SANDRO NORTON QUARTET

The Sandro Norton Quartet is best described as alchemy. A melting pot for mixing and experimenting with different music genres from traditional jazz and blues to rock and jazz fusion. It can also be seen as a temple in which to honour jazz fusion masters such as Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Bill Evans, Carla Bley and Emily Remler. Combining these themes with Sandro Norton s original compositions, the Sandro Norton Quartet has created almost three hours of repertoire; culminating in a dynamic performance which never fails to draw its audience in.

The virtuosity that the songs demand, generates a vigorous energy; establishing an effervescent interaction between the audience and stage. It has become tradition in the Quartet s history to get invited back to play time and time again. With performances in Portugal, Spain and England, this personal project has already enjoyed the participation of several musicians of national and international renown, such as Gary Burton, Maria João, Carlos Azevedo and Yuri Daniel. Currently, the Sandro Norton Quartet consists of pianist Filipe Raposo, drummer Mário Barreiros, bass player Carlos Bareto and Sandro Norton on guitars.

SANDRO NORTON Sandro Norton was born in Porto in Portugal and showed a ﬂare for music at a young age; developing a special interest in the guitar. He began studying with guitarist Aires Ramos, attending numerous music schools in Portugal.

SANDRO NORTON In September 2000 he moved to London where he attended the London College of Music at Thames Valley University. In 2003 he graduated in "Popular Music Performance". During his academic career he studied with Mike Outram, Shaun Baxter, Ian Scott (The Beach Boys), Phillip Mead (George Crumb), Dave Cliff (Lee Konitz), Eric Roche, Barry Harris, Jonathan Kreisberg and Vicki Genfan. As a performing musician in London Sandro Norton played at various venues including The Cavern Club in Liverpool, The Jazz Café in Camden Town, Ronnie Scott s, Oxford's 100Club and The Borderline in Soho. He was a member of the band, Flipsiders, and went on three tours with them in the UK. He played with Jojo Watz at the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol in the UK where he performed in front of 50,000 people. Later on, Sandro performed in Norway, Sweden, Spain and Holland as a solo artist and as a member of smaller ensembles, worked in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of London (NYJO) and collaborated in musical partnerships with Pip Williams, Gary Burton, Mike Outram, Vasilis Xenopoulos, Ian Anderson, Jocelyn Brown and Jorge Fernando.

FILIPE RAPOSO

FILIPE RAPOSO From an early age, classical pianist and composer, Filipe Raposo, showed an interest in jazz, improvised music and also fado; as a soloist, or in trio and big band ensembles. He has worked as a composer and pianist with many of the big names in music. His ﬁrst album as a leader, First Falls, highlights his wide range of inﬂuences uniﬁed by the language of improvisation and played by two trios. This album is considered a revelation for some and a conﬁrmation for others of his magniﬁcent talent. His day-to-day life is ﬁlled with projects of varying degrees including composition, arranging and piano performance. When it comes to composition, Filipe Raposo collaborates with several artists who had great signiﬁcance in the 1974 Revolution in Portugal: José Mário Branco, Fausto and Sérgio Godinho. He also collaborates with contemporary fado singers such as Joana Amendoeira, Carminho and Camané. He composes and plays in several jazz projects with the likes of Yuri Daniel, BigBand Toratora and Johannes Krieger and works with contemporary composers such as Amélia Muge, Janita Salomé, Vitorino and João Afonso.

CARLOS BARRETTO

CARLOS BARRETTO Carlos Barretto was surrounded by music from an early age because of his father. At the age of six he started to learn the guitar but at the age of ten he began studying - initially piano and music theory - at the Conservatòria Nacional de Lisboa and later went on to the double bass there; inﬂuenced by the pleasant quality of the deep full sounds he d heard at the Cascais Jazz Festival. He completed his studies at the Conservatória under Professor Crispim. At the same time, he attended the jazz school at the Hot Club of Portugal, where he established the foundations of his relationship with jazz and had his ﬁrst regular performances with local musicians of this genre. In 1982 he continued his studies on double bass with renowned classical bass player and professor, Ludwig Streicher, at the Superior Academy of Music in Vienna, Austria. Carlos Barretto s music and solo acts exude a more intimate and lyrical style. Untypical of most jazz bass players, Barretto often uses his bow. This is done with mastery and resourcefulness and develops an experimentalist - almost avant-garde - sound, as can be heard in the "Lokomotiv" Group where the music is more intricate and complex.

MÁRIO BARREIROS

MÁRIO BARREIROS Mário Barreiros from Porto came from a family of musicians and soon began his musical career as part of the band Mini Pop who enjoyed success in the 1970s. He is a drummer, guitarist, teacher and music producer. Before dedicating himself to jazz and more recently to music production, he was one of the founders of the Porto Jazz School. Mário Barreros attended the Conservatory of Music in Porto and then played in successful bands like Jafumega, Rão Kyao (Saxophone), Rui Veloso and the Optimists and Pedro Abrunhosa & Bandemónio. In 1985, he and his family helped promote the opening of the Porto Jazz School, along with Pedro Abrunhosa and they would later become the School s Directors of Music. Mário went on to produce Pedro Abrunhosa s ﬁrst two albums. Later he produced records for Clan, Ornatos Violeta and Silence 4. He also produced the album Tejo Beat and produced records for Jorge Palma, Blind Zero, Da Weasel and many more. In 2009 he produced and performed at the "Kind Steps Project - The Legacy of 1959" at the Jazz in the Park 2009 event for Portugal s prestigious Serralves Centre, in Porto.