Luciano Antonio Trio with special guest Neal Alger

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Luciano Antonio - vocals, guitar

Neal Alger - guitar

Curt Bley - bass

Luiz Ewerling - drums

Luciano was born into a musical family in rural Iretama, Parana, Brazil’s southern region. From this melodiously rich environment, he learned first how to sing with his mom, Luiza Maria. He further developed his vocal abilities through his maternal grandparents, who performed for local live radio shows and paternal grandparents, who harmonized beautifully. By age 14, he took the violão (acoustic guitar) as a self taught instrument, focusing his repertoire on Brazilian Folk and Bossa Nova (Brazilian Jazz). He continued his pursuit of technical development through the study of classical guitar at the age of 17, attending several guitar symposiums, work shops and master classes under one of Brazil’s most respected professors, Henrique Pinto. Luciano’s music journey next led him to the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) where he received a bachelor’s degree in music performance. While at UMKC full-time, he was invited to join Chicago Samba (a Chicago based Brazilian music group) and commuted weekly between Kansas City and Chicago to make ends meet. After successfully completing his education at UMKC, he relocated to Chicago where he has since established himself as a performing artist. Luciano has collaborated with many great fellow artists: playing acoustic guitar on John Goldman’s ‘For All the People’, vocals on Matt Geraghty’s ‘Mozaic’, arranging/co-producing, and performing on the recent release ‘Samba Mundo’ by St. Louis based Samba Bom, serving as lead vocalist and guitarist with the Evanston Orquestra de Samba which connects classical music with Brazilian rhythms and harmonies, and performing throughout the Chicago Jazz scene as a soloist. Other engagements include opening performances for Caetano Veloso, Vinicius Cantuaria, Virginia Rodrigues, performances for the Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events, The Democratic Convention of 2004, Jakarta Internacional Jazz Festival in 2007, Bright Future International Festival in Sochi, Russia in 2013, and several commercial releases throughout the Mid-west. Luciano released two albums of original music "Vida de Arista - An Artist's Life" in 2011 an album of original music, and "Sem Palavras - Without Words" in 2015. Hi most recent accomplishments include the release of his 3rd album "Luciano Antonio Quintet - Live At Jazz Showcase w/ special guests Breno Sauer and Neusa Sauer" and tours in Italy, China, and Brazil. Luciano also plays classical guitar for weddings, churches, social events and private functions.

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It makes perfect sense that Neal Alger's jazz guitar style and compositions reflect a variety of styles and approaches. Over the years, Neal has played different kinds of music and they've continued to influence him up to this day. For example, Neal performed hard rock/heavy metal as a teenager and co-wrote nearly all of the music in his first rock band entitled Requiem.

Right before and during college, the jazz bug caught Neal and he began listening to legends like saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Chick Corea. While participating in Northern Illinois University's Jazz Ensemble, Neal had the privilege of sharing the stage with Clark Terry, Tito Puente, Claudio Roditi, and Jon Faddis. These artists unknowingly started Neal's love for Brazillian and Afro-Cuban music as well as straight-ahead jazz.

After graduating from NIU with a bachelors' degree in jazz guitar performance, Neal moved to Chicago and has been freelancing there ever since. Neal has performed or recorded with Lin Halliday, Howard Levy, Grazyna Augusick, Leslie Gore, Ed Thigpen, and most notably, singer/pianist Patricia Barber. Neal has toured Europe, Canada, and the U.S. with Patricia and he is featured on her Blue Note Records releases VERSE (2002), LIVE: A FORTNIGHT IN FRANCE (2004), MYTHOLOGIES (2006), and THE COLE PORTER MIX (2008). Neal has also appeared on recordings by Chicago-based musicians/groups including Nick Bisesi, Jo Ann Daugherty, BMR4, Matt Geraghty, Sharay Reed, and Steve Hashimoto.

United by a love of both straight-ahed jazz and R&B/Hip-Hop in the early 2000's, Alger and dynamic vocalist Typhanie Monique formed a musical and personal friendship that continues to the present day and their duo project (complete with special guests) has released three CD's that have garnered considerable critical praise: INTRINSIC (2004), IN THIS ROOM (2007), and YULETIDE GROOVE (2008). Neal made a guest appearance on Typhanie's most recent disc, the highly ambitious work CALL IT MAGIC (2017) and they perform regularly around the Chicagoland area.

In addition to modern jazz, Neal's ever-expanding musical curiosity has led him to play in other groups that are sometimes jazz-related, sometimes not. Neal plays R&B fusion with keyboardist/singer William Kurk, rock/pop movie soundtracks with Androgynous Mustache, sophisticated pop with Steely Dan cover band Bad Sneakers Orchestra and classic rock covers with Cast Iron Skillet.

While Neal currently has sufficient original music for a new jazz CD, his current focus is on the many facets of Brazilian popular music through the performances of three groups: a guitar-bass-drums trio (NEAL ALGER'S BRAZILIAN TRIO) which features jazz improvisation over songs by popular Brazilian composers, a flute-guitar duo (DUO TEMPERO BRASILEIRO) which performs an older Brazilian style called choro, and a dance-focused samba quintet (BOSSA TRES) led by vocalist Dill Costa.

In addition to his busy performing schedule, Alger teaches jazz improvisation, jazz history, and coaches several groups at both Elmhurst College and Roosevelt University (Chicago).

www.nealalger.com

www.lucianoantonio.com