Vocalist/Guitarist/Composer Camila Meza Breaks New Ground with New Album, Portal, out May 30, 2025 via GroundUp

Album Release Show: June 4th, 2025 @ Joe’s Pub, NYC

GroundUP Music is proud to announce the release of Portal, the sixth album and GroundUP debut by multifaceted vocalist-guitarist-composer Camila Meza. Produced by Meza and pianist Shai Maestro, Portal features drummer Ofri Nehemya and harpist Margaret Davis, with special guests including vocalists Gretchen Parlato and Becca Stevens, drummer Caleb Vangelder, pianist Gadi Lehavi, and spoken word artist Faumelisa Manquepillán. 

Camila Meza is a rarity in today’s world – a captivating triptych of an artist known for composing brilliant musical landscapes ablaze with irresistible melodies and improvisations, brought to life by her soulfully pure vocal instrument, and consummate prowess on guitar. Originally from Santiago, Chile, she has garnered rapt attention from her colleagues, the press, and audiences in South America, New York City, and internationally, for her distinctive ability of blending jazz with her broad musical world (including Latin American, Brazilian, folk and pop), and for the emotional depth of her music. This rising star on the global jazz scene has been described by The New York Times as, “a bright young singer and guitarist with an ear for music of both folkloric and pop intention,” and called, “a natural multi-talent, an improvising singer-guitarist who is one of the finest in the world in both creative realms,” by pianist Aaron Goldberg.  He added that, “she unites North and South America in a multilingual mega-continent, a Pangaea of swing and harmony.” Being called to join your peers on stage and in the studio remains one of the true tests that any NYC jazz musician will face, and Camila has passed, summa cum laude, staying very busy as an in-demand side musician, working with the likes of Ryan Keberle, Fabian Almazan, Aaron Goldberg, Sachal Vasandani, Dave Douglas, Arooj Aftab and many others. 

Six years since the release of her acclaimed album Ámbar (Sony Masterworks), Camila Meza returns with an evermore strong and bold statement – her most personal musical piece to date. Her first project entirely of originals, Portal finds her in her full power as a consummate and original songwriter and composer, unveiling new colors and textures of her palette. Recorded during the pandemic and Camila’s journey through pregnancy and birth, the album took on a deeper and almost existential meaning to her. “Most of the songs were written in 2019 during a creative spree to fulfill a Jazz Gallery Commission. I composed them in a bit of a trance,” the artist reflects. “The only thing I really knew was that it was about a passage, a sort of transmutation. I wanted to portray the human capacity to transform our reality from the evident darkness that surrounds it, into its potential for light, for beauty.” 

While writing she describes visions of archetypal figures, including The Mother – as a way to describe the unconditional love and capacity for nurturing that humans have – and The Wise Woman, a figure that represents ancient wisdom, answers from our ancestors in times of deviation where our connection to our essence has been lost. “This album became my deepest plea and conjuring of a world where we can manifest our ideals… where we can re-remember our unity with what we call Nature and live more harmoniously in it, between us and within ourselves,” she shares. “…where we can question the status quo and find different answers that can lead to healthier ways of living, and where polarities can find balance, helping us reconsider what really is important for us. I didn’t know then, but part of what I was writing about was also my own portal into becoming a mother and experiencing that unlimited love myself, and how relevant it would become to try to create that vibrant and beautiful world, as my son’s future was now in it.” 

Portal was born from Camila Meza’s joyous and inquisitive journey from a young, accomplished musician in Chile (inspired by Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Pat Metheny, Led Zeppelin, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Bjork, Elis Regina, Chet Baker among others), to her ascension among the  new generation of adventurous jazz musicians in New York who are fearlessly imposing their disparate influences and experiences with glorious sonic results. 

MORE ABOUT PORTAL
Portal opens with the bilingual “Utopía,” on which Meza sings: “Under that mountain there is a town that hides, they are seen in the light of sun, embroidering a world in peace, in their truth. Utopia grows in me, little by little a high flight at last. Weaving a dream, a tree is a temple while living. Weaving a dream, its branches my instinct to follow.” Meza writes about the reconnection to the creative energy, the power of imagination to convey a place where these ideals are part of daily life. The image of a tree as a temple and following nature’s cues to gain the most wisdom. It ends with a meditational chant at the end “I breathe slow” reminding us the power we have in us if we give ourselves that moment of calm to breathe and imagine.

Following is Camila’s fast samba-influenced, “The Nurturer,” which enfolds much of the message of the album, which is the ability to love unconditionally – how a Mother would love her child, and the power that a love like that can bring to everything we pour it over. “And as we enlighten every corner that we nurture thrives, My own garden slowly comes alive, and the wild in me begins to smile.” It features a high energy-solo by Meza on guitar, which sets the tone for the exciting journey of the album.

