Mandrágora (band)

Mandrágora is a folk music band from Porto, Portugal. The band has participated in several shows and festivals over the years. Its members are Filipa Santos (flutes, saxophone, bagpipes), Miguel Moreira: guitars, effects, percussion, Gabriel ‘Sm0ke’ on sound effects and mixing and João Serrador: electric bass, kalimbas, percussion and João Martins: drums.

Mandragora is the name of a plant that has fertilizing and aphrodisiac virtues, a medicinal root whose fruit, identical to a small apple, exudes a strong and foul odor. The root of the plant is human-shaped and according to popular belief, the mandrake screams like people when it is pulled out of the ground.

It is also the name of a young collective from Porto, which stands out for the creativity of its original compositions and arrangements of themes from the vast traditional Portuguese repertoire. Music that evokes Portuguese tradition, explores the encounter with other cultures and also reveals a great diversity of influences from modern music.

The awarding of the 2006 Carlos Paredes Prize in conjunction with “Ascent” by Bernardo Sassetti confirmed the merit of this work. The Carlos Paredes award is awarded by the Chamber of Vila Franca de Xira, with the aim of annually rewarding the best album of non-classical instrumental music, namely that of Portuguese popular roots, taking into account the importance it has for strengthening our identity cultural.

Since 1999, he has been developing work focused on new approaches to traditional Portuguese music, with contemporary arrangements and some original themes, with a lot of musical interaction and improvisation.

A personal reflection on how the group observes our intangible cultural heritage and its sound appropriation. This is a work focused on new approaches to Portuguese oral tradition, a very particular contemporary perspective.

The group has played a lot in Portugal as well as abroad in countries such as Spain, France, Croatia, Italy and received very positive reviews. In 2000, the group made itself known as a trio as Mandrágora with its live debut at the 1st Festival Intercéltico de Sendim.

In the following years, the group performed with different formations throughout the country and abroad. He was also chosen to represent Portugal at the 2nd European Meeting of Young Traditional Musicians (Eurofolk 2002, Parthenay – France), a European Union program from the Cultura 2000 network

His first original record, “Mandrágora” was released in 2005 by the record label Zounds and was very well received by the press and online community, also being awarded the Carlos Paredes Prize, awarded annually to the best Portuguese album of non-classical instrumental music.

The quintet begins working on their 2nd album and subsequently undertakes a musical residency in Langonnet (France) under the guidance of Jacky Molard, which results in a tour in the Brittany Region with guests Simone Alves and Guilhaume Le Guernne.

The 2nd album “Escarpa” was released in May 2008 and once again received rave reviews from specialized critics. Two songs feature special appearances by emerging voices in Portuguese music: Francisco Silva (Old Jerusalem) and Helena Madeira. On an instrumental level, Mandrágora invited the Italians Matteo Dorigo (accordion) and Simone Botasso (diatonic accordion).

The project resulting from the residency held in France, a commission from the Sines World Music Festival, is presented in Portugal in the 2008 edition of the Festival.