Ramón Valle

Ramón Valle (born 1964) was only seven years old when he started studying the piano at the Escuela Provincial de Arte in his home town of Holguín, Cuba. He graduated from Havana's Escuela Nacional de Arte in 1984. His exceptional talent was discovered in 1985 when he performed in a double concert with fellow Cuban pianist, Emiliano Salvador, who died prematurely seven years later.

In January 2003 Valle proved his talents as orchestra leader and composer in the large hall of the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, where Mixed-up Mokum was premiered, a composition for the city of Amsterdam commissioned by the Amsterdams Foundation for the Arts. It is intended for an ensemble of ten musicians, and moves in the shadowy area between jazz, improvised music and classical music. In four movements Valle tells us about his first impressions of Amsterdam.





Eduardo Blanco

Eduardo Blanco was born in 1976 in a small city situated in the north part of Spain by the name of Oviedo. He started playing trumpet at 11 years old and began right away to study music theory as well as  taking trumpet lessons.
In 1992 he started touring all over the country with dance bands but after hearing one of Chet Baker´s great albums he turns crazy about jazz music.
In 1996 he moves to Boston to study jazz at "Berkeley College of Music".
Comes back to Europe in 1998, to start leading his own bands and start as a freelance mucisian.
From 2002 to 2008 he was teaching trumpet and theory at the "Taller de musics de Barcelona", as well as performing with own bands, and he plays frequently as a sideman with jazz groups.
 

Lior Kuperberg

Lior Kuperberg, born in Tel-Aviv, started playing keyboards and flute at an early age. In 1995 he went to New Orleans to explore the roots of jazz and blues, and joined local Dixieland, blues, jazz and soul bands.
After returning to Tel Aviv, he joined the Music Plus Quintet, led by Miguel Yaakobi, and toured with the band for five years all over Israel, playing jazz, rock and latin music. He studied with saxophone masters Peter Wertheimer and Stu Hacohen, explored bebop music. He has been influenced by John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Rollins as wel as Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell.
In 2000, Stu Hacohen sent Lior Kuperberg to the Netherlands, to study with saxophonist Ferdinand Povel, at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
During his studies, he played with different jazz ensembles as wel as Big Bands and a salsa band. He played a world music program with great Dutch artists like Trijntje Oosterhuis, Astrid Serierse, Eric Vaarzon Morel and many others.
With Leoni Jansen he played on the renowned Dutch TV show Barend en van Dorp.
As a solo player performed on two cd’s of Lenny Kuhr (on soprano saxophone and tenor saxophone), on Come Undone and Charlie Green’s Studentproof Bigband. Since 2005 he is member of Charlie Green Big Band, and play all over Europe.
He is a regular performer in local jazