Bio

Alejandro Santos has been a very well known jazz musician from south america for the past decades, having received tremendous acclaim for fusing traditional Argentinian folk music & tango with contemporary Latin Jazz.

Santos plays concert flute, alto & bass flute, and a wide assortment of native woodwinds like Quena, Pan Flute, or Tarkas.
His debut solo album , when he was in his early twenties, " Candombe de Parque Chacabuco", released in South America on RCA Records, received heavy airplay and critical praise, and also used on television specials, filmscoring, commercials and choreographed dance performances.
His second album as a band leader "5 Carnavales 4" covers a wide range of textures and emotions. The music is light and airy one moment, then dark and haunting the next. The sounds swirl trough the midst of a big city carnival and then suddenly plunge deep into the dark, dank jungle.
Alejandro's flute-playing includes layered harmonies, dynamic overdubbed interplay, and free-floating solos.
The title track has a very indian, pentatonic, folk-loric melody but not so the jazz harmonies. The other version on the album is just flutes overdubbed in the style of the North of Argentina, where a group of pan-flute players march in a ménage in the streets. For that Santos used Piccolo, Concert flute, Bass flute and four layers of Chromatic Pan Flute.

Alejandro Santos continues with recent international tours and recording ("Flesh on Flesh") with world-renowned guitarist, Al DiMeola.

Born in Buenos Aires, Alejandro began his musical career at the age of 8. Even at an early age, he joined different groups that performed in theaters and on radio and television, including a performance at the Cosquín Festival in 1968. A few years later, he joined the Orquesta Juvenil Municipal (Youth Orchestra) of Buenos Aires, led by Jaime Braude.

In the 1980s, Alejandro established himself in the musical scene of Buenos Aires, working on recording projects with important (South American) rock performers (Fito Paez, Juan C. Baglieto, Silvina Garré, Ruben Rada, Miguel Abuelo) and jazz and folk artists (Chango Farias Gomez, Manolo Juarez, Luis Salinas, Dino Saluzzi, Daniel Binelli, Lito Vitale, Lucho Gonzalez, Eduardo Lakes, Jorge Cumbo, Domingo Cura, Saloma, Alejandro del Prado, Jaime Torres, Toquinho, among many others).

During this time, Alejandro also began his career as a bandleader, performing with his own group in theaters and nightclubs in Buenos Aires, as well as in other parts of Argentina. He performed before huge crowds at the renown Festival de la Falda (1981-1984), Mar del Jazz (1981-1994), the Labarden de Rosario theater, Obras stadium (1982, 1984) General San Martín Theater, and at the University of Buenos Aires (1980-1985).

Between 1985 and 1987, he established himself in Europe, performing with his group in Spain, France, and Germany, and generating great interest in the unique style of his compositions. In 1987, he traveled to the U.S., where he became involved in the New York jazz scene, not only in contemporary jazz, but also Latin jazz. He performed before appreciative audiences in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and made appearances on television and radio.

In 1988, Alejandro received a scholarship, for his accomplished skill at playing woodwinds and composing, to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He studied at Berklee, until 1990, with such well-known jazz greats as Gary Burton, Lyle Mays, Herb Pomeroy, Bill Pierce, and Matt Marvuglio, among others. His group, comprised of Bob Moses, Polo Orti, and Victor Merlo, performed at the Boston Hatch Shell Amphitheater, the Berklee Performance Center, and in various Boston jazz clubs. During this time, Alejandro also toured California, giving 15 performances as a solo artist.

In 1990, Alejandro signed with GNA/Invasion Records, releasing his second album, "5 Carnavales 4" in the United States and Canada. This recording received excellent reviews and reached into the top 30 jazz playlist of the Gavin Report.

In 1992, he returned to the recording studio, this time in Manhattan, to record his third album, "Reflejos Nocturnos," which includes performances by acclaimed trumpeters Diego Urcola and Claudio Roditi, along with singer, Adriana Rios.

He returned to Argentina, at the beginning of 1993, steadily worked with his own group, and on other musical projects, both as performer and arranger, including those of guitarist Agustín Pereyra Lucena, and Mario Parmisano, with whom he performed at the Santiago Jazz Festival, in several cities in Argentina, and in the General San MartínTheater in Buenos Aires.

In1994, Alejandro joined the renowned group, Anacrusa, headed by José Luis Castiñeira de Dios and Susana Lago. He toured with them in Brazil, (Tom Jobim Auditorium in Rio of Janeiro and the Latin-American Museum of Art in San Paulo), in Spain (Madrid and other cities), in Sweden (Stockholm), and throughout Argentina, where Anacrusa performed with the symphony orchestra of each city. In Buenos Aires, they had several performances at Cervantes Theater, accompanied by the Juan de Dios Filiberto Orchestra, and at the prestigious Columbus Theater, along with the National Symphonic Orchestra and the Polyphonic Chorus.

Alejandro also performed his original compositions with his group in Buenos Aires. Among the most notable concerts: Koncert-Café at the Paseo de la Plaza (1993), General San Martín Theater, and at the Club del Vino (1996, 1997, and1998).

During 1995, he made another tour of the United States, promoted by the (Argentinian) National Secretary of Culture, where he performed at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston and at the celebrated Birdland in Manhattan. Upon returning to Argentina, he continued performances in theaters and jazz clubs around Buenos Aires and other cities.

At the end of 2001, he was called by world-famous jazz guitarist, Al DiMeola, to join his group, "World Symphony." He toured extensively with this group, performing 60 concerts during 2002 (Knitting Factory of Los Angeles, IAJE International Conference, Community Concert Hall of Durango, Performing Arts Center of Santa Fe, Rialto Theatre of Tucson, Rio Theatre of Holy Cross, The Galaxy of Santa Ana, Network River Music Hall of Phoenix, Ameristar Casino of Kansas City, Royal Oak Theatre of Royal Oak of Cincinnati, Rochester, Central Riverwalk of Denver, Foy Concert Hall of Bethlehem, Work Play Theater of Birmingham, The Carriage House Theater of Saratoga, IMAC and Water Street of Manhattan, Jaxx of Springfield, Jazzid of Miami, One World Theater of Austin, The Sheldon Concert Foyer of St. Louis, Fabulous Satellite Lounge of Houston, and the Sheridan Opera House of Telluride, among others). In February of that year, after several weeks of intense rehearsals, they recorded "Flesh on Flesh," the latest release by DiMeola, at Criteria Studios in Miami. Besides Alejandro, prestigious musicians, such as Anthony Jackson, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Mario Parmisano, Ernie Adams, and Gumbi Ortiz also performed on this recording. As part of the Al DiMeola Trio, he were performed in Berlin and other cities in Germany, at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Holland, at Jazz Festivals in Sicily, Sardinia, Marsala, Calgari, and Rome, Italy, and in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal, as well as at 8 events in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Since his return to Buenos Aires,, Alejandro Santos has been performing his latest solo project, which combines rhythms from the Rio Plata, candombe, tango, and folk music with currents of modern jazz and other contemporary music.