Marcela Lucatelli
Marcela Lucatelli is transforming the jazz landscape with radical vocal experiments and vibrant avant-garde jazz.
In her new trio, the Brazilian singer joins forces with German saxophonist and electronic artist Jonas Engel and Swiss drummer Dominik Mahnig. Her acclaimed debut at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival at the Royal Danish Playhouse led directly to the release of a remarkable live album—a work that captures the intense interaction with the Danish audience and much more.
Lucatelli, an exceptional artist with Brazilian roots, joins forces with two award-winning, innovative musicians on the European jazz scene. Together, they transcend musical boundaries and open spaces for new sensory experiences. The result: an elegant, raw tapestry of sound in which jazz, experimental music, and free improvisation intertwine into a captivating, transformative experience.
Lucatelli explores the outermost possibilities of her voice – between gentle harmonies, threatening breath sounds, and twisted melodies.
Her music combines sonic gestures such as riffs, fragments, convoluted dialogues, and an inner rage that arises when connection is denied because it eludes clarity. Lucatelli, Engel, and Mahnig interpenetrate each other – and their audience. Sometimes they give each other space, sometimes they demand it – smoothly and defiantly at the same time.
In doing all this, they question the idea of music as the “sublime work” of a divinely inspired genius. Instead, they bring it back to the ground of immediacy – raw, real, urgent. Here, music becomes not an escape, but an invitation to confront one’s own reality.
Marcela Lucatelli is a defining figure on the international music scene. She combines new compositional approaches, vocal innovations, and often politically charged performances. For her, the stage is more than a place of artistic expression—it’s a place of resistance, a battleground for art and attitude. With her album “Necromancy,” which presents vocal jazz in new, even uncomfortable colors, she won the award for “Vocal Jazz Release of the Year” at the 2023 Danish Music Awards.
Jonas Engel is a visionary saxophonist and composer who works at the interface of acoustic and electronic sound production. With expanded playing techniques, custom-built instruments, and sonic preparations, he explores new acoustic territories.
Dominik Mahnig is a multi-award-winning drummer whose sensitive, agile playing supports melodies with colorful sounds—while subtly rubbing the music against the rhythm.
