One of the world’s premiere exponents of her instrument, Susan Alcorn has taken the pedal steel guitar far beyond its traditional role in country music. Having first paid her dues in Texas country & western bands, she began to expand the vocabulary of her instrument through her study of 20th century classical music, visionary jazz, and world musics.

Though known as for her solo work, she has collaborated with numerous artists including Pauline Oliveros, Chris Cutler, the London Improvisors Orchestra, the Glasgow Improvisors Orchestra, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ingrid Laubrock and Leila Bourdreuil, George Burtm Evan Parker, Michael Formanek, Zane Campbell, and Mary Halvorson among others.

In 2016, she was voted “Best Other Instrument” by the International Critics Poll. In 2017 she received the Baker Artist Award, and in 2018, along with saxophonist Joe McPhee, she was the recipient of the Instant Award in Improvised Music.

The UK Guardian writes, “As an improvisor and composer, Alcorn has proven to be visionary. Her pieces reveal the complexity of her instrument and her musical experience while never straying from a very direct, intense, and personal musical expression.”

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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.

José Lencastre is a distinguished saxophonist celebrated for his versatility and innovative approach to jazz and improvised music. Over the years, he has become a pivotal figure in the vibrant Portuguese improvised scene, known for his ability to seamlessly navigate various musical genres within the contemporary creative music idiom.

​His collaborations extend internationally, working with renowned musicians such as Peter Evans, Susan Alcorn, Michael Formanek, Raoul Van der Weide, Onno Govaert, Joost Buis, Clara Lai, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven, Miguel Petruccelli, Aleksandar Scoric, Sakina Abdou, Peter Orins, Bart Maris, John Dikeman, Motoko Honda, Kresten Osgood, Albert Cirera, Zbgniew Kozera, and Vasco Trilla, among others.​​

Between 2012 and 2016, Lencastre lived in Brazil, where he immersed himself in the rich rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic musical culture of Choro, Frevo, and Ciranda. During his time in Pernambuco, he formed Inconsciente Coletivo, a trio featuring sax, keyboard, and drums, performing mostly his own compositions.

​Upon returning to Lisbon, José Lencastre co-founded the Nau Quartet with Rodrigo Pinheiro, Hernâni Faustino, and João Lencastre.

The group has released four acclaimed records, both in Portugal and internationally. Their album “Live in Moscow,” released on Clean Feed, captures a magical night at DOM Cultural Center during a tour in Russia in 2018. ​

In addition to his work with Nau Quartet, Lencastre has participated in several other albums as a leader or co-leader, receiving praise from prestigious publications such as Jazz.pt, All About Jazz, Free Jazz Blog, Salt Peanuts, NYC Jazz Records, and Ipsilon.

He tours regularly across Europe, performing at notable festivals and venues including Area Sismica, Krakow Jazz Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Aarhus Jazz Festival, Dragon Social Club, and Konfrontationen Festival.

In 2020, Lencastre collaborated on “Anthropic Neglect,” a collective project with Jorge Nuno, Felipe Zenícola, and João Valinho, releasing their debut self-titled album. The following year, they performed at Gulbenkian Jazz em Agosto.

​​​José Lencastre is also a co-founder of Phonogram Unit. , a label established during the 2020 pandemic to release free and contemporary music from its associated musicians.

In 2022, he released his solo album “Inner Voices” on the Burning Ambulance label, further showcasing his profound artistic vision.

“Manifesto”, an album with Susan Alcorn and Hernâni Faustino came out in 2023. The trio performed in Lisbon and Coimbra to promote its release.

Bernardo Tinoco (saxophonist) has collaborated regularly with some of the most important musicians on the Portuguese jazz scene (André Carvalho, André Fernandes, Carlos Baretto, Diogo Alexandre, Filipe Melo, Gonçalo Marques, João Hasselberg, João Pereira, Nuno Ferreira, Pedro Branco, Pedro Moreira, Ricardo Toscano, Zé Eduardo). As a leader or sideman he has played in concert halls and festivals in Portugal and abroad. He is a member of the Hot Club de Portugal Jazz Orchestra and the Setúbal Jazz Orchestra. He collaborates occasionally with some of Portugal’s most acclaimed singers and with African music groups. He has appeared on recordings by various projects and currently leads the group GARFO (Revelation Group of the Year 2021, RTP Awards / Jazz Festival), which released its first album on Clean Feed, with the support of Rádio Antena 2. Also with the support of the two aforementioned institutions, he published NoMad Nenúfar in partnership with multi-instrumentalist Tom Maciel. In 2023 he took part in the ‘New Talents’ programme promoted by the Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra, performing as the orchestra’s guest soloist at the Cine-Teatro Constantino Nery, Matosinhos and at the Jazz Festival, CCB. He is a member of the Robalo Music association. He has a degree in music and a master’s degree in music teaching in the jazz variant from the Lisbon School of Music.

João Sousa graduated in Jazz and Modern Music from the Lusíada University in Lisbon. In 2014 he began his master’s degree in Jazz Performance – main instrument drums, at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he studied with the renowned Dutch master Erik Ineke. During this period he played with saxophonists Ben van den Duncan, Simon Rigter, Belgian pianist Johan Clement and recorded two albums as a sideman, ‘So Far’, Gottfried di Franco quintet published in 2018 and ‘It’s time’, Vivienne Chuliao trio published in 2017. He also came second in the prestigious Leiden Jazz Award. In 2017 she completed her master’s degree and returned to Lisbon, where she continues her artistic exploration and research. She co-leads the Old Mountain project with guitarist Pedro Branco and as a founding member. This group was formed in 2016 and since then they have started collaborating with different musicians: George Dumitriu, Demian Cabaud, Gonçalo Marques, Nicóló Ricci, José Soares, Felicia Erlenburg, João Hasselberg, Alessandro Fongaro, Mauro Cottone, Carlos Barreto and Nelson Cascais are just a few examples of these collaborations. João Sousa has also had the opportunity to perform his music in different venues, theatres or national or international festivals, such as Znojmo Jazzfest (Czech Republic), Sibiu jazz festival (Romania), Nova Jazz Cava (Spain), Hot Clube Portugal, Casa da Música, Teatro Capitólio, Festival Robalo, Loulé Jazz Festival or Minde Jazz Festival. During 2020, he released two discs under the name of Old Mountain, already recorded in 2017 and 2018 in Amsterdam, and another by the collective created as part of the artistic residency led by trumpeter Gabrielle Mitelli (with Pedro Branco and João Hasselberg), a partnership between the Árpád Szenes Vieira da Silva Foundation and the Italian Cultural Institute in Lisbon.