guillermo rozenthuler- voice
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Guillermo is a versatile vocalist, guitarist and composer. He is the lead singer of Rioplatenses, a band featuring some of the UK's top Latin musicians. They appear regularly in London, performing Guillermo's originals and their distinctly contemporary take on traditional South American folklore. Rioplatenses have recently released their first live album, A Route to the Roots.
Guillermo moved to the UK in 2000 after more than 10 years performing and teaching in Buenos Aires, where he grew his reputation as a jazz and Latin vocalist and voice coach. Now based in London, he regularly takes part in several musical and pedagogic projects across Europe.
Guillermo didn't find tango, tango found him after he moved to Europe. From his home base in London, he has now become one of the leading voices of tango in the UK, working regularly with various UK and Europe-based tango bands, La Portatil, Mala Pinta, Los Mareados.
Formerly the vocalist of outstanding sax player Gilad Atzmon's Orient House Ensemble, winner of the BBC Jass Awards, Guillermo has recorded on their album, Musik, hailed "Best Jazz album of the Year", (J. Lewis, Time Out).
After moving to London, Guillermo immersed himself in the melting pot of European, African and Asian influences that define the musical landscape of the city. In 2007 he has achieved a Masters degree with distinction in Ethnomusicology (Middle Eastern Music) from SOAS.
Off stage Guillermo is committed to his work as a vocal coach and workshop leader. He runs weekly singing workshops and teaches one-to one from his London studio. In 2005 he joined the faculty of the Global Music Foundation, taking part as a voice coach and workshop leader in their European music seminars.
debora russ - voice
Débora Russ is a unique artist, suffice to fill the stage with her charisma, the grace and elegance of her presence are in balance. Discovering her, in a voice of great richness and interpretive temperament, with sensual and velvety timbre, is transported along with the music to musical instruments into the depths of human feelings. Being passionate; talent, humility and the essence of her art is breathed in every verse, every sentence, word and silence.
Being passionate of music and dance since her childhood, her career begins at the early age of eleven, when she wins the Argentinean television Festilindo award, followed by several first prizes in amateur contests. In parallel she studies flamenco dance, American tap dance and tango. It is director and bandoneon player, Carlos Nieto whom introduces her as professional engaging her as vocal solo with the Doctango Trio and as guest artist with the "Orquesta Provincial de Musica Ciudadana" . In 1995 the " Academia Porteña del Lunfardo" invites her for a homage to the poet and writer Horacio Ferrer. In 1997 she wins the leading Argentinean music festival "Festival de Cosquin" Best Female Tango Award; award that will lead her to the top of the tango scene in Argentina. This same year she is awarded with the "Difundir 1997" prize (Cordoba Television), and the "Produccion Discografica Independiente" prize, Ministerio de la educacion y la Cultura)...
Between 1997 and 2001 she performs in Argentina’s main venues with her sextet, as well as the Orquesta Juvenil de Tango "Ciriaco Ortiz" directed by Carlos Nieto JR., and is often guest artist with the Tipica Remembranzas Orchestra. During this period she meets and performs with the most outstanding Argentinean tango and folk music artists. Invited to Buenos Aires by bandoneon player Osvaldo Piro, she is asked to join the Orquesta Nacional de Musica Argentina Juan de Dios Filiberto directed by Atilio Estampone and is engaged to perform with Los Reyes del Tango in the show "La Ventana" at San Telmo (musicians from the Juan D'Arienzo Orchestra). On 2001 she is guest of honour at the Tangovia Festival in Medellin - Colombia and goes to France with the "TANGO FRISSON" show; after which, Débora Russ decides to continue her career in Europe.
She is invited by Gustavo Gancedo to join his quartet and septet ensembles on 2002, performing in European leading festivals such as the Forde Folkemusikkfestival in Norway, Festival de Tavagna in Corsica, Zürger Tangowoche in Switzerland, Euregio Musik Festival in Germany, Festival International de Guitar de Montpellier in France... On 2004 Gustavo Gancedo produces his CD "Aqui y Ahora"; inviting her to perform the lead vocals. This same year, she performs at the Vichy University the world premiere of contemporary tangos of Argentinean composer, Luis Naon. She is regularly invited by Juan José Mosalini and his Grand Orchestra. The Norwegian group Electrocutango invites her on 2005 for a series of concerts, as well as the Quatour Caliente (winner of the international contest "Astor Piazzolla Music Award" 2004 ) performing the Piazzolla repertoire, and joins the female contemporary tango ensemble Fleurs Noires.
On summer 2006 she recorded with the Quatuor Caliente her first CD with Aeon records and Harmonia-mundi; “Astor Piazzolla Quatuor Caliente Débora Russ” released on February 2007. She has also recorded on the first CD of the Fleurs Noires (Milan Records). This same year she creates under the musical direction of double bass player Mauricio Angarita the Débora Russ Ensemble and has recorded during summer of 2008 her second CD with Aeon records and Harmonia-mundi “ANDARES”. In this work Debora sings original tangos and candombes written by Leonardo Sanchez and Mauricio Angarita / Débora Russ, as well as songs from the Astor Piazzolla repertoire. Recording released on summer 2009 AECD 0979 throughout Europe and United States. Gustavo Gancedo and the Ochestra La Strapatta invites Débora as soloist for their first CD LA STRAPATTA Orquesta de Tango released fall 2009.
On 2011 she creates TANGOS PENDIENTES, releasing the album on february 2012 with Accords-Croisés / Harmonia-mundi and touring the show in Europe, Tunisia and Morocco.
Juanjo Lopez Vidal
Juanjo was born in El Once neighbourhood of Buenos Aires and into a family of tango aficionados. At age twelve he taught himself to play guitar and started singing with his older brother. In 1979 their duo was signed by RCA Victor record label in Argentina where they worked with Piazzolla's guitarist Horacio Malvicino and under the artistic direction of Grammy winner Julian Navarro(Julio Iglesias).
In 1989 Juanjo toured Spain, later settling down in Granada. Here he continued performing, producing music and working as engineer/producer and consultant for all international festivals in the city, including 7 editions of the "Festival Internacional de Tango de Granada" and a "Tango World Summit" until he relocated to United Kingdom in 1997. He became co-founder and board member of The Music Producers Guild UK (MPG) for a number of years, he also devoted part of his time to teaching music production and running his own commercial recording studio.
During his career as producer and engineer, Juanjo worked for some of the most influential tango artists in the world. These include emblematic tango directors like Osvaldo Pugliese, Horacio Salgan, Leopoldo Federico, Atillio Stampone, and most importantly for him, some of the best singers of the Golden Age, like Alberto Podesta, Paya Dias, Roberto Goyeneche, Roberto Rufino, Carlos Acuña, Jorge Valdez y otros. These experiences gave him a unique perspective to the way the legends and long established interpreters of the genre work.
"The opportunity of working live, being able to talk and share experiences with such legends impacted on my understanding of tango, reverberating with my own life experiences of growing up in Argentina. They have fuelled my passion and shaped the way I interpret tango today "
Most recently Juanjo has collaborated with Edinburgh’s Mr McFall’s Chamber Orchestra, The Netherlands’ international orquesta tipica “Tango Masivo”, leading UK group “Tango Siempre”, the “London Tango Orchestra” and "Los Mareados Tango Quartet", while doing solo performances at milongas throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.
In 1989 Juanjo toured Spain, later settling down in Granada. Here he continued performing, producing music and working as engineer/producer and consultant for all international festivals in the city, including 7 editions of the "Festival Internacional de Tango de Granada" and a "Tango World Summit" until he relocated to United Kingdom in 1997. He became co-founder and board member of The Music Producers Guild UK (MPG) for a number of years, he also devoted part of his time to teaching music production and running his own commercial recording studio.
During his career as producer and engineer, Juanjo worked for some of the most influential tango artists in the world. These include emblematic tango directors like Osvaldo Pugliese, Horacio Salgan, Leopoldo Federico, Atillio Stampone, and most importantly for him, some of the best singers of the Golden Age, like Alberto Podesta, Paya Dias, Roberto Goyeneche, Roberto Rufino, Carlos Acuña, Jorge Valdez y otros. These experiences gave him a unique perspective to the way the legends and long established interpreters of the genre work.
"The opportunity of working live, being able to talk and share experiences with such legends impacted on my understanding of tango, reverberating with my own life experiences of growing up in Argentina. They have fuelled my passion and shaped the way I interpret tango today "
Most recently Juanjo has collaborated with Edinburgh’s Mr McFall’s Chamber Orchestra, The Netherlands’ international orquesta tipica “Tango Masivo”, leading UK group “Tango Siempre”, the “London Tango Orchestra” and "Los Mareados Tango Quartet", while doing solo performances at milongas throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.
martin alvarado - singer
Martín Alvarado is widely considered to be Argentina’s most significant contemporary tango singer and, increasingly, acknowledged as one of the finest vocalists in tango’s history. He has been described as "the voice of tango in the 21st Century".
He discovered his talent to sing at 19 while studying guitar in Buenos Aires. A few years later he travelled to Spain where he was spotted singing in Barcelona in 2002 and invited to perform in Finland. News of his talent quickly spread in Finland and within weeks of arriving there, he was performing with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since then, in 2003, he has performed in Europe, Asia and South America more than 500 times, often to sell-out audiences, had numerous TV performances in Finland, Russia, Slovenia and Argentina and produced four albums. His music has daily airplay on tango radio stations in Buenos Aires. In 2013, he won a Latin UK Award for Concert by International Artist of the Year and had his last album released and distributed worldwide by UK-based record label Riverboat Records at World Music Network, which has some of the biggest names in world music on its roster. His highly acclaimed and carefully chosen repertoire features work by Argentina’s most celebrated poets and composers, including rare work by Piazzolla, new tangos, all-time classics and some of his own compositions.
Blessed with a fine vocal and emotional range, married to a commanding and charismatic stage presence, he is renowned for sublime live performances, drawing comparisons to the late great tango singing superstar of the 1930s, Carlos Gardel. Critics have described him as "the most significant tango singer of our time" and "one of the world's finest vocalists".
He discovered his talent to sing at 19 while studying guitar in Buenos Aires. A few years later he travelled to Spain where he was spotted singing in Barcelona in 2002 and invited to perform in Finland. News of his talent quickly spread in Finland and within weeks of arriving there, he was performing with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since then, in 2003, he has performed in Europe, Asia and South America more than 500 times, often to sell-out audiences, had numerous TV performances in Finland, Russia, Slovenia and Argentina and produced four albums. His music has daily airplay on tango radio stations in Buenos Aires. In 2013, he won a Latin UK Award for Concert by International Artist of the Year and had his last album released and distributed worldwide by UK-based record label Riverboat Records at World Music Network, which has some of the biggest names in world music on its roster. His highly acclaimed and carefully chosen repertoire features work by Argentina’s most celebrated poets and composers, including rare work by Piazzolla, new tangos, all-time classics and some of his own compositions.
Blessed with a fine vocal and emotional range, married to a commanding and charismatic stage presence, he is renowned for sublime live performances, drawing comparisons to the late great tango singing superstar of the 1930s, Carlos Gardel. Critics have described him as "the most significant tango singer of our time" and "one of the world's finest vocalists".
Andrew Oliver - Piano
London-based pianist and composer Andrew Oliver performs and composes contemporary music across many genre boundaries but with a focus on contemporary jazz. He studied in New Orleans before returning to his hometown of Portland, Oregon in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Since moving to London, England in 2013, he continues to be involved in a wide range of interesting musical projects in the thriving London music scene and internationally. After traveling to Africa in 2007 as part of the U.S. State Department’s “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program, Andrew founded The Kora Band, blending West African traditions and jazz and featuring Kane Mathis on kora, a 21-string traditional harp. Andrew was awarded a 2012 New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America for the composition, performance, and recording of a new concert-length work for the Kora Band which was premiered at the Earshot Jazz Festival in 2013 and will be released on Whirlwind Recordings in 2015. The Oregon Arts Commission awarded Andrew a 2011 Artist Fellowship and a Career Opportunity Grant allowing him to travel to New York for studies with the well-known composer John Hollenbeck in the spring of 2011. Andrew was the co-founder and former executive director of the Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Oregon which commissions and performs new works by local jazz composers for 12-piece ensemble and works to encourage the creation and dissemination of jazz and creative music in the region. Andrew worked with Portland tango dancer and bandoneonist Alex Krebs in his tango orchestra for the past 4 years, releasing two albums of all original traditional and contemporary tangos for dancing. In London, Andrew is performing regularly with his swing band, Oliver’s Dime Notes, and other groups in the old-time jazz genre including the Old Hat Jazz Band and a duo project with clarinetist Dave Horniblow. He plays in the collaborative piano trio Rubik.
john turville - piano
John Turville is one of the leading jazz pianists of his generation, and has won multiple awards for his two trio albums including MOJO’s #3 Jazz Album of the Year (2012), and ‘Best Album’ in the Parliamentary Awards 2011. He also won ‘Best Instrumentalist’ in the 2010 London Jazz Awards and the 2009 PRS Promoter’s Choice Award, and was a semi-finalist in the Martial Solal Jazz Piano Concours in 2010. He has toured and recorded throughout Europe and the Middle East with many renowned jazz and tango groups, including the Dave Binney/Julian Arguelles quintet, Tim Garland, the Tony Kofi/Alan Barnes Quintet, Karios 4tet, Asaf Sirkis Trio, Gilad Atzmon, Transtango, the London Tango Orchestra, Matt Ridley Quartet, Sabina Racheyeva, Andre Canniere, Maciek Pysz and Natacha Atlas.
John also co-runs the E17 Jazz Collective and curates their programme and festival, as well as conducting the E17 Large Ensemble and his sextet Solstice, featuring Brigitte Beraha and Tori Freestone. He is also an experienced composer and arranger for strings, voices, jazz and tango ensembles, and an experienced educator. He is the principal jazz piano tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire and has coached and adjudicated ensembles at the Guildhall and Trinity College.
John also co-runs the E17 Jazz Collective and curates their programme and festival, as well as conducting the E17 Large Ensemble and his sextet Solstice, featuring Brigitte Beraha and Tori Freestone. He is also an experienced composer and arranger for strings, voices, jazz and tango ensembles, and an experienced educator. He is the principal jazz piano tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire and has coached and adjudicated ensembles at the Guildhall and Trinity College.
Tom Mason - Bass
Tom gained a jazz degree while at the Royal Academy of Music, and at New England Conservatory in Boston. Since then he has earned a reputation as one of the most versatile double bassists and bass guitarists on the UK music scene.
His résumé of recordings, performances and tours boasts artists such as Questlove, Lizz Wright, Mark Ronson, Anoushka Shankar, Jamie Cullum, Ghostpoet, Daymé Arocena, Lily Allen, Angelique Kidjo, Janette Mason Trio, Iggy Azalea, Cecilia Stalin, Gwilym Simcock, Jonathan Jeremiah, Goldie and The Heritage Orchestra, Archivist, Tango Siempre, and Tom has also been long-term member of award winning pianist Robert Mitchell's Panacea
Since 2013 Tom has been promoting jungle drum & bass nights as part of the Beautifully Crafted crew, where he can also be found DJing as Son of Mothra.
His résumé of recordings, performances and tours boasts artists such as Questlove, Lizz Wright, Mark Ronson, Anoushka Shankar, Jamie Cullum, Ghostpoet, Daymé Arocena, Lily Allen, Angelique Kidjo, Janette Mason Trio, Iggy Azalea, Cecilia Stalin, Gwilym Simcock, Jonathan Jeremiah, Goldie and The Heritage Orchestra, Archivist, Tango Siempre, and Tom has also been long-term member of award winning pianist Robert Mitchell's Panacea
Since 2013 Tom has been promoting jungle drum & bass nights as part of the Beautifully Crafted crew, where he can also be found DJing as Son of Mothra.
enrique galassi - bass
Enrique is a classical trained musician whose repertoire goes from Classical Music to Contemporary and Latin Rhythms. Born in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, Enrique has performed a wide variety of orchestral and chamber repertoire. He began playing the Double Bass when he was 15 and by the age of 20 he had already won a place in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Bahia Blanca where he played for several years.
In 1999 he travelled to London to study at the Trinity College of Music where he won the Vernon Elliot Prize for Double Bass and graduated in 2007. Whilst still a student at Trinity he played as principal bass in the String Ensemble, Wren Ensemble, Contemporary Music Group and Symphony Orchestra. He has master classes with Rinat Ibraguimov, Alex Henery and Corrado Canonici.
In 2005 Enrique founded the tango quintet "Del Plata" who focus on Astor Piazzolla's tango nuevo frequently playing in concert halls, Latin American Embassies, the Anglo-Latin American Society (Canning House) and touring around the UK.
At present he works as a freelance double bass player with orchestras and chamber groups in London but he is in special demand among tango groups and soloists: Acebras Trio, Los Mareados... He has also played in musicals: "Tango in the City" directed by Terry Bates, and "Flamenco, Flamen'ka" at the Lyric Theatre.
As a music tutor Enrique has been teaching in London since 2001. He taught at the Dartington Music Festival and at present he teaches at The New London Performing Arts Centre in North London as well as teaching privately.
