Press Pack

From the very beginning of his musical career,
Four projects on, with his new album, Magalon
Michael Magalon has been creating an individual
continues to bring classical jazz to modern times.
identity in the compositions.
A fresh complexity of stretched limits and
breathing melodies create the uniqueness of a
well-balanced modern and classical harmony of
rhythms and sounds.
“We want to stop in every jazz club worldwide
to share our passion for creative music”.
BIOGRAPHY
MICHAEL MAGALON: MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
Michael Magalon
Antwerp. Soon after, he began to
approached the artistic world
play the bass influenced by the
of music by studying classical
modern jazz band Aka Moon and
guitar at the age of 12. At 18
the bass player Michel
Michael composed the music
HATZIGEORGIOU.
for the play ‘Couleur de
Femmes’ by Jacques
During his musical career, Michael
HENRARD adapted by Marc
has played with leading Belgian
GOORIS, as his first
jazz musicians such as Jeroen
professional job.
VAN HERZEELE, Bart
DEFOORT, Stephane MERCIER and international musicians from
After gaining experience with
the rock and funk scene like Rudy LENNERS (Scorpions), Rudy
a number of bands, he
TROUVÉ (dEUS, Kiss My Jazz, Dead Man Ray) and Nick VAN
studied at the Jazz Studio in
GELDER (Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies).
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MICHAEL MAGALON 4tet: MEET THE MUSICANS
Trafalgar Arches is the new album from MICHAEL MAGALON 4tet.
This album counts with the collaboration of great musicians. They gather together to materialize the
artistic compositions of a meticulous Michael who keeps an eye on every detail. The music is exclusive,
yet universal; modern, yet classic, easy to listen, yet structurally complex.
“A fresh midnight with a touch of midday breeze.”
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DOMINIC NTOUMOS
Dominic NTOUMOS has worked for a many
years with a number of influential artists such
as the Londoner pianist Robert MITCHELL
(Steve Coleman, Courtney Pine, Greg Osby),
bassist Michael MONTDESIR, French
drummer Maxime ZEMPIERI (Steve
COLEMAN, Magik MALIK), Philippe
BUSSONET (MAGMA),etc. As part of the
band Think of One, Dominic NTOUMOS
© Julia Free
shared a nomination for the 2003 BBC World Music Awards.
Dominc has performed in many main European Jazz Festivals such as North Sea Jazz Festival,
Brussels Jazz Marathon, Montreux or the Meltdown Festival 2009 featuring The Roots + Tony Allen
+ David Muray at The Royal Festival Hall of London..
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JURRIAAN BERGER
Born in Rotterdam, 1976, Jurriaan likes to make music on anything that
produces sounds. In his teenage years he played the drums, guitar, bass
and tenor saxophone. He then took classical piano lessons, gradually
becoming more interested in jazz and improvised music. After long
experimentation, Jurriaan decided to study jazz piano at the Amsterdam
Conservatory. Taught by Karel BOEHLEE and Kris GOESSENS, among
others, he attended workshops by Fred HERSCH, John TAYLOR and
Bobby MC FERRIN.
He graduated from the Bachelor (2004) and Master of Music (2007)
© Julia Free
programme.
Jurriaan’s musical focus is twofold. On the one hand, he likes to perform freely improvised music that
sounds ‘composed’ in the sense that it has structure and form. On the other hand, he likes to infuse his
jazz playing with elements from rock/pop, world music (various small percussion, wind and string
instruments) and classical music (polyphony).
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TOM NUTTIN
Tom NUTTIN is a young drummer born in Colombia
of Belgian parents. He moved to Belgium as a child,
and soon after he dedicated great part of his time to
study classical music as well as the bassoon.
Nuttin learnt to play the drums auto-didactically with
various styles of music ranging from Funk and Rock
© Julia Free
to Metal music, finally falling in love with Jazz and
improvised music.
He decided to take one step further and formalise his expertise with studying for three years at the
Jazzbxl School in Brussels with some of the leading Belgian musicians like Bruno CASTELLUCCI, Bas
COOIJMANS, Stéphane MERCIER, Ron VAN ROSSUM, and others.
Tom’s talent is evident; the symbiosis with his drums makes of his performances an all-in-one merge of
percussion and self.
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RECORDING SESSION SHOTS
BY JULIA FREE
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PRESENTATION TOUR PICTURE GALLERY
BY JULIA FREE
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SALA CLAMORES, Madrid
(21 September 2011)
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THE ENERGY OF AN AUDIENCE MERGED WITH THE ENERGY OF OUR SHARED PASSION.
