Ava Mendoza is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Best known for her solo guitar/voice performances, and as the leader of the experimental rock band Unnatural Ways, she has received critical acclaim for her guitar work’s compelling combination of technique and visceral impact. Mendoza’s recording and performing credits include work with William Parker, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Nels Cline, Malcolm Mooney (CAN) , Fred Frith, Abiodun Oyewole (Last Poets), Matana Roberts, Mike Watt, Carla Bozulich, and Negativland. As a composer she has received commissions from film distributor Kino Lorber, Jazz Coalition, the New Music Creator Development Fund, and John Zorn’s Stone Commissioning Series at National Sawdust.

“A beautiful, powerful and highly original solo electric guitar record – not just another record but a new sound, a new voice”. (Marc Ribot on New Spells, Mendoza’s 2022 solo release)

“Her technique is impeccable, but her playing is astonishingly expressive. Mendoza knows what she does better than almost anyone else on the planet, which is tell stories with her guitar.” (Aiding & Abetting) “A wizard on a semi-circle of effects pedals, but… equally adept with FX-less technique,” (NPR).