Saxophonist, composer and arranger, Cléber Alves was a student of
Nivaldo Ornelas and Paulo Moura in the mid-1980s. A large part of
his education was during the 10 years he lived in Germany
(1989-1998). He received his undergraduate and master's degree in
Jazz and Popular Music at the Stuttgart University of Music with
Professor Bernd Konrad. He has built a career with a creative
mixture of impeccable technique, good taste in interpretations and
rich and original compositions.
He has four CDs released: Temperado (1998), Revinda (2005), Winds of
Brazil (2011) and Cléber Alves live at Bird's Eye (2017).
In Germany, he played at jazz festivals with musicians such as Bobby
McFerrin, Lionel Hampton, Chucho Valdés, Ralph Towner, among others.
In Europe, he participated in shows in Switzerland, Netherlands,
France, and Spain and has made annual tours in Germany and
Switzerland since 2001. Back in Brazil in 2003, he was one of the
winners of the BDMG Instrumental Prize in BH. Since then, he has
been involved in the musical scene, performing with various
musicians, composers, arrangers and instrumentalists: Toninho Horta,
Nivaldo Ornelas, Juarez Moreira, Wagner Tiso, and others.
He is currently a saxophone professor and has a PhD in Popular
Music, at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) School of
Music.
Recorded live at The Bird’s Eye Jazz Club in Basel - Switzerland
The idea of recording this CD came from work developed in the
last ten years by the Cléber Alves Quartet, formed by myself,
Ricardo Fiuza, Stephan Kurmann and André “Limao” Queiroz.
This sonority was created through the freedom of expression of each of these musicians and was made possible by the invitation of the birds eye jazz club, where we recorded the CD on January 25, 2015, in Basel, Switzerland.
It also marks my 30 years of playing saxophone, starting in 1986 in a music festival organized by Toninho Horta, in the city of Ouro Preto.
"Salve ventania!" - Mauro Rodrigues
The idea of researching the sonority of the wind instrument in
musical composition has been with me for some time now. "Winds of
Brazil" is the result of a research inspired by the formation of
music bands, a common expression of Minas Gerais culture. Here,
the winds will be accompanied by drums and bass instead of
percussion and tuba. Without harmony instruments such as piano,
guitar or acoustic guitar, a fertile field of timbres and nuances
was created for the arrangement form.
I invited soprists who participate in this CD with original compositions and arrangements: saxophonists and masters Nivaldo Ornelas and Paulo Moura, saxophonists Carlos Malta and Teco Cardoso, and flutist Mauro Rodrigues.
Time of departures, returns, and revisits.
"Return" marks my return to Brazil in October 1998, after ten
years of living in Germany. During that period of readjustment to
Brazil, its forms, street scenes, scents, colors, and sounds, I
felt a desire to capture those moments through music.
In July 1999, one morning in Stuttgart, the inspiration came to compose "Back to Belo Horizonte". This is how the story of this CD began.
Returning to my roots provided me with the opportunity to perform alongside great names in Brazilian instrumental music, creating a fertile path for my compositions.
Brazilian Jazz
"Tempered" is the result of 15 years of work, in which I acquired
knowledge and gathered musical influences from various sources. On
one hand, it's a synthesis of traditional Brazilian rhythms with
jazz and funk, and on the other hand, it's a manifestation of the
purely Brazilian style in the form of choro.
During the 6 years playing sax-soprano in Brazil, I sought to deepen my understanding of Brazilian roots, music of Minas Gerais, bossa nova, samba, and choro. In 1989, I went to Germany where my horizons expanded every year. The Jazz and Popular Music course at the University of Stuttgart introduced me to the work of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, and classical music. I decided to form a quintet in 1994, combining both musical styles. The development of the group, which included the participation of several musicians, resulted in this CD.
