“The Duke Ellington School of the Arts graduate moves fearlessly up and down octaves, all the while maintaining a distinct sense of purpose.” -CapitalBop
Andréa Wood is living proof that music was meant to evolve. As a vocalist, she has been praised by JazzTimes Magazine for her “astonishing vocal range effective in conveying the emotions of a song.” As a composer and arranger, she mines even deeper ore with a signature sound that is simultaneously accessible and interesting. On all fronts, she draws on jazz, soul, and Brazilian influences, balancing innovative songwriting with respect for the standards through which she learned her craft.
Andréa and her band perform regularly in and around New York City. They have played at some of the country’s premier venues, including The Kitano, The Iridium, and the historic Town Hall in NYC; the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, and Constitution Hall in D.C.; and as far as Mumbai, India. She released her debut album, Dhyana, in 2011 to rave reviews and international acclaim, and has been featured in festivals across the U.S., including the Detroit Jazz Fest, the Clifford Brown and Rehoboth Jazz Fests in Delaware, and the Intersections American Arts Festival in her hometown of Washington D.C.
In 2013, she and her band spent four months in Mumbai, India serving as inaugural faculty at the True School of Music. While there, she toured the country alongside the Renee Rosnes Quartet as part of the Jus’ Jazz Festival, culminating in a performance at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.
In addition to her working ensemble, Andréa sings for a French gypsy jazz band, a neo-rock band, a Pink Floyd cover band, and a Nigerian afrobeat band led by former Femi Kuti drummer Tosin Aribisala. She has been a featured guest on several projects, including a recording with Bizzy Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
Hip-hop has been a longtime interest and makes its way into the mix of her sophomore effort, Kaleidoscope, released on Biophilia Records in the summer of 2015. It’s her most personal statement yet, mixing a wide-ranging palette of emotions into a veritable spectrum of strength and sadness. Not only does it represent a giant leap forward for this singular artist; it also puts theory into practice through her reinterpretations of beloved classics, and more than ever shows the evolution and strength of her songwriting gifts.
Andréa is also a passionate educator. Since completing her Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music is 2013, she continues to work toward her Master's degree in Music Education at Columbia University's Teachers College.
She is a teaching artist for Jazz at Lincoln Center and The New York Pops.