Percussionist Juan Pablo Carletti leads a trio with Tony Malaby on sax and Christopher Hoffman on cello, beautifully unfolding jazz that balances light and dark, melodic and free approaches with textural percussive work.

"Juan Pablo Carletti

was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He grew up in a musical environment in which his father played percussion, and was instantly drawn to the drums. As he performed with a variety of bands, he focused mainly on improvised music and playing mainstream jazz. He began working with his own projects, and created a small label dedicated to new music. In 2005, Juan traveled to New York City and played with the David Haney Group at Cornelia Street Cafe. This trip was a pivotal turning point in his life, as he met influential musicians such as Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, Mark Helias and Tom Rainey. One year later, he officially moved to America to continue his musical journey.

Juan approaches playing in unique ways, influenced by different styles of music, especially the music created in the avant-garde scene in New York City in the last decades. Using mallets, hands, different sticks and extended techniques on drums, Juan illustrates how drums can be a rhythmic instrument as well as a palette of sounds. His teaching experiences have played a key role in transforming his rhythmic visions. Juan played with Tony Malaby, Andrew Cyrille, Daniel Levin, Mat Maneri, Chris Hoffman, Angelica Sanchez, Kris Davis, Michael Attias and Rob Brown. He is working on his own music preparing to record it.

Tony Malaby

In his two decades as an integral member of the thriving improvised music community of New York City, saxophonist and composer Tony Malaby has emerged as a wholly unique and singular voice. Malaby was recently named one of Downbeat's "80 Coolest Things in Jazz", saying that, "[Malaby] is a formidably accomplished soprano and tenor saxophonist with enviable tone and an endless font of compelling ideas, yet he steers his music away from perfection," and that "his considerable gifts as a melodist tend to sneak up on you." Jazztimes added that Malaby is, "a hero of today's improvised music scene".

This praise is unsurprising given the host of projects which Malaby is involved in. In recent years, Malaby has led many of his own projects-his Tamarindo Trio with Nasheet Waits and William Parker, TubaCello with John Hollenbeck, Chris Hoffman and Dan Peck and Palomo Recio with Ben Monder, Eivind Opsvik, Dan Weiss, Billy Mintz and Ben Gerstein. In addition, Malaby is a stalwart sideman, and has lent his talents to such groups as the Paul Motian Electric Be-Bop Band, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, Fred Hersch's Quintet, Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth, Eivind Opsvik's Overseas and Ches Smith's These Arches.

Born and raised in Tuscon, Arizona, Malaby's Mexican heritage permeates his musical life, which shows itself most clearly in the Spanish names given to nearly all of his projects. To this end, Malaby remarked that: "Being a kind, in 1970s Tuscon, was very Mexican. And I don't think it really felt like anything American. There was an atmosphere created there with music, ritual, going to mass, any type of ceremony, praying, the rosary, smelling incense...all of things, and how they would overlap, have lingered. I really think that's who I am: that's how I came up and put things together to grow up. And there's really strong imagery for me, from back then. I try to communicate those experiences, with my sound and how I play."

Hence, it's not surprising that Malaby's early saxophone influences would be drawn from the same source. " In the neighborhood, everybody was playing R&B music," Malaby said, "and people would play the really commercial Gato Barbieri records, when they would wash their cars. But most importantly, there were lots of parties, and lots of barbecues-for any sort of celebration, there was a party. And there were always live bands, and they would always have an alto saxophonist. The style of music was a Northern Mexican Polka music called nortenga. The instrumentation was 12 string guitar, accordion, electric bass, drums and alto saxophone. And I remember there was one band that my family particularly hired every time, be it for a baptism or a first holy communion. And I remember being enthralled by the saxophonist, because he could make these screeching bird things that sounded like a goat, or a chicken! I just put it together and realized I needed a saxophone."

These impressions and images are clearly conveyed both in Malaby's improvisational work and his sparse, folk melodies. In May of 2014, Malaby released his latest record with his Tamarindo trio, Somos Agua, which serves to further solidify the telepathic improvisational connection that he has fostered with Parker and Waits on their self- titled debut and 2010's Tamarindo Live which added legendary AACM trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Unlike many saxophonists who ostentatiously place themselves in front, or solo on top of, a rhythm section, Tamarindo evidences a long-held belief and practice of Malaby's in which he texturally immerses himself within the sounds of his bandmates and the result is, what Malaby called, "an organic, self-generating whole". In the forthcoming months, Malaby will release the debut record of his TubaCello band on Clean Feed records as well as continuing his extensive touring with Tamraindo and TubaCello in 2015. Palomo Recio will record by the end of the year and a solo record is in the works, too.

Christopher Hoffman

Multi-instrumentalist Christopher Hoffman is best known as a composer and cellist to an assortment of bands, composers, film-makers, songwriters, dancers, improvisers and noisers. he is also a producer, engineer, and film composer. Christopher writes music for his ensemble Magic Wells and his escape rock band Company of Selves.He also currently plays in Henry Threadgill's Zooid, Dimples & Double-Up Ensemble, Tony Malaby's Tuba Cello Quartet, J Carletti Trio, Marc Ribot's Film Noir & Song Project, Ingrid Laubrock Octet, Jeremiah Cymerman's Pale Horse, Earl McDonald's Creative Opportunity Workshop, the David Dorfman dance ensemble and with his brother, Ian Hoffman. Christopher is co-founder of the record label hundred pockets records.

Christopher has had the honor of working with martin scorsese, craig mcdean, marianne faithfull, christina courtin, iron & wine, ryan adams, jeff richmond (30 Rock), michael pitt, anthony coleman, devotchka, erik friedlander, jeremiah cymerman, john farris, bee and flower, michael moore, willie nile, dar williams, ryan scott, bebel gilberto, fran healy, harris eisenstadt, clare & the reasons, angus and julia stone, fred longberg-holm, olivier manchon's orchestre dechambre, teddy thompson, rob burger, john shannon, kelli scarr, butch morris, spring awakening, haale, matt welch, nate wooley, kitsune ensemble, greybird, john zorn, voladares, umphrey's mcgee, john ellis and many more."-M.etropolis