“[…] bassist André Carvalho, whom you should get to know” - Nate Chinen in Take 5 | WBGO
Portuguese jazz bassist and composer André Carvalho is an active NYC freelancer whose works AllAboutJazz described as “both in bounds and out of this world.” Nate Chinen of The New York Times dubbed Carvalho a bassist “you should get to know.” André has played with Jazz stars Chris Cheek, Will Vinson, and Tommy Crane. And André’s performance credits range from the Colors Jazz Festival (Paris), the Cairo Jazz Festival, and Jazz Festival Ljubliana, to venues such as Blue Note (New York), Konzerthaus Berlin, and Casa da Música (Porto).
Among the awards he has received are the “Carlos Paredes 2012” (a major annual prize that celebrates Portuguese music and culture) and the “Best Group” at Bucharest International Jazz Competition 2011. In addition, he has received multiple grants from the GDA Foundation to record (“Memória de Amiba” and “Lost in Translation”) and to tour (2017 and 2019).
The scope of his work extends far beyond Jazz. With multi-Grammy award winner Gilberto Gil, André toured Europe performing his new opera “Prelúdio.” The collaboration included Nova Ópera de Lisboa and the drumming ensemble Cortejo Afro, premiering portions of the new work in venues such as the Barbican Center (London) and Finlandia Talo (Helsinki). He has performed with classical conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Heinrich Schiff, and Franz Welser-Möst and collaborated with Fado singers Carlos do Carmo and Cristina Branco.
Photo by João Hasselberg
Fascinated by the idea of untranslatable words: words that only exist in a given language and culture, André is working on a two-part cycle of music for his trio called “Lost in Translation”. Volume II of the cycle came out in 2023 on the acclaimed Clean Feed Records and Volume I, released in 2021 on Outside in Music, gained raving reviews from international critics. Both have been awarded several grants: GDA Foundation, Antena 2, Companhia de Actores and Teatro Municipal Amélia Rey Colaço. Read more here.
As a film composer, André has worked with multiple award-winning directors such as Gonçalo Almeida and Pedro Caldeira, after his post-grad in Film Scoring from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe as a grantee. He was a finalist at Oticons 2023 and Berlin International Film Scoring Competition 2023 and received an honorable mention for the “Call to Scores 2022” by the European Recording Academy.
Praised by the media as “a sonic study in contrasts” (NYJazzRecords), André’s third album The Garden of Earthly Delights was released on Outside in Music in 2019 and was considered for the Grammys 2019. The 11 movement suite, performed by a 6 person combo, is named after its inspiration, the cryptic painting by medieval Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch. Carvalho toured with the project in the USA and the EU at venues and festivals such as the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon), The Owl Parlor (New York) and Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporânea (Sevilla).
Mesmerised by Jazz, improvised music, and composition as a teenager, Andre’s background was anything but traditional. Carvalho holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. André relocated to the US in 2014 as a Fulbright grantee. While finishing his first bachelor in Computer Science (Faculdade de Ciências Lisbon), he fell in love with music, leading him to study at the Hot Club de Portugal and Academia de Amadores de Música (with Fernando Flores).
Photo by Vera Marmelo
“I was destined to be a computer nerd. By 5, I was playing video games created by my grandfather and by 7 I was programming on my own. Breaking the rules and not settling was always a part of it for me and, after graduating with a Computer Science degree at 21, I faced my destiny and learned for the first time what a bass clef is.”
Artist Statement
“My musical obsessions often concern narrative and storytelling in some form—aimed at expanding the imagination. And although I like to write music that can feel like a punch in the gut, I am an agnostic ultimately in search of the higher realm, and balancing that with our all-too human lives.
A variety of literature, visual art, and personal experiences shapes my music. Lately, painting has been a major force of inspiration and, after dedicating my third album to Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” I am currently obsessed with Francis Bacon, the XX century British painter known for his emotionally provocative paintings.”