Next up is “Harvesting Under The Moon”, an obscure night fairy-like jazz-trip hop waltz that ensures some of the wildest compositional stories. The lyrics are as compelling as the music, a question to the historical silencing of women and feminine energy in this society. The reconsideration of what history should be – a book of wars and glorified hate among us? Here again we can listen to her powerful solo on an odd meter ostinato section that leads to another solo, this time featuring Shai Maestro’s energetic keys and fluid interjections.

While writing the music for Portal, “Transmutación” came in one sitting. Unsure of how to approach it (as it sounded almost like a classical ballad to her ears), Meza let the music speak for itself. One of the most heartfelt songs on the album and sung in Spanish, the music accompanies the message of the moment before crossing a ‘portal’. “Entering into this new realm brings awakening, the realization of us all being One with Venus as the female energy opening up time and bringing balance,” she describes. 

“Portal” is the centerpiece of Portals. “This song felt like a hymn or celebration of the beauty I was imagining we could be capable of …the moment we’re just past the struggle and the fight. Where we can look back at all we endured and embrace each other.” Meza recorded her vocals for this song at her house, soon after having her son. “It was so powerful. Some of the lyrics also made total sense with the moment I was living. In fact, there’s a take of this song where right after singing “I feel the river of the portal, it’s embracing us inside, I feel like there’s something more” I burst into tears. I definitely was also singing about my own portal of becoming a mother.”

The cinematic “Nieno La” finds inspiration in Mapuche poet and artist Faumelisa Manquepillán. Reciting one of her poems in her language Mapudungun (indigenous from south of Chile), “I kept thinking of the spirit of the Wise Woman that visited me many times during the creation of this album, in dreams and presence. It had to be portrayed in one way or another. Once I found Faumelisa’s poems, which are so full of depth, I knew I needed to include her. She represents that feminine and wise ancestral energy that I revere so much and I feel we need at this point of our civilization.”

“Uncovered Ground” introduces guest vocalists Gretchen Parlato and Becca Stevens. They sing a meditational and love affirming ballad which reassures each character the possibility of letting go of their metaphorical knots and pain, allowing them to express themselves. The timbre and phrasing of each voice and the perfect blending of the trio gives way to one of the most beautiful moments on the record. 

“Overgrowth” is a rock-like song that brings a new flavor to the project. With a clear, socially conscious message about the capitalist and environmentally destructive society of which we live, the song taps into the idea of a younger generation witnessing the flaws of the older ways and revealing the wrongs. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of rising through a world left in pieces, and collectively rewilding and renewing that metaphoric soil, finding joy through the struggle.

“We spent so much time with Shai crafting sounds and textures, but also he completely reimagined some of these songs and made them flourish. This is one of the songs where we added completely different structures and vibe, and it really made the song alive and brought forth a clear purpose. Working with him as a producer and a friend was a highlight of this whole process.”

On the breathtaking “Remecer” Meza sings, “I come to shake up everything that I have not been able to, give you a hug and drain all the fear and uncertainty. I saw how to rediscover everything I had experienced in a dream. From afar I felt a cry and heard you, I had met you.” Written during the pandemic, this song was inspired by the inability to meet her recently born nephew, and the wish to do so. Guest Gadi Lehavi on piano adds an emotional solo to this beautiful song. 

“Mandorla” is an extended reprise of “Nieno La”, and another cinematic track offering a fresh perspective on an already lived experience. Camila cites Arvo Pärt as a prime influence here with the use of clustery vocals ultimately evoking comfort and peace. The name of the track alludes to the Vesica Pisces, a sacred geometry symbol that represents the divine feminine, motherhood, unity, and balance. It can also symbolize the beginning of new life and the interconnectedness of all things. 

The album ends with the heartwarming “Persistir”, which leaves a wondrous feeling of hope and calm. The only track featuring acoustic guitar, this song is a newer one for Meza and fits the acoustic-electronic environment presented by her new record, making a new statement of self-discovery and boundary pushing. 

Recorded during the most cataclysmic and transformative moments of her life, while the whole world was shutting down but a whole world was emerging inside of her, the majority of Meza’s parts were recorded during the pandemic at her DIY home studio while pregnant. Post-birth, whenever Meza found a moment of solitude while her son slept, she continues to work on the project. “It was all made long distance and yet we managed to make it happen. To me this record represents the resilience and courage to create and bring beauty into the world, sometimes against all odds, it feels like a revolutionary act in itself,” she reflects. 

Throughout Portal Camila offers the listener a remarkable gift; her true self and her abundant talents, as expressed through these songs, with no less than luminosity, passion, honesty and love.  

from https://lydialiebman.com