Javier Botella & Albert Sanz
Biography Javier Botella & Albert Sanz
Javier Botella
known as the Spanish crooner , is a scenic animal, a charismatic performer who gives off swing and feeling on all four sides. From a very young age he absorbed the slow rhythms of jazz and, since then, they have not stopped accompanying him. Javier was always very clear that he wanted to dedicate himself to singing, but he preferred to wait for the right moment while acquiring other vital experiences working in other professional fields and soaking up various musical influences. At the same time, he continued to train vocally and paid attention to the great masters of North American jazz, who have been his great references.
Javier Botella usually sings at night, dressed in black, wasting elegance and blending in with that moment of the day when we want to relax and enjoy ourselves, but also when we stop to reflect and remember the rest of the day, and by extension, the rest of our own life. The nocturnal environment, with its lights and shadows and its magical and special atmosphere, generates an introspective bond within us that lends itself to revealing secrets and making confessions. When this slit through which the past slides into our memory opens, it is when emotion floods us and we feel more naked and vulnerable. Intoxicated by this nostalgic energy and by his memories of fragility, Javier uncovers his soul and his voice to surrender to the truth that the most sincere lyrics and the most accurate chords exude. And he does so convinced, passionate and dedicated to the cause. He connects with the public and with the purity of the music, making the songs his own with a style and delicacy that are born from the experience and the deepest feeling of his being.
Javier Botella has two successful albums behind him. The first, "The best is yet to come" , was performed with the Big Band Illustrated Cup, with 16 instruments plus voice and interpreting great jazz standards. His second album, “Todo el camino” , more Latin and sentimental, was presented with string instruments and in the key of boleros and ballads in Spanish that have accompanied us throughout our lives. On this occasion, Javier returns together with Albert Sanz in "It never was you" with a proposal that is simpler in appearance but more profound and intimate, with only two voices, a piano and the wonderful melodies that these two artists sing.
Albert Sanz
was born in Valencia, Spain, into a very musical family. His mother is the great singer, songwriter and actress Mamen García, and his father is Josep Sanz, conductor, classical pianist and composer.
From an early age (Mamen remembers being pregnant with Albert doing many piano concerts and singing) Albert was surrounded by his father's classical music and Mamen's varied repertoire of songs. From coplas to bossa nova, to Cuban boleros, tangos, Italian, French songs, and jazz standards. Entering adolescence Albert begins to learn songs with the guitar and electric bass until he decides to study classical piano at the Valencia Conservatory. Shortly after, his father takes him to a Tete Montoliu concert where, without realizing it, he will fall in love forever with the spirit of this music.
In a short time Albert begins to imitate what he hears and begins to play with other musicians in Valencia, combining the conservatory with studies at the Barcelona Music Workshop, concerts and all possible jams. At the age of 18 he was selected to represent Spain in the European Youth Jazz Orchestra (EJYO), traveling for three weeks throughout Europe and recording the first EJYO record.
In 1998 Albert recorded his first album ("Des D'aquí") as co-leader with the Catalan bassist David Mengual. This album is voted best Spanish jazz album of the year by Spanish jazz critics (Cuadernos de Jazz). A year later, Albert received the SGAE Award for the Jazz Revelation Artist and another award for Revelation Artist by Turia magazine.
After offering him a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Albert moved to Boston in 2000 where he played with Robert Stillman, Chris Van Voorst, Kendrick Scott, (eventually forming the band Kalifactors and recording his CD "Kalifactors", released on the Fresh Sound label) and also with David Doruzka, Jason Palmer, Walter Smith, Lage Lund, Lionel Loueke, Javier Vercher or Ferenc Nemeth among others.
After graduating Cum Laude at Berklee, Albert moved to New York in 2002 where he immersed himself in the scene, playing with the groups of Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Cheek, Joe Martin and debuting as a leader and composer at the Jazz Gallery with a group. in which Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard and Chris Cheek stand out. This concert was also recorded and released with Fresh Sound Records under the name "Los Guys" (2003).
In 2004 the IVM of Valencia commissioned Albert to record an album and compose all the material with the subsequent edition of "El fabulador" by Albert Sanz and the eleven Dedos, where the colorful instrumentation consisted of 8 wind instruments, in addition to the section of rhythm. This album was voted one of the best Spanish jazz albums of the last decade by critics in Spain (Cuadernos de Jazz).
Shortly after this recording, Albert moved back to Spain, where he was offered a position as Jazz teacher at the Musikene Superior Conservatory of the Basque Country and later in the Jazz department at the Valencia Superior Conservatory. During those years Albert combined teaching with concerts and released a live album ("Metamorphosis") with his trio at that time (with Masa Kamaguchi and RJ Miller) for the Fresh Sound Records label. He also collaborates in the bands and in the recordings of the Flamenco big band of Perico Sambeat, the trio and quintet of Jorge Rossy (here as hammond organist), Jordi Matas and Carme Canela (as organist as well), and the famous project Silvia Pérez Cruz and Javier Colina trio that gave rise to the album "En La Imaginacion", to name some of the important bands he was part of. As a musical producer and arranger, he records the album by Mamen García ("El Cofrecito") in which musicians such as Jorge Rossy, Javier Colina or Antonio Serrano collaborate.
In 2011 Albert took a step forward producing the album "O que sera" in New York, an album with a stellar trio made up of the great drummer Al Foster (Miles Davis) and the double bass player Javier Colina (Bebo Valdés). Engraved by the great James Farber. In 2012 he had the opportunity to travel with this great trio playing at the main festivals in Spain and also recording the album / bootleg "For Regulars Only" live at the Central Café in Madrid.
As a composer for theater, Albert has collaborated with the award-winning and special company "Bambalina teatre practicable", creating the music for the shows "Ulysses", "Cosmos", the musical "El Geperut de Notre Dame" and "Petit Pierre".
In 2014 his last important collaborations are mostly duets, the album "Mahalo" with the virtuoso harmonica player Antonio Serrano (Paco de Lucía) and "Dolphin´s Blues", vinyl recorded live with the young trumpet genius Félix Rossy.
Albert is currently focusing more than ever on songwriting and his next project is for a big Bigband.
