Fábio Gouvêa Quintet

Guitarist, composer, and arranger Fabio Gouvea has been praised for being a musician with a strong melodic approach, a deep harmonic concept, and an uplifting rhythmic feel all characteristics that have made him one of the most in-demand Brazilian artists of his generation. Fabio has played with some of the leading musicians in Brazil and abroad, including Scott Colley, Hermeto Pascoal, Luis Perdomo, Hamilton de Holanda, Nailor “Proveta”, among others. As a member of Hermeto Pascoal & Big Band, won the Latin Grammy 2018 as the “best jazz album” for the CD Natureza Universal. For the past 15 years, Fabio has also been playing, touring, and recording with renowned Grammy nominated band, “Trio Curupira”. Alongside to performing as a sideman with some of the most important artists in the music scene, Fabio is also very active leading his own groups, and has recorded 9 albums in collaboration with such musicians as Donny McCaslin, Helen Sung, Jorge Rossy, John Ellis, Jean Michel Pilc and Rogerio Boccato, among others. Additionally, Fabio was also a faculty member at the prestigious “Conservatorio Dramatico e Musical Dr. Carlos de Campo” in Tatuí, São Paulo, where he was teaching guitar, ensemble and Brazilian rhythms for the past 18 years, instructing some of the most talented young musicians in Brazil. Nowadays Fabio is living in Basel, Switzerland, teaching at the Jazz Campus, after he was selected for been part of the Focus Year program, at the Musik Akademie Basel. John Ellis is one of New York’s premiere tenor saxophone voices. With more than 150 album credits as a sideman, John has recorded with a wide variety of artists such as Charlie Hunter, Robert Glasper, Darcy James Argue, Helen Sung, Kendrick Scott Oracle, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Sting. John was the 2nd place winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition in 2002, he was the recipient of three composition grants through The Jazz Gallery for the creation of new work (“Dreamscapes”, “The Ice Siren”, and “MOBRO”) and he was selected as the 2014 Make Jazz Fellow by the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica. John has released thirteen albums as a leader, three of those featuring his New Orleans-centered band Double-Wide, which has toured extensively and was featured on the Main Stage of the 2012 Newport Jazz Festival. He co-produced the music for the children’s book series “Baby Loves Jazz” with Aaron Goldberg, and he wrote the theme music for the NPR podcast, “Rough Translation.” “Say It Quiet”, his most recent album, is a collaboration with Glenn Patscha and Adam Levy. It was released on the Sunnyside record label in August of 2021. Helio Alves was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1966 and started piano lessons at age 6. Following his early immersion in playing the pop standards and classical music favored by his parents, he gravitated to jazz in his teens. Alves moved to Boston at age 18 and received his BA in Professional Music in 1990. He decided to stay in Boston following graduation, and there met trumpeter Claudio Roditi, who advised the 24-year old pianist to move to New York City, and urged him to get in touch when he arrived. Alves eventually moved to New York City in 1993.Since then Pianist and composer Helio Alves has received high praise as an in-demand sideman with Joe Henderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Claudio Roditi, Paquito D'Rivera, Gato Barbieri, Dave Samuels, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim and Oscar Castro-Neves, to name but a few. Alves has recorded two Reservoir releases with Roditi, Samba Manhattan Style (1995) and Double Standards (1997). He is also featured on Roditi's 2009 release "Brazilliance X4 (Resonance).From 1995 to 1997, Alves toured extensively with Joe Henderson's Double Rainbow Quartet celebrating the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and was featured in the Grammy-winning release, Joe Henderson's Big Band (Verve, 1996). Alves was the pianist on Grammy-winning releases by Yo-Yo Ma (Obrigado Brazil, 2003) and Paquito DRivera (Brazilian Dreams, 2002), and on the Grammy-nominated Samba Jazz Fantasia (Malandro Records, 2002), by Duduka Da Fonseca. His growing discography includes releases with Rosa Passos (Amorosa, SONY/Classical, 2004), Joyce (Samba Jazz e Outras Bossas, Far Out Recordings, 2007), Gino Sitson (Bamisphere, 2005, and Way To Go, 2009), Brazilian Trio (Zoho, 2008) and Louis Hayes ( The Time Keeper,2009).He's also been featured on recordings and tours with Slide Hampton, Louis Hayes, Santi Debriano, Hendrik Meurkens, Caribbean Jazz Project, Trio da Paz, Paul Winter, David Sanchez, Harry Allen, The New York Voices, Gato Barbieri, Andy Narell, Mike Stern and Dave Samuels, among many others. Gili Lopes is a bassist and composer embedded in New York’s contemporary jazz scene. Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, he’s spent his life immersed in many deep musical traditions—from the folk and popular sounds of his native country to his wide-ranging musical travels around the planet to his time studying at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the University of Fine Arts of Berlin—which he synthesizes into a rich, personal language for composition and improvisation.In 2024, Lopes released Algures, his debut as a leader. Called “slick and upbeat” by Jazzwise, this musical travelogue explores global themes with a “stellar band” (Jazziz) that includes “a redoubtable case of accompanists” (All About Jazz) featuring saxophonist John Ellis and drummer Ari Hoenig, both veteran modern-jazz masters who assist the bandleader in propelling the music to jazz’s cutting edge. Downbeat praised Lopes’ “sensibility,” which “brings the music toward the fount of each component tradition and then exceeds it.” Algures has received two Global Music awards, one World Entertainment award, and was considered one of the best jazz albums of 2024 by Downbeat.As a bandleader, as well as an in-demand bassist alongside prominent artists such as Dom Salvador, Marcos Valle, Paquito De Rivera, Toninho Horta, Duduka Da Fonseca, Gil Goldstein, David Berkman, Ed Cherry and many others, Lopes has performed on some of the world’s most prominent bandstands, including the London Jazz Festival, Montreal’s Théâtre Maisonneuve, New York’s Town Hall, Lincoln Center, and Rockefeller Center, in addition to marquee jazz clubs such as Dizzy’s, Birdland, and Ronnie Scott’s. Renowned for his musicality, elegance and versatility, Alex Kautz stands out as a distinguished percussionist, educator, and composer. With an unwavering passion for jazz and world music, he has crafted a captivating and distinct musical voice and unique artistic expression. Alex has been an important part of the NY competitive music scene for the last decade and has played and/or recorded with some of the top artists in the industry today including Tim Ries, Magos Herrera, Nilson Matta, Chico Pinheiro, Steve Willson, Lenny Andrade, Fabio Gouvea, Helio Alves, Victor Prieto, Robert Rodriguez and Michael Rodriguez among others. In addition to his work with various artists, Alex has taken the lead in various projects where he combines the sounds of Brazilian music fused with jazz. Notably, he played a vital role as a co-founder of the collective ensemble known as "Trio Afora" and has released his solo album, "Where We Begin," with Sunnyside Records in Spring 2024. A Magna Cum Laude graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Alex received the “Best Achievement merit Scholarship” while attending the prestigious institution in pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. He later received a full scholarship award from Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA) to study a Masters of Arts Degree in Aaron Copland School of Music in New York. As an active educator since 2001, Alex has been an important part of the artistic community in different countries including USA, Mexico, India, and Brazil teaching private lessons as well as master classes. In addition he has been a guest professor in Souza Lima Conservatory and College of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil, JAZZUV School of Music in Veracruz Mexico and in Swarnabhomi School of Music in India and he is currently part of the faculty at the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and Mannes Conservatory in NYC.