From the very beginning of his musical career, Four projects on, with his new album, Magalon Michael Magalon has been creating an individual continues to bring classical jazz to modern times. identity in the compositions. A fresh complexity of stretched limits and breathing melodies create the uniqueness of a well-balanced modern and classical harmony of “We want to stop in every jazz club worldwide rhythms and sounds. to share our passion for creative music”. BIOGRAPHY MICHAEL MAGALON: MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER Michael Magalon Antwerp. Soon after, he began to approached the artistic world play the bass influenced by the of music by studying classical modern jazz band Aka Moon and guitar at the age of 12. At 18 the bass player Michel Michael composed the music HATZIGEORGIOU. for the play ‘Couleur de Femmes’ by Jacques During his musical career, Michael HENRARD adapted by Marc has played with leading Belgian GOORIS, as his first jazz musicians such as Jeroen professional job. VAN HERZEELE, Bart DEFOORT, Stephane MERCIER and international musicians from After gaining experience with the rock and funk scene like Rudy LENNERS (Scorpions), Rudy a number of bands, he TROUVÉ (dEUS, Kiss My Jazz, Dead Man Ray) and Nick VAN studied at the Jazz Studio in GELDER (Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies). Page | 3 Page | 4 MICHAEL MAGALON 4tet: MEET THE MUSICANS Trafalgar Arches is the new album from MICHAEL MAGALON 4tet. This album counts with the collaboration of great musicians. They gather together to materialize the artistic compositions of a meticulous Michael who keeps an eye on every detail. The music is exclusive, yet universal; modern, yet classic, easy to listen, yet structurally complex. “A fresh midnight with a touch of midday breeze.” Page | 5 DOMINIC NTOUMOS Dominic NTOUMOS has worked for a many years with a number of influential artists such as the Londoner pianist Robert MITCHELL (Steve Coleman, Courtney Pine, Greg Osby), bassist Michael MONTDESIR, French drummer Maxime ZEMPIERI (Steve COLEMAN, Magik MALIK), Philippe BUSSONET (MAGMA),etc. As part of the band Think of One, Dominic NTOUMOS © Julia Free shared a nomination for the 2003 BBC World Music Awards. Dominc has performed in many main European Jazz Festivals such as North Sea Jazz Festival, Brussels Jazz Marathon, Montreux or the Meltdown Festival 2009 featuring The Roots + Tony Allen + David Muray at The Royal Festival Hall of London.. Page | 6 JURRIAAN BERGER Born in Rotterdam, 1976, Jurriaan likes to make music on anything that produces sounds. In his teenage years he played the drums, guitar, bass and tenor saxophone. He then took classical piano lessons, gradually becoming more interested in jazz and improvised music. After long experimentation, Jurriaan decided to study jazz piano at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Taught by Karel BOEHLEE and Kris GOESSENS, among others, he attended workshops by Fred HERSCH, John TAYLOR and Bobby MC FERRIN. He graduated from the Bachelor (2004) and Master of Music (2007) © Julia Free programme. Jurriaan’s musical focus is twofold. On the one hand, he likes to perform freely improvised music that sounds ‘composed’ in the sense that it has structure and form. On the other hand, he likes to infuse his jazz playing with elements from rock/pop, world music (various small percussion, wind and string instruments) and classical music (polyphony). Page | 7 TOM NUTTIN Tom NUTTIN is a young drummer born in Colombia of Belgian parents. He moved to Belgium as a child, and soon after he dedicated great part of his time to study classical music as well as the bassoon. Nuttin learnt to play the drums auto-didactically with various styles of music ranging from Funk and Rock to Metal music, finally falling in love with Jazz and © Julia Free improvised music. He decided to take one step further and formalise his expertise with studying for three years at the Jazzbxl School in Brussels with some of the leading Belgian musicians like Bruno CASTELLUCCI, Bas COOIJMANS, Stéphane MERCIER, Ron VAN ROSSUM, and others. Tom’s talent is evident; the symbiosis with his drums makes of his performances an all-in-one merge of percussion and self. Page | 8 BY RECORDING SESSION SHOTS JULIA FREE Page | 9 Page | 10 Page | 11 Page | 12 PRESENTATION TOUR PICTURE GALLERY BY JULIA FREE Page | 13 SALA CLAMORES, Madrid (21 September 2011) Page | 14 THE ENERGY OF AN AUDIENCE MERGED WITH THE ENERGY OF OUR SHARED PASSION. Page | 15 Page | 16 BEL-LUNA JAZZ CLUB, Barcelona (23 September 2011) Page | 17 Page | 18 CELDA SONORA, Sabiñánigo, (24 September 2011) A REWARDING AND GREATLY APPRECIATED PERFORMANCE IN A COSY HOMEY ATMOSPHERE. © Celda Sonora © Celda Sonora © Celda Sonora Page | 19 CULTURA, Critica Musical, Diario del Altoaragon, 26 September 2011 Page | 20 Para no Perderse, EXPANSION FIN DE SEMANA,, 17 September 2011 Page | 21 PREVIOUS PROJECTS MAGALON-HERMANS-MERCIER: THE MIDEM ADVENTURE Still exploring the time signatures and the rhythmical vertigoes, the concept of this album is based on pushing the limits, dividing the traditional rhythm section (drums and bass) and becoming a drum less project: alto sax, electric bass and piano. The main achievement has been getting a clear plot of the music whilst disengaging the drums function, respecting the complexity of the harmony in the compositions. "How far can I push the music to still make it intelligible and The originality of this project earns an invite to the 2007 understandable before crossing the boundaries edition of the MIDEM festival in Cannes, France. to free jazz?" Passionate explosion of energy. The compositions, as a Line Up: trampoline, become a base to express the deepest emotions Michael MAGALON, Fender Jazz Bass. (tension, anxiety, nostalgia, suspense) of the musicians. Georges HERMANS, Piano. This album aims to represent the soundtrack of your darkest Stephane MERCIER, alto sax. feelings, creating a universe of expressionist music. Page | 22 SINEQUA: MAKING PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IT "In the Belgian The band plays around with forms, sounds and rhythms to Contemporary Jazz world, a construct, disassemble and finally rebuild a surprising and few groups like SINEQUA generous musical journey. emerge with the new The musicians of this quartet travel their way between a century. In line with a trend world of impressions and senses, and bursts of inspired originating in the 70's, they sparks." offer a style echoing modernity, fed by new energies. André Klenes bassist, composer. Coming from a diverse background with also diverse Graduated from the Liege Royal Conservatory of Music. experiences, the musicians from SINEQUA are part of the new generation that search for musical images in the Line Up: boundaries of jazz and world music. Michael MAGALON, Fender Jazz Bass. Through refreshing themes, they create a language of Marc FRANKINET, Trumpet. equilibrium between rhythmic vertigo, asymmetry and Georges HERMANS, Piano. suspended harmony. Eric MINGELBIER, Drums. Page | 23 TIMELESS GALLERY Left to right: Jeroen VAN HERZEELE (tenor sax) and Michael MAGALON at the 2006 edition of the International Liege Jazz Festival (Belgium). Page | 24 Michael Magalon at the Pelzer Jazz Club in Belgium. Page | 25 SINEQUA Below, left to right: Michael Magalon, Georges HERMANS, Marc FRANKINET and Eric MINGELBIER at the International Gouvy Jazz Festival (Belgium). Page | 26 Left to right: Georges HERMANS, Michael MAGALON and Jeroen VAN HERZEELE Page | 27 Below: At the MIDEM Of Cannes, France. Soundcheck with Stephane MERCIER. Above: With Marc FRANKINET and Bart DEFOORT Page | 28 RAVI COLTRANE TRIO & MICHAEL MAGALON’S SINEQUA Double rhythm section for a double concert at The Soundstation (Belgium) Left to right: Gene LAKE (drums), Eric MINGELBIER (drums), Reggie WASHINGTON (bass) and Michael MAGALON (bass) Page | 29 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you very much to everyone that has made this project a reality. Very big thanks also to: Artes Graficas León, Caracas, Venezuela and specially to Roldan HERNÁNDEZ for printing services; to 3JB Brighton for opening the pub earlier just for us when we were starting to work on the project; Julia FREE for Trafalgar Arches photos and Jérome TIELEMANS for some Timeless Gallery pictures; Raphael WYNANDS and Jean-François HUSTIN, sound engineers; Marc BIENFAIT and THE PELZER JAZZ CLUB; Virginie FLAWINNE for camera recordings; Chris James AMOS for CD artwork; Lee DENYER and Silvia HEVIA MARTIN for constant support. Page | 30 Page | 31 BOOKING MICHAEL MAGALON 4tet Contact: Andrea Latorre PR & Booking Manager Tel. + 44 (0) 7917 150 675 [email protected] www.myspace.com/mmagalon www.michaelmagalon.com Copyright © 2011 Andrea Latorre for Michael Magalon May be used free of charge. Selling without prior written consent prohibited. Obtain permission before redistributing. In all cases copyright notice/disclaimer must remain intact. Page | 32 .