De Passagem

Rodrigo Amado

Mostly self taught, with a brief passage through Arco (Independent Art School), Rodrigo Amado is a photographer and musician based in Lisbon.

Amado gets his first camera when he turns 18 years old - a Kodak Instamatic - and soon develops a strong fascination for photography. For years, he photographs, on a regular basis, family, friends and travels, inheriting a strong visual sense from his parents - his father, Manuel Amado, a painter, and his mother, Teresa Amado, involved with design and arts in general. In 2001, he starts, together with brothers Pedro and Carlos Costa, the Clean Feed label, presently considered one of the most important jazz labels in the world. Totally devoted to releasing creative avant jazz, Clean Feed uses many of Amado's photos in record covers and posters, for artists as diverse as Dennis Gonzalez, Paul Dunmall, Bernardo Sassetti or Carlos Barretto, among many others. Several of his own photos get published in newspapers like Público, Expresso or Diário de Notícias.

Armed with a Nikon FM2, Amado shoots what can be considered his first photographic project in 2002, registering in 35mm slide a coast-to-coast 45 day trip, passing through San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Baja California (Mexico), Santa Fé, Amarillo, Memphis and New Orleans.

In 2006 he participates in a portfolio workshop at Kameraphoto collective where he meets António Júlio Duarte, with whom

Amado develops a long-standing collaborative relation. This meeting leads to Amado's first individual show at Kameraphoto gallery - "Close, Closer".

Being one of the most internationally acclaimed Portuguese jazz musicians, with articles on his music published by reference media like Village Voice (US) or Folha de São Paulo (Brazil), Amado develops a strong connection between music and photography, one that becomes particularly important on projects like "Surface", dedicated to Stephen Shore, or "Searching for Adam".

Amado is currently working on his next book project - "East Coasting or 86 Lost Classics".

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Hernâni Faustino

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After establishing his name during the Eighties as an electric bass guitarist in alternative rock bands, like the now legendary K4 Quadrado Azul, Hernani Faustino turned to avant-jazz and free improvised music and chose the double bass as his self-taught instrument. Two decades later of multiple interactions with Portuguese and international musicians, he’s now considered one of the most intense and solid bassists in the Portuguese scene. The association he maintains with drummer Gabriel Ferrandini (RED trio, Nobuyasu Furuya Trio & Quintet, Rodrigo Amado Wire Quartet) has been pointed as a dynamic and powerfulrhythm section . His visceral playing is well showed by the contortions of his face during a performance: he goes to the limits of pleasure and pain.

Music is his life: besides being a musician, he was one of the members of the label Clean Feed, considered one of the five more important on the planet in what regards jazz, and the Trem Azul Jazz Store, located in Lisbon. He also composed for theatre, produced radio programs, and wrote about music in a couple of magazines. A good part of his activity in photography is also music oriented: Faustino is one of the most accomplished stage photographers around. This says all about his passion and commitment.

Hernani Faustino’s numerous meetings and collaborations with other improvisors is astonishing: John Butcher, Lotte Anker, Nate Wooley, Carlos “Zíngaro”, Agustí Fernández, Sei Miguel, Rafael Toral, Jason Stein, Nuno Rebelo, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Gabriel Ferrandini, Pedro Sousa, Rodrigo Amado, Albert Cirera, Manuel Mota, Luís Lopes, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jon Irabagon, Peter Evans, Alexander Von Schlippenbach, Taylor Ho Bynum, Gerard Lebik, Piotr Damasiewicz, Harris Eisenstadt, Neil Davidson, Heddy Boubaker, Gerard Lebik, Elliott Levin, Katsura Yamauchi, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Corsano, Nikolaus Gerszewski, Rob Mazurek, Reinhold Friedl, Ernesto Rodrigues, José Oliveira, Helena Espvall, Nuno Torres, Ricardo Jacinto, Blaise Siwula, Virginia Genta, Elliott Levin, Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi, Floros Floridis, Matt Bauder, Dennis González, Vítor Rua, and many more, covering a wide range from free bop to extreme experimentation, going through electroacoustic improv, reductionism and noise.

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João Lencastre

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João Lencastre is a drummer/composer native from Lisbon, Portugal. He started playing the drums at the age of 13, and over the years have been involved in innumerous projects, having the chance to play all kinds of music, from  mainstream to avant-garde Jazz, Rock, Free Improvisation, Alternative Rock, Afro Beat, Reggae, Metal, World Music, Punk, Electronic/Dance, and some unclassified genres.

Over more than 20 years playing professionally, Lencastre has played in all major festivals and venues in Portugal  and has toured in different places around the world including New York, Czech Republic, England, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Spain, Macau, Russia, Amsterdam and Panama, giving him the opportunity to play and/or record with top musician such as David Binney, Bill Carrothers, André Fernandes, Mário Franco, Thomas Morgan, Jacob Sacks, Phil Grenadier, André Matos, Leo Genovese, Rodrigo Amado, Eivind Opsvik, Masa Kamaguchi, Drew, Gress, Benny Lackner, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Nelson Cascais, Vojtech Prochaska, David Doruzka, Noah Preminger, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Sara Serpa, José Lencastre NAU Quartet, among many others...

Lencastre has released ten records as a leader, all well acclaimed by the public in general and the media from all over the world, having had great reviews on some of the most prestigious magazines, newspapers and websites including Modern Drummer, Downbeat, Jazz Times, Ipslon, Jazz.PT, Jazzwise, All About Jazz, Expresso, NYC Jazz Record, Salt Peanuts,  just to name a few. 

In 2019 was elected "jazz musician of the year"  by António Branco for Jazz.pt.

In 2022  won the Prémios Play award for  "best  jazz album" category with "Unlimited Dreams", and won the RTP/Festa do Jazz award for  "musician of the year".

"Safe in Your Own World"  was voted for the monthly  "The Best Jazz on Bandcamp"  list by Dave Summer in October 2022.