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José Soares
José Soares is a Portuguese saxophonist and composer based between Lisbon and Amsterdam. His work moves across contemporary jazz, improvised music, and composition, with a strong focus on sound, interaction, and the exploration of different musical languages.
He studied Jazz Performance at ESMAE in Porto before completing a Master’s degree at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Since then, he has developed an active career across the European jazz and improvised music scenes, both as a bandleader and as a collaborator in a wide range of projects.
Soares leads SOMA, his own ensemble and compositional project, whose debut album was released in 2024. He is also co-leader of the trio Perselí, which released its debut album in 2022. His work as a sideman and collaborator includes projects with Carlos Bica, Teis Semey, Bruno Pernadas, Franz von Chossy, Mané Fernandes, Ricardo Coelho, Guy Salamon, André Carvalho, and the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, among others. His discography includes Carlos Bica’s 11:11, Teis Semey’s En Masse, Bruno Pernadas’ Unlikely, Maybe, Franz von Chossy’s Mirror 9, Mané Fernandes’ Squigg, and Ricardo Coelho’s Kohelet.
His activity has taken him to stages, festivals, and artistic residencies across Europe and beyond, while maintaining close ties to both the Portuguese and Dutch creative music scenes. In 2024, he was nominated for Best Jazz Musician at Portugal’s Festa do Jazz/RTP awards.
Alongside his performing and composing career, Soares is active as an educator. He teaches saxophone and contemporary music at Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa and at the Hot Clube de Portugal, where his work as a teacher reflects the same interest in contemporary musical practice, improvisation, and the relationship between historical repertoire and current creative approaches.
Across his different projects, Soares approaches the saxophone as both an improvising voice and a compositional tool, seeking music in which written material, collective interplay, texture, and spontaneous decision-making continuously reshape one another.
Awards
Individual Awards — José Soares
- 2024 — Artist of the Year — RTP / Festa do Jazz — Winner
- 2023 — National Musician / Sideman Recognition — JazzLogical
Awards Won — Ensembles & Albums
- 2013 — Prémio Jovens Músicos — 2nd Prize, Jazz Combo — Eduardo Cardinho Quinteto
- 2014 — JazzLogical — Best Portuguese Jazz Album / CD Nacional — Ensemble Super Moderne
- 2017 — jazz.pt — Best Portuguese Jazz Album — Pedro Melo Alves’ Omniae Ensemble
- 2017 — JazzLogical — Best National Jazz Album — João Mortágua AXES, AXES
- 2018 — Keep an Eye: The Records — Winner — Guy Salamon Group
- 2021 — El Intruso International Critics Poll — Best Newcomer Group — Pedro Melo Alves’ Omniae Large Ensemble
- 2021 — jazz.pt — Best National Jazz Album — Pedro Melo Alves’ Omniae Large Ensemble, Lumina
- 2023 — Keep an Eye: The Records — Winner — Federico Calcagno Octet
- 2024 — jazz.pt — Best Portuguese Jazz Album — Carlos Bica Quartet, 11:11
- 2024 — JazzLogical — Album of the Year / CD Nacional — Carlos Bica Quartet, 11:11
Nominations, Finalist Positions & Selections
- 2019 — Keep an Eye International Jazz Competition — Finalist — Federico Calcagno / Liquid Identities
- 2022 — PLAY – Portuguese Music Awards — Best Jazz Album — Nominee — Pedro Melo Alves’ Omniae Large Ensemble, Lumina
- 2024 — Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award) — Nominee — Carlos Bica Quartet, 11:11
- 2025 — PLAY – Portuguese Music Awards — Best Jazz Album — Nominee — Carlos Bica Quartet, 11:11
- 2025 — Deutscher Jazzpreis — Large Ensemble of the Year, International — Nominee — Federico Calcagno Octet
- 2025 — jazzahead! European Showcase — Official Selection — Carlos Bica Quartet
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Ore': Matter Antimatter
by Glenn Astarita
Ore,' led by bassist Pedro Ferreira, presents the conceptual work Matter Antimatter, which is a densely layered and challenging sonic experience that operates at the intersection of quantum physics and free-form excursions. This album is not merely a collection of tracks; it is an extended meditation on duality, stability and the volatile energy that shapes the universe's most fundamental structures. Ferreira, known for his rigorous approach to composition, maintains a disciplined framework throughout the program, yet the emotional ...
Continue Reading...Carlos Bica: 11:11
by Mark Corroto
For Carlos Bica, ugly was never an option for his quartet release 11:11. Much like American guitarist Bill Frisell does in his music, the Portuguese bassist and composer draws on his experience with his country's folk heritage. For Bica, that tradition is contained in the song genre fado. The music is often about fate or longing, in other words, the blues. Like the blues, this music is not just about sadness, but the beauty of the human condition.
Continue Reading...Album Review
Federico Calcagno Octet: Mundus Inversus
by Neri Pollastri
Nato da importanti e profonde ispirazioni extramusicali, costruito attorno a un ensemble multinazionale, basato su composizioni estremamente complesse e raffinate nelle quali si fondono in un orizzonte di ricerca la tradizione eurocolta e quella jazzistica, l'ultimo album del clarinettista Federico Calcagno è senza dubbio un lavoro di grande interesse. Calcagno vi guida un ottetto che amplia la formazione del suo precedente Liquid Identities (Aut Records, 2020) e che riunisce musicisti di differente provenienza nazionale: dalla Spagna il violoncellista ...
Continue Reading...Album Review
Carlos Bica: 11:11
by Alberto Bazzurro
Ottimo quartetto, felicemente amalgamato e coeso, lungo trame che, stante il particolare assetto strumentale, si sdipanano lungo traiettorie tutt'altro che usuali, quello diretto dal contrabbassista Carlos Bica, sessantaseienne di Lisbona, in questo suo nuovo lavoro (dovrebbe trattarsi del dodicesimo a suo nome in poco meno di trent'anni), inciso a Oporto nel marzo di questo stesso 2024. Dodici i brani totali, per larga parte a firma dello stesso Bica, ma, per esempio, con un'autentica chicca come “A Noite," in cui la ...
Continue Reading...André B. Silva: Mt. Meru
by Troy Dostert
Those unfamiliar with the esoterica of the Hindu or Buddhist religious traditions may not know much about Mount Meru, a mysterious metaphysical destination said to be at the center of the world, either geographically or spiritually (or both). There is a Mount Meru in Tanzania as well, but Portuguese guitarist André B. Silva clearly has the former concept in mind on this enigmatic, meditative septet release. Six winding, patiently-unfolding pieces create an inviting space for reflection and rumination, a valuable ...
Continue Reading...André Carvalho: Lost In Translation
by Jerome Wilson
Bassist Andre Carvalho conceived this album around the concept of “untranslatable words"—words for concepts that have no equivalent outside of their native language. He has used this idea to create a cycle of amorphous composition, realized here by a trio of bass, guitar and saxophone with the occasional addition of trumpet. The words come from languages such as Dutch, Urdu, Japanese and Sanskrit and can describe states of mind, grand philosophical concepts or something as mundane as a mark left ...
Continue Reading...Pedro Melo Alves: Lumina
by Mark Corroto
If the title was not already taken by author Dave Eggers, Portuguese drummer and composer Pedro Melo Alves might have titled this recording A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. During a brief reprieve from the global pandemic, in November 2020, Melo Alves presented the 22-piece Omniae Large Ensemble at the Centro Cultural Vila Flor in Guimarães, Portugal. He expanded his Omniae Ensemble with vocalists, electronics, tuba, clarinets, flutes, bassoon, cello, and classical guitar to present this commissioned work.
Continue Reading...“José Soares is the very embodiment of coolness: a saxophonist who screams with the same calmness with which he whispers, who confides with the same ferocity with which he cries out — all nerve, yet pure elegance.”
— Rui Miguel Abreu, Rimas e Batidas
“Finally, a project from the excellent alto saxophonist José Soares!”
— Matthieu Jouan, Europe Jazz Media Chart
Sidinho Moreira
percussionMusic
The Achiever
From: Mirror 9By José Soares
José Soares
Location: Lisbon
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
