Home » Jazz Musicians » Filipa Santos ~ Miguel Moreira
Filipa Santos ~ Miguel Moreira
"Over more than ten years of collaboration, Filipa Santos and Miguel Moreira have developed not only performative complicity, but a system of shared listening that transcends the logic of call-and-response. What is heard here is an open formal ontological morphology: the structures are neither predetermined nor narratively teleological; they emerge through the accumulation and transformation of spectral densities. Two bodies, one common vibratory field."
"The album title condenses its philosophical dimension.
Now Swim.
Swimming implies accepting instability. It implies trusting the environment that sustains without offering fixed ground. It implies recognizing that transformation is not dramatic - it is continuous.
This album does not seek monumentality. It seeks internal coherence. It does not dramatize risk; it inhabits it."
"Ethnomusicologically, this album occupies a hybrid territory that resists categorization. Contemporary jazz, European improvisation, traditional Portuguese memory, experimental electronics - all these elements coexist, but none dominates." - Vítor Rua
Filipa Santos is a talented multi-instrumentalist known primarily for her versatility and her unprejudiced approach to the saxophone as her main instrument, flutes, and bagpipes, incorporating elements of jazz, traditional music and vocals, often fusing her voice with instrumental textures.
Filipa is the founder and one of the central figures of Mandrágora, a musical collective from Porto, which combines sounds of folk, jazz, and experimental music. The group has released acclaimed albums such as Mandrágora (2005), winner of the 2006 Carlos Paredes Award for best non-classical instrumental music album, shared with Bernardo Sassetti.
Her work is often described as exploratory, challenging the boundaries between musical genres and frequently crossing jazz with elements of contemporary folk, experimental music, and exploratory atmospheres. She began studying saxophone at age 11 and at 15 she turned to jazz, studying with saxophonist Mário Santos.
Miguel Moreira is an influential Portuguese guitarist and composer in the contemporary jazz scene. He is recognized for his creative timbral approach to the instrument. Under his own name, he released Câmbio in 2012 (as a sextet), The Darkness of the Unknown in 2020, and Dual Core in 2024, the first album by the Espinho Jazz Orchestra, a collaboration with vibraphonist Eduardo Cardinho in which both contribute as composers, arrangers, and soloists.
In addition to his work as a leader, he has recorded and performed live with several prominent projects such as the Carlos Azevedo Quartet, OJE, OJM, and also with contemporary music groups such as Drumming GP and the Luxembourgish Ensemble United Instruments Of Lucilin, among many others.
Tags
Filipa Santos ~ Miguel Moreira: Now Swim
by Don Ball
Atmospheric does not begin to describe Filipa Santos and Miguel Moreira's recording Now Swim. The music emits from another dimension, a soundtrack from the bottom of the ocean: exotic and dense, weird and abrasive, soothing and lulling, often simultaneously. Santos' saxophone, flute and voice are often unearthly, being manipulated electronically and creating an eerie, ghostly presence. Moreira's guitar and percussion programming vary from providing a deep rhythm to creating a cacophony of noise that explodes in the middle ...
Continue Reading

