Pollença / Església del Convent Sant Domingo

Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 8:30 p.m.

Alternatilla Jazz Band 19

Ricardo Toscano, Alto saxophone.

Toni Vaquer, Piano.

Marko Lohikari, Double bass.

João Lopes Pereira, Drums.

The ménage à jazz concerts are one of the main hallmarks of Alternatilla Jazz. They achieve one of the main objectives of the festival: to take advantage of the exchange and cultural diversity that enables the connection of musicians from different cultures. In this way, the program brings together different ways of understanding jazz while prioritizing cultural fusion, instrumental dialogue and the surprise of improvisation.

On this occasion, we propose a meeting between two Portuguese musicians: saxophonist Ricardo Toscano and on drums João Lopes Pereira, the Mallorcan pianist Toni Vaquer and on double bass the Swede resident in Mallorca Marko Lohikari.

The hybridization of styles and spontaneity are the protagonists in a promising plural conversation that will once again push the limits of jazz and expand the domains of this universal homeland called music. A unique live performance that attendees of the Alternatilla Jazz Festival will be able to enjoy exclusively.

Ricardo Toscano. The prodigal son of Portuguese jazz is finally recording. From his teenage years to becoming a young adult (25 years old in 2018) we are used to hearing him only on stage, improvising with the melodies of American masters such as Charlie Parker, “Cannonball” Adderley, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, among many others from different eras in “continuous jazz”. Now we can sit in our homes and listen to his excellent alto saxophone playing his own compositions. With one exception: “The Witch” by Herbie Hancock. Ricardo Toscano managed to interpret the tradition at the same time with the same authenticity of the originals (really? Really!) and with a remarkable freshness of approach, as if an old standard were something completely new. He continues to do so, but the inevitable (considering his superlative abilities) happened: he now plays his own inner world, born from the numerous auditions of Toscano's jazz heritage. Or heritages, because this life force is a fundamental contributor to the avant-garde music of Marco Barroso's Lisbon Underground Music Ensemble, also known as LUME, while also dedicating himself to the compositions of the late Bernardo Sassetti and initiating collaborations with free improvisers such as Rodrigo Pinheiro, Miguel Mira and Gabriel Ferrandini. Step by step, without urgency and refusing to be overshadowed by fame and success, Toscano opened up his space of action and is now a more complete musician.

Toni Vaquer (Palma, 1986). Composer, arranger and pianist, he is one of the most outstanding musicians of the new generation of national jazz. He holds a degree in piano from the Liceu Conservatory and a master's degree in composition and arrangements from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He writes for other groups such as Victor Correa's nonet; D.O. New Ensemble, Greg Hopkins' Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra or Andrea Motis' group. As an arranger he works with David Mengual's Free Spirits Big Band and with the Glissando Big Band. Before the creation of the sextet, in 2014, he formed his own orchestra ‘The Voodoo Children Collective’.

Marko Lohikari was born in Uppsala, Sweden in 1979. He studied double bass and improvisation at the University of Gothenburg, with the Swedish bassist and composer, Professor Anders Jormin. After his studies in Sweden, he attended the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. He has lived in Spain since 2007 and has played with artists such as: Perico Sambeat, Chris Cheek, Shai Maestro, Luis Perdomo, Jason Palmer, Marco Mezquida, Albert Sanz, Marc Miralta, Carme Canela, Baptiste Trotignon, Jorge Rossy, David Xirgu, Raynald Colom and Baptiste Trotignon among many others.

João Lopes Pereira (Lisbon, 1994) At the age of six he began studying classical percussion at the Conservatório Metropolitano de Musica de Lisboa. At the age of 15 he entered the Luiz Villas Boas Jazz School of the Hot Clube de Portugal. He soon revealed himself as a promising young player on the Portuguese jazz circuit, winning the Best Instrumentalist award at the 9th São Luiz Jazz Festival 2011 and in the same year, he won first prize in the jazz combo category at the 25th edition of the Prémio Jovens Músicos, with Ricardo Toscano's quartet. A few months later he was admitted to the Escola Superior de Música de Lisbon, completing his final year of his degree at the Conservatoire Superior de Música i Dansa de Paris. He is currently a very active musician on both the Portuguese and European scene and has played and recorded regularly with projects by musicians such as André Santos Ponto de Partid', Jose Carra El Camino, The Wild Bunch, Ricardo Toscano Cuarteto, Mila Dores, Bruno Santos Trio and Grzegorz Wlodarczyk.