Raul Midón

Raul Midón performs on Friday 27 November 2026 at 6:30 pm at Soul Mama Islington, London.

Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer/songwriter, inspired by Hermeto Pascoal and Bill Withers, who records tranquil yet impassioned work.
"...a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus." - The New York Times
"Raul Midón lives in a world of sound." - Felix Contreras, NPR Tiny Desk

Blind singer-songwriter and guitarist Raul Midón is prolific. His 14th and latest album, "Lost & Found," is a blend of what he calls "smooth folk," "alt-pop" and "jazz." A master at combining genres, "his music suggests a three-way fusion of Stevie Wonder, Bobby McFerrin and José Feliciano," The New York Times. Midón recently debuted the album’s first single, the bluesy pop song "Keep On Keeping On," on The Jennifer Hudson Show.

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and engineer, Raul Midón established himself as a session singer upon graduation from the Studio Jazz program at the University of Miami in 1991. He sang background vocals on more than 60 Latin recordings, many Grammy winning. In 1999 he was asked to join the touring band of Shakira. During that time, he was creating his own original music and was signed to a development deal with Warner Chappell. He left Shakira’s band to move to NYC to pursue his own career. Within a year he debuted at Carnegie Hall with the Movie Music of Spike Lee. Spike engaged him to write the end credit song for "She Hate Me." At the same time Raul was signed by producer Arif Mardin to his label, Manhattan Records, under the Blue Note moniker. Together with his son Joe Mardin, they produced and released two albums, "State of Mind" and "A World Within a World." Raul made his television debut on The David Letterman Show, followed with performances on Leno, Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel. In England, he appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, and in France on One Shot Not with Manu Katché.

Raul has worked with many artists including Bill Withers, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Terence Blanchard and Dianne Reeves. He received two Grammy nominations back-to-back in 2017 and 2018 for his albums "Bad Ass and Blind" and "If You Really Want" in the Best Jazz Vocal category. Since moving to the DMV, he has established himself as a recording engineer, recording all the vocals for both albums in his home studio. In 2019 he was invited to speak at his high school alma mater Santa Fe Prep and also was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Miami. In 2021, his album "The Mirror," released on March 20, 2020, was nominated for Best Jazz Album at the A2IM Libera Awards. Also in 2021 he was awarded the Disability Rights Ambassador of the Year Award, presented to him in a virtual ceremony by his friend and colleague Jason Mraz.

During lockdown Raul continued to collaborate with colleagues and appears in a duet on the Grammy-winning album "Mendo" by Alex Cuba. He chose to pursue a long-time dream of recording a guitar duets album with some of his favorite guitarists including Mike Stern, Dean Parks, Lionel Loueke, Julia Bailen, Stéphane Wrembel, Alex Cuba and more. This album, "Eclectic Adventurist," was released on his own label, ReKondite ReKords, on 11 November 2022. He continues to tour, write and record, and he is working on a novel, Tembererana.