Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, and Engineer, Raul Midón established himself as a first-call session singer upon graduating from the prestigious Studio Jazz program at the University of Miami in 1991. He sang background vocals on more than 60 Latin recordings, many of them Grammy-winning. In 1999, he joined Shakira’s touring band while creating his own original music and signing a development deal with Warner Chappell. He later left Shakira’s band to move to New York City to pursue his own career. Within a year, he debuted at Carnegie Hall with the Movie Music of Spike Lee, and Spike Lee invited him to write the end credit song for his film “She Hate Me”.
Raul was signed by legendary producer Arif Mardin to Manhattan Records under the Blue Note label, where he released two acclaimed albums: “State of Mind” and “A World Within A World”, co-produced with Arif’s son, Joe Mardin. He made his television debut on The David Letterman Show, followed by appearances on Leno, Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel, Later with Jools Holland (UK), and One Shot Not with Manu Katché (France).
Raul has collaborated with numerous industry legends, including Bill Withers, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Terence Blanchard, and Dianne Reeves. He received two Grammy nominations in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for “Bad Ass and Blind” (2017) and “If You Really Want” (2018). Since moving to the DMV, Raul has become an accomplished recording engineer, recording all the vocals for these albums in his home studio.
In 2019, Raul received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Miami and spoke at his high school, Santa Fe Prep. His 2020 album, “The Mirror”, was nominated for Best Jazz Album by the A2IM Libera Awards. In 2021, Raul was awarded the Disability Rights Ambassador of the Year Award, presented by Jason Mraz.
During the lockdown, Raul collaborated on Alex Cuba’s Grammy-winning album “Mendo” and pursued a long-time dream of recording a guitar duets album with guitarists like Mike Stern, Dean Parks, Lionel Loueke, and Stephane Wrembel. This album, “Eclectic Adventurist”, was released on his own label, ReKondite ReKords, on 11/11/2022, receiving acclaim.
Raul continues to tour, write, record, and is working on a novel, “Tembererana”.