"Hugo Carvalhais was born in Oporto/ Portugal and took a degree in Painting at the Fine Arts School there. Despite being self-taught, Carvalhais studied and participated in seminars with musicians including Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez, Hein Van de Geyn, Mario Pavone, Carlos Bica and Miroslav Vitous. Considered as one of the most talented and "sui generis" Portuguese double-bass players of his generation, Hugo has worked with musicians such as Julian Arguelles, Tim Berne, Emile Parisien, Dominique Pifarély, Liudas Mockunas, Sheila Jordan, Jefferey Davis, Art Themen, among others.

2010 sees the launch of his first record as a leader featuring saxophone player Tim Berne. "Nebulosa" was considered one of the best albums of the year by "Jazz.pt" magazine and received outstanding reviews by national and international press. The album was also chosen among the most representative records of Clean Feed label by their 10th anniversary.

In 2012 Hugo Carvalhais releases is second album called "Particula" with his regular band mates ( Gabriel Pinto, Mário Costa ) and the participation of Dominique Pifarély and Emile Parisien. "Particula" was considered one of the best jazz records of 2012 by: Jornal Público (Portugal), Cuadernos de Jazz (Spain), San Diego Reader ( USA), JazzWrap (USA), Downtown Music Galery ( USA ), Otro Jazz Blog ( México), Délire Actuel (Canada), This is our music Blog ( Canada), Percorsi musicali (Italy), Karl Lippegaus - Süddeutsche Zeitung( Germany), Perfect Sounds (Norway) and Rua de baixo ( Portugal).

"Grand Valis" was released in 2015 as the doublebassist third work and was the first portuguese record distinguished with "CHOC" label by the french JazzMagazine publication."

"The saxophonist Emile Parisien, born in 1982, enrolls in Marciac college in 1993, where he enjoys a musical formation with experienced musicians such as Pierre Boussaguet, Guy Laffitte, and Tonton Salut.

Over these years, he has the opportunity to work with several leading figures of jazz: Wynton Marsalis, Chris Mc Bride, Johnny Griffin, or Bobby Hutcherson, who give him the opportunity to play with them on the Marciac Jazz festival.

From 1996 on, he pursues further his formation at the Conservatoire de Toulouse where he studies classical and contemporary music with Philippe Lecoq. In 2000, Emile Parisien moves to Paris. Since then, he has played both in France and abroad with musicians such as Daniel Humair, Michel Portal, Jean-Paul Celea, Jacky Terrasson, Claude Tchamitchian, Yaron Herman, Gueorgui Kornazov, Rémi Vignolo, Manu Codjia, Hervé Sellin, Charlier/Sourisse, and Christophe Wallemme.

In 2004, he takes part in the creation of the show HIP 11, which mixes jazz and hip-hop dances. The same year, he asserts his artistic identity by founding the group Emile Parisien Quartet with Julien Touery (piano), Sylvain Darrifourcq (drums) and Ivan Gélugne (double bass). Inspired by composers of the 20th century, such as John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, or Ornette Coleman, this quartet adds a kind of expressionist character to its music, where improvisation is the guiding principle. By pushing the limits of the concrete, the group acquires, thanks to the complicity of its musicians, a very personal and resolutely modern expression.

In 2007, Emile Parisien was elected Talent of Jazz of the Fond d'action Sacem for 3 years in a row. It is with this support that the quartet records its two discs at the label LABORIE Jazz. "Au revoir porc-épic" in 2007, and "Original Pimpant" in 2009, which received good reviews both from professionals and amateurs.

In September 2009, the Emile Parisian Quartet is offered the Franck Ténot prize, discovery of the year of the Victoires de la musique and they are award-winners of the program Jazz Migration which is put into place by Afijma. The quartet has today the opportunity to play on European territory (Germany, Swiss, Austria, UK, and Scandinavia) on a regular basis. He is involved in the new quartet of Daniel Humair with Vincent Peirani and Jérome Regard And plays in their cd "Sweet and Sour" released on 2013.on laborite jazz records. A new cd "live" will be issue on the end of 2014..

In 2012 Emile Parisien was elected "best french musician of the year" by the Académie du Jazz. in 2014 new recording "Belle Epoque" on Act records in duo with Vincent Peirani, and he is one the musician of the "Generation Spedidam" In 2014 he won "the Victoires de la Musique" for his record in duo "belle époque" with Vincent Peirani."

"Liudas Mockūnas (b. 1976) is a representative of modern creative and free avant-garde jazz, his music obliterates the boundaries between jazz and academic music. Exploring the nature of sound and the potential of overtones, he has developed his own playing style saturated with multiphonic techniques. According to the critics, "this reed player works with highly unorthodox mixtures, with sounds ranging from expressive instrumental burnouts over filmic horror to apocalypse-hymns and transcendent bells. His music may be unpredictable with an energizing mixture of free jazz, lyricism and mid-European expressionism."

The musician's education is both in jazz and classical fields. A graduate of M.K.Čiurlionis School of Arts, he received his master's degree from the Lithuanian Academy of Music in 2002 (under Vladimir Chekasin). In 2005 he received Jazz Performance Masters from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He has further perfected his skills and knowledge through a number of courses and private lessons.The saxophonist has accumulated a solid stage experience. He started playing jazz as a child of eight and made his stage debut in 1988 with the Youth Jazz Ensemble led by Vladimir Chekasin. From the age of 15 he has constantly been part of jazz festivals and emerged as a leader in 1996; he has performed with numerous Lithuanian jazz musicians.

Liudas Mockūnas truly merits the name of Lithuanian jazz ambassador. He is constantly involved in international projects both as initiator and member of different groups. His international collaborations were given a new impetus when in 1999 he started his studies in Copenhagen. In 2000 he and the Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg founded a highly acclaimed group Toxikum, their self-titled album in Denmark was hailed Jazz Discovery of the Year 2004.

A co-leader of the groups Red Planet, Baltic Trio, Artomic, and Revolver, he also collaborates with the Copenhagen Art Ensemble, Pierre Dørge and his New Jungle Orchestra. He has played with the Swinging Europe Big Band and has participated in the La Villet Jazz Festival's international big band project with the World Saxophone Quartet. Mockūnas has also collaborated with Marc Ducret, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Mats Eilertsen, Jaak Sooäär, Mikko Innanen, Jeff Arnal, Dietrich Eichmann, Scott Colley, Ryoji Hojito, Nasheet Waits, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Speed, Mike Svoboda and Andrew Hill. With different groups Mockūnas has performed across Europe, in the USA and China. In 2004 he initiated Traffic Quartet, a group of Lithuanian musicians (Valerijus Ramoška, Liudas Mockūnas, Eugenijus Kanevičius and Arkady Gotesman).

Liudas Mockūnas is a winner of a number of competitions. In 1993 and 1995 he became laureate of Juozas Pakalnis Wind Players Competition; in 1993 and 1995 he participated in the "Berklee in Germany" workshops (led by Gary Burton) and was granted a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music (USA). In 2000 he received the second prizes from Brilliant Note, an international saxophonists' competition in Latvia, and the international jazz soloists' competition in Klaipeda. In 2001 the MAP trio (Liudas Mockūnas, Jacob Anderskov and Stefan Pasborg) won the European improvisational music competition in France. His achievement in music was recognized by the Mūzų Malūnas Prize in 2004, and by the Vilnius Jazz Festival Prize "For Contribution into Lithuanian Jazz Culture" in 2006.

Liudas Mockūnas also performs contemporary classical repertoire (pieces by Bronius Kutavičius, Algirdas Martinaitis, Remigijus Merkelys and others). He has performed with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra and the Gaida Ensemble. He also composes music for theatre and cinema. Since 2004 he teaches at the Jazz Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre."

"Fábio Almeida, renowned musician and composer/arranger of Jazz in the new Portuguese generation, based in Porto, was born in Paris and grew up in Vila Real, where he had his first contact with the saxophone. Graduated in Jazz by the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Porto and Master in Music Teaching by the same, he has numerous high-profile musical collaborations such as: Hugo Carvalhais, João Martins, Mário Costa, Liudas Mockunas, Ralph Alessi, Jacam Manricks, George Colligan, Josh Ginsburg, Samir Zarif, Lars Dietrich, John Escreet, Zack Lober, Greg Ritchie, Tiago Nacarato, António Zambujo, Salvador Sobral, Bárbara Tinoco, Marta Ren, Souls of Fire, Mundo Secreto, HMB, among others, with whom he shared some of the most beautiful concert halls in Portugal and Europe. His musical compositions stand out (as leader or co-leader) for Phantom Trio, Pãodemonio, Orquestra Bamba Social and Tiago Nacarato. He is currently a professor of Saxophone and Improvisation at the Pallco Conservatory (Porto) and at the Calouste Gulbenkian Music Conservatory (Aveiro)."

Gabriel Pinto: "Born in Porto in 1977. He began studying music at the age of nine, and from the age of 17 he began to focus on listening to progressive and psychedelic rock from the 70's and avant-garde composers from the 20th century. At the age of 18 he entered the Conservatory of Music of Porto to study classical piano and there he had his first contact with jazz. He participated in workshops and seminars with musicians such as Mario Rossi, Mário Laginha, George Colligan, Don Byron, Cecil Bridgewater, among others.

He made his recording debut with the CD Nebulosa by Hugo Carvalhais (Clean Feed). He currently plays in the group led by this bassist."

"Mário Costa, was born in 1986 in Viana do Castelo. Starts the study of the drums at 7 years of age. His learning path passes through the Vocational School of Music of Viana do Castelo where he studies percussion with teachers Rui Rodrigues, Nuno Aroso and Pedro Oliveira. In 2008 he graduated in Jazz from ESMAE, under the guidance of Professor Michael Lauren. In that same year, he moved to the United States where he attended private lessons with Ian Froman, Rodney Green, Ari Hoening, Eric Harland, John Riley and Hal Crook. He attends and participates in workshops with Jeff Ballard, Adam Cruz, Ferenc Nemeth, Peter Erskin, Dom Famularo, Billy Hart, Alexandre Frazão, Marc Miralta, Allan Ferber, Chris Corsano, David Freedman, Billy Coabhan, John Riley, Dan Weiss, among others.

He is an award-winning drummer with a number of distinctions in the music scene, including the 1st Prize at the "II Young Performers Competition" in Spain, 1st prize at the "Tum-Pa-Tum-Pa" drum competition ) and the 1st prize in the "Yamaha Drum Sessions" in the category of over 18 years.

In 2010 he is invited by Casa da Música to present his project "Mário Costa - Homo Sapiens" in the cycle "New Values ​​of Jazz". At the same time he is invited to participate in various projects in festivals, such as: Serralves in Festa - "Adapt / Oppose", "Corsano - Queijo - Costa" and Trama - Festival of Performative Arts - "Improvisations / Collaborations".

Mário Costa is known for his diverse formations, such as: Hugo Carvalhais - Nebula, GS Quartet, Ensemble Super Modern, Carlos Mendes Quarteto, Metamorphose, Maria Mendes, Miguel Martins, Carlos Azevedo Trio, Mário Costa - Dual Experience, José Valente - Experience of Today.

Currently he is part of the project of Miguel Araújo and Ana Moura's latest album, where he has performed more than 140 concerts in the first year of the world tour of the album "Desfado", through Coliseu dos Recreios, Coliseu do Porto, Centro Cultural de Belém, Victoria Hall (Switzerland), Apolo Hall (Spain), SF Jazz Center (USA), Napa Valley Opera House (USA), Berklee Performance Center (USA), Barbican Center (UK), Paradiso Room (Amsterdam), Les Muzik Festival Elles (France), Opera Nationala Romana (Romania), El Lunario (Mexico City), Festspielhaus (Austria), Muffathalle (Munich), Festival Mawazine (Rabat), Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo Arts (Rio de Janeiro), Bansko Jazz Fest (Bulgaria), among others."