Born in Cuba, Hery Paz received his musical training at the New England Conservatory and is currently an accredited musician extremely active in the current New York music scene, having shared the stage both with renowned names of jazz, such as Dave Liebman, Ralph Alessi or Joe Morris, as well as with many of the most relevant instrumentalists of the new generation (notably Thomas Morgan, Gerald Cleaver or Dan Weiss, among many others). In addition to his participation in albums authored by other musicians such as Kenny Wheeler or Andrew Schiller, the discography of this multi-instrumentalist, specialized in wind instruments, and specifically the saxophone, includes two records as a leader, both in trio format: “Jardineros”, alongside Francisco Mela and Román Díaz, and the more recent “River Creatures” (2024), in collaboration with Nate Wooley and Tom Rainey. In parallel to his strictly musical activity, Hery Paz is also a painter and the author of several album covers, this being merely one of the manifestations of an artistic stance based on the amalgamation of expressions between improvisation, composition and visual arts.

In 2024, Demian Cabaud (b. 1977, Argentina) celebrates twenty years living in Portugal, and this personal ephemeris comes at a time when he is allowed to claim the status of one of the most prominent and sought-after double-bassists in the Portuguese scene and a solid reputation within the European jazz circuit. A graduate from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Cabaud is an extremely prolific musician, both as a permanent member of the Jazz Orchestra of Matosinhos as well as in a collaborative format or under his own name, and his work is profusely documented in close to a hundred records, alongside relevant musicians from contemporary Portuguese and international jazz, such as, among many others, João Pedro Brandão, Marcos Cavaleiro, João Grilo, Akiko Pavolka, Ohad Talmor or Gerald Cleaver. In parallel to his work as sideman, Cabaud has pursued over the years an interesting path as leader and, among his most recent projects, we may highlight the duo with Argentinian pianist Leo Genovese, which resulted in the recording of two albums released over the last two years.

Born in 1991, Pedro Melo Alves is one of the most prominent names of his generation on the Portuguese musical scene of the last ten years, the result of a diversified and ambitious work spread across various musical territories and formats. An award-winning and widely praised drummer and composer, Melo Alves graduated from ESMAE and the Music School of Lisbon and, since completing his studies, he has developed a pertinent body of work between composition and improvisation (essentially marked by the intersection of musical ecosystems, from jazz to classical music, from rock to electronics), while at the same time collaborating regularly and extensively with renowned musicians and formations in contemporary music such as, among others, Joe Morris, Mark Dresser or the Sun Ra Arkestra. Among his authorial projects we may highlight the band The Rite of Trio and the Omniae Ensemble, the latter being originally a septet that in 2020 was converted, at Guimarães Jazz proposal, into an orchestra and whose music gave rise to the highly praised album “Lumina”. Despite his youth, composer, performer and artist João Carlos Pinto (b. Braga, 1998) already presents a relevant curriculum and an impressive record of creative activity divided across several artistic fields. Since he concluded his composition studies at the Music School of Lisbon, João Carlos Pinto has composed music in different contexts – both as a result of commissions, as well as in the quality of associated composer at the São Carlos National Theatre or in opera creation residences –, and at the same timing develops work with a more performative dimension in projects such as CACO.MEAL or the duo Almeida/Carlos Pinto, in which he manipulates electronic instruments that he builds and modifies himself.

Maria Mónica is an artist with a multifaceted creative work that spans different forms of visual expression, including illustration, design, artistic printing, video and animation. With a degree in Communication Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and a complementary formation in music, Maria Mónica also pursues a relevant musical activity as artistic coordinator of the OGBE – Electric Guitar and Bass Ensemble, as a founding member of the band Os Príncipes (alongside drummer Jorge Queijo) and as director of the Gamelan Ensemble of Casa da Música.