sedajazz Latin Jazz Big Band. 

In 2000 she toured Latin America performing at the International Festivals of Havana (Cuba) and La Plata (Argentina). Also in 2000 she was elected President of the Valencian Association of Jazz Musicians (PROMUSICS). In 2001 she returned to the city of Buenos Aires for a concert tour and to give a series of intensive courses in interpretative singing at the UEM school in La Plata. He won the “Best Voice 2001” award from the Valencian Association of Jazz and Creative Music (PROMÚSICS). 

In November 2001, Branford Marsallis invited her to sing on his tour in Spain while she was working as his tour manager. In 2002, she attended the International Jazz Seminar in Zarautz where she studied vocal improvisation techniques with Bob Stoloff (Berkley School of Music) and participated in Benny Golson's Master Class, performing in the closing concert with Albert Bover and Iñaki Salvador.

 

In November 2002 she released her first album as a leader entitled “Tristeza de Amar” (Omix Records). In this recording she is accompanied by Albert Sanz, Pere Loewe and Esteve Pi and counts with the collaborations as soloists of Joan Soler, Carlos Martín and Ximo Tebar. Tristeza de Amar has been highlighted by the magazine Todas las Novedades as one of the five best Spanish jazz albums of 2002, nominated for “Best Album” in the II Edition of the Valencian Jazz Awards Promusics 2002 and highlighted in the magazine “Cuadernos de Jazz” with a rating of four stars. In this edition of the Promusics Awards he has received the BEST VOICE Award 2002. He has participated in records of “La Nova Dixieland”. In 2003 she teaches in several Valencian schools and records an album with the group “Dona'm Jazz”. 

In 2005 he released his second solo album, “Celebrating Cole Porter”, recorded in NY with musicians such as Ben Street, Helen Sung, Rob Bargad, Peter Bernstein, J.D. Walter, Adam Cruz and Ximo Tébar and arrangers such as Jorge Pardo, Polo Ortí and Ricardo Belda. That same year she was a finalist in the 7th International Soloist Competition in Monaco, organized by the “Academie de Musique Fondation Prince Rainier III”, being also the first singer in the history of the competition. Participates in the “Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition”, within the framework of the Montreux Jazz Festival, where she was FINALIST AND SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE JURY (President of the Jury: BARBARA HENDRICKS, Member of Honor: RANDY CRAWFORD) (07/05).

She participated in the annual conference of the IAJE (International Association of Jazz Educators) in New York, in January 2006, presenting in concert her new album, “Celebrating Cole Porter”, accompanied by Ricardo Belda, César Giner and Donald Edwards.

Also this year, she has presented her album in Argentina, starting her tour in Buenos Aires, within the Jazzology Cycle (Centro Cultural General San Martín) and continuing in La Plata and Mar del Plata Jazz Festival. 

She has filled the Teatro “El Musical” in Valencia with the presentation of her album and received numerous applause from critics and audiences with her album and live performance. She has been selected semi-finalist for the second consecutive year in the “Montreux Jazz Voice Competition” and chosen as representative of her generation by the magazine “Interviú” for the celebration of her 30th birthday in the article “Triunfadores a los 30”.

In 2007, she has collaborated in the albums of Ricardo Belda (El Principio) and Jerez Texas (Patchwork), and has been invited by the Europa Jazz Festival, in Bucharest, where she toured presenting Celebrating Cole Porter. In May 2007, she attended the Europa Jazz Festival in Bucharest, where she was invited for the second consecutive year, this year to play with her trio format, “Tres por el Jazz”. 

In December 2008 she released her third album, ¨Páginas Preciosas¨, based on her own compositions sung in Spanish and Valencian, where all her musical influences converge, from Brazilian music to jazz, soul or funk, together with Donald Edwards (drums), César Giner (bass), Ximo Tébar (guitars), Edmundo Carneiro (percussion) and Stephan Braun (cello). She studied for a semester at the Berklee School of Music in Boston between 2009-2010, with a scholarship from this institution and the SGAE. She has presented her latest album in Spain, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and other parts of the world, invited by the Cervantes Institute to present ¨Páginas Preciosas¨.

In recent years, she has realized two new projects: De Cançons i de Llunes (with her own compositions and jazz standards and Valencian popular music in jazz key), and Suite Nivola, a tribute to the novel Niebla by Unamuno, based on original compositions that address the existentialist themes addressed in the novel.

She is currently preparing the presentation of her new album, “Inner songs”, recorded in April 2024 with Albert Palau on piano, Miquel Àlvarez on double bass, Tico Porcar on drums, Iván Cebrián on guitar and saxophonist Javier Vercher as guest artist.

 In this album, Ester goes a little deeper in the path opened by her previous work. “Páginas preciosas”, and seeks, through the composition of lyrics and music, to express in jazz key themes such as loneliness, love, heartbreak, violence and the Spanish republic. She sings in Valencian, Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Ester is a singer-songwriter, jazz musician and global. (…) A poet, if I may be allowed to be obvious. (…) and a “protest singer” emerging like an orchid in the mud, or in the desert, her velvet blue voice crying out against sexist violence (“Les dones”) and oblivion (“República”), for the sake of Historical Memory. Where others deny the genre, Ester asserts herself as a jazz singer, (…). This is the jazz of the 21st century: serene, elegant, subtle... (some would say “minimalist”, I would not). The listener must take distance and perceive the painting as a whole before accessing the detail. With this, Ester bets on a pure and crystalline beauty in a world that is neither pure nor crystalline, but corrupted and nebulous (…).

Jose Maria “Chema” Garcia Martinez, Rio de Janeiro, October 2, 2024

“(…) Andújar’s voice is already part of the aristocracy of our female vocal jazz. Her refined technique and expressive capacity contrast with a rigorous knowledge of the language and a surprising command of the stage.”

Pablo Sanz, Scherzo. No. 244, September 2009

For a detailed biography, download it here

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