BIO
I am a guitarist/songwriter/composer in Oakland, CA. I have played guitar for most of my life and have been active since 2002 playing my own music and in many different groups. Playing in many different contexts is important to me and I've worked with with pop-folk band Tune-Yards, singer Carla Bozulich (The Geraldine Fibbers, Evangelista), Nels Cline (guitar hero of Wilco), members of ROVA saxophone quartet, members of Caroliner, and many more. I have toured the US and Europe extensively as a sidewoman, solo performer, and bandleader. I love writing music for theater and film. In any context I try to bring expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music.
Friendly critics have called me "a versatile and virtuosic guitarist" (The San Francisco Film Society), "a wizard on a semi-circle of effects pedals, but… equally adept with FX-less technique," (Lars Gotrich, A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz). I was recently named one of Guitar World‘s “10 Female Guitarists You Should Know”. So there!
I currently play solo and lead my own group, which is just called the Ava Mendoza Trio, featuring synths/keys whiz Dominique Leone and drummer Nick Tamburro (The Dead Science).
PERFORMED/RECORDED WITH:
Scott Amendola (Nels Cline
Singers, Charlie Hunter Quartet)
Liz Allbee
Vijay Anderson
Bran(...)pos
Carla Bozulich (The Geraldine Fibbers, Evangelista)
Sheldon Brown
members of Caroliner
J.A. Deane
John Dikeman
Thomas Dimuzio
Marco Eneidi
Ben Goldberg
Phillip Greenlief
Jacob Felix Heule
Devin Hoff (Nels Cline Singers)
Darren Johnston
Henry Kaiser (Crazy Backwards Alphabet)
Annette Krebs
Lisa Mezzacappa
Kanoko Nishi
Noah Phillips
Gino Robair
John Shiurba
SF Sound
Damon Smith
Moe! Staiano (ex-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum)
Weasel Walter (The Flying Luttenbachers)
Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE)
Kenny Wollesen (Sex Mob)
Theater of Yugen
PLAYED IN GROUPS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF:
ANTHONY BRAXTON
NUBLU ORCHESTRA- (Butch Morris)
EVANGELISTA- (Carla Bozulich)
SF SOUND
THEATRE OF YUGEN
MALCOLM GOLDSTEIN
JON ROSE
FESTIVALS/EVENTS/VENUES PLAYED:
Music Unlimited Festival in Wels, Austria 2008
Jazz em Agosto in Lisbon, Portugal 2009
High Mayhem Festival in Santa Fe, NM in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007
The Stone NYC (2006 curated by Fred Frith, 2010 curated by Larry Ochs)
The San Francisco Tape Music Festival 2005 and 2006
The Women's Electroacoustic Listening Room 2005
Edgetone New Music Summit, SF 2008
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF 2009, 2010
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