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BEL-LUNA JAZZ CLUB, Barcelona
(23 September 2011)
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CELDA SONORA, Sabiñánigo,
(24 September 2011)
A REWARDING AND GREATLY APPRECIATED PERFORMANCE
IN A COSY HOMEY ATMOSPHERE.
© Celda Sonora
© Celda Sonora
© Celda Sonora
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CULTURA, Critica Musical, Diario del Altoaragon, 26 September 2011
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Para no Perderse, EXPANSION FIN DE SEMANA,, 17 September 2011
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PREVIOUS PROJECTS
MAGALON-HERMANS-MERCIER: THE MIDEM ADVENTURE
Still exploring the time signatures and the rhythmical vertigoes, the concept of this
album is based on pushing the limits, dividing the traditional rhythm section (drums
and bass) and becoming a drum less project: alto sax, electric bass and piano.
The main achievement has been getting a clear plot of the music whilst disengaging
the drums function, respecting the complexity of the harmony in the compositions.
"How far can I push the music to still make it intelligible and
The originality of this project earns an invite to the 2007
understandable before crossing the boundaries
edition of the MIDEM festival in Cannes, France.
to free jazz?"
Passionate explosion of energy. The compositions, as a
Line Up:
trampoline, become a base to express the deepest emotions
Michael MAGALON, Fender Jazz Bass.
(tension, anxiety, nostalgia, suspense) of the musicians.
This album aims to represent the soundtrack of your darkest
feelings, creating a universe of expressionist music.
Georges HERMANS, Piano.
Stephane MERCIER, alto sax.
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SINEQUA: MAKING PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IT
"In the Belgian
The band plays around with forms, sounds and rhythms to
Contemporary Jazz world, a
construct, disassemble and finally rebuild a surprising and
few groups like SINEQUA
generous musical journey.
emerge with the new
The musicians of this quartet travel their way between a
century. In line with a trend
world of impressions and senses, and bursts of inspired
originating in the 70's, they
sparks."
offer a style echoing modernity, fed by new energies.
Coming from a diverse background with also diverse
experiences, the musicians from SINEQUA are part of the
new generation that search for musical images in the
boundaries of jazz and world music.
Through refreshing themes, they create a language of
equilibrium between rhythmic vertigo, asymmetry and
suspended harmony.
André Klenes bassist, composer.
Graduated from the Liege Royal Conservatory of Music.
Line Up:
Michael MAGALON, Fender Jazz Bass.
Marc FRANKINET, Trumpet.
Georges HERMANS, Piano.
Eric MINGELBIER, Drums.
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TIMELESS GALLERY
Left to right:
Jeroen VAN
HERZEELE
(tenor sax) and
Michael
MAGALON at
the 2006 edition
of the
International
Liege Jazz
Festival
(Belgium).
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Michael Magalon at the
Pelzer Jazz Club in Belgium.
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SINEQUA
Below, left to right: Michael Magalon, Georges HERMANS,
Marc FRANKINET and Eric MINGELBIER at the International
Gouvy Jazz Festival (Belgium).
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Left to right:
Georges HERMANS,
Michael MAGALON and
Jeroen VAN HERZEELE
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Below: At the MIDEM Of Cannes, France.
Soundcheck with Stephane MERCIER.
Above:
With Marc FRANKINET and Bart DEFOORT
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RAVI COLTRANE TRIO & MICHAEL MAGALON’S SINEQUA
Double rhythm section for a double concert at The Soundstation (Belgium)
Left to right: Gene LAKE (drums), Eric MINGELBIER (drums), Reggie WASHINGTON
(bass) and Michael MAGALON (bass)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you very much to everyone that has made this project a reality.
Very big thanks also to:
Artes Graficas León, Caracas, Venezuela and specially to Roldan HERNÁNDEZ for printing
services; to 3JB Brighton for opening the pub earlier just for us when we were starting to work on
the project; Julia FREE for Trafalgar Arches photos and Jérome TIELEMANS for some Timeless
Gallery pictures; Raphael WYNANDS and Jean-François HUSTIN, sound engineers; Marc
BIENFAIT and THE PELZER JAZZ CLUB; Virginie FLAWINNE for camera recordings; Chris James
AMOS for CD artwork; Lee DENYER and Silvia HEVIA MARTIN for constant support.
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BOOKING MICHAEL MAGALON 4tet
Contact:
Andrea Latorre
PR & Booking Manager
Tel. + 44 (0) 7917 150 675
michaelmagalon.music@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/mmagalon
www.michaelmagalon.com
Copyright © 2011 Andrea Latorre
for Michael Magalon
May be used free of charge. Selling without prior written consent prohibited. Obtain
permission before redistributing. In all cases copyright notice/disclaimer must remain intact.
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