Miguel Angelo

Miguel Ângelo began his musical journey at age 10 with Tuna Musical de Fiães, where he studied music theory, guitar, and later double bass. In the 1980s, he ventured into rock music, playing bass guitar with the band Curtes Baldei-me. Years later, he resumed his musical education at the Porto Jazz School, studying electric bass under Professor Alberto Jorge. Although rock initially captured his artistic interest, jazz ultimately became his true passion. Under the guidance of double bassist Alberto Jorge and pianist Paulo Gomes, he deepened his studies in double bass and combo performance at the Porto Jazz School in the late 1990s. He later worked with bassist Pedro Barreiros and received support from double bassist António Augusto Aguiar. Miguel also pursued formal music training up to the 5th grade with professors Alexander Worf and Joel Silva at the Academia de Paços de Brandão and later at Santa Maria da Feira. After earning a degree in Informatics and Applied Mathematics from Universidade Portucalense, he returned to higher education in 2004 to study double bass.

In 2008, Miguel completed his degree in Double Bass and Jazz at the Superior School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE), where he collaborated with notable musicians such as António Augusto Aguiar, Damien Cabaud, Carlos Bica, Zé Eduardo, Michael Lauren, Nuno Ferreira, Carlos Azevedo, Pedro Guedes, and Telmo Marques. He also participated in workshops with prominent artists, including double bassist Carlos Bica, Zé Eduardo, Thomas Morgan, and Dan Weiss.

In 2013, Miguel released his debut album as a leader and composer, BRANCO (Porta-Jazz), which earned support from the GDA Foundation for its tour and performances. In 2014, the debut album of Ensemble Super Moderne, which he co-led and recorded, was hailed by critics as the best jazz album of the year.

In 2016, he released his second album, A Vida de X (Porta-Jazz), featuring his regular quartet: Joaquim Rodrigues on piano, João Guimarães on saxophone, and Marcos Cavaleiro on drums. The album was praised by Jazz.pt magazine, critic Phil Barnes in All About Jazz, and several national critics as one of the best jazz albums of 2016.

In 2017, Miguel released his solo album I Think I’m Going to Eat Dessert (Creative Sources). In 2019, he launched the Miguel Ângelo Utopia Project (MAU) with Miguel Moreira on guitar and Mário Costa on drums, releasing their debut album Utopia (Porta-Jazz) that same year.

Miguel has had the privilege of performing with numerous national and international musicians, including Chris Cheek (with whom he recorded MAP + Chris Cheek), Ohad Talmor, Dan Weiss, Frank Vanagee, and Virxílio Silva, among others. In 2020, he received support from the GDA Foundation to record and produce the album Dança dos Desastrados.

Currently, Miguel leads his own quartet, with which he released BRANCO (2013), A Vida de X (2016), and Dança dos Desastrados (2021). He also leads the MAU trio, co-leads the MAP project, and performs with the Pedro Neves Trio, João Mortágua’s MAZAM, Carlos Azevedo Quartet, Sónia Pinto Quintet, and Jogo de Damas.

Miguel has performed at numerous concerts in Portugal and abroad, including in Cape Verde, France, and Spain. Notable appearances include the 6th Kriol Jazz Fest (Cape Verde), Jimmy Glass Jazz Club (Valencia, Spain), PortaJazz Festival, AngraJazz (Azores), S. Luiz Jazz Festival, International Cangas Festival, ImaxinaSons (Vigo), Hot Club (Lisbon), Douro Jazz, Marin Jazz Festival (Spain), Pontevedra Jazz Festival (Spain), Otonalidades Festival, Festa do Avante, Europarque, CCB, Queima das Fitas do Porto, Vilar de Mouros, Paredes de Coura Festival, and Casa da Música.