Ava Mendoza

Born in Miami and after spending time in Southern California before settling in Oakland and then Brooklyn, Ava Mendoza has since the 2000s developed a career at the crossroads of experimental rock, free jazz, improvised music and a guitar-writing style nourished as much by abrasive blues as by punk. Trained in classical guitar at the Interlochen Arts Academy and then at Mills College with Fred Frith, Ava Mendoza first established herself in the adventurous scenes of the Bay Area before continuing her activity in New York, notably at venues such as The Stone, Roulette, or at the Vision Festival. Her playing, physical and fragmented, alternates between heavy riffs, dissonances, open lines and free improvisation. Solo, Ava Mendoza released Shadow Stories in 2010 and The Circular Train in 2024. She also leads Unnatural Ways, an avant-rock trio that has passed through several lineups, documented notably by Unnatural Ways (2015), We Aliens (2016) and The Paranoia Party (2019). Over the years, Ava Mendoza has also played and recorded with William Parker, William Hooker, Jon Irabagon, Nels Cline, Fred Frith, Negativland or Bill Orcutt, in contexts ranging from improvised duos to denser electric ensembles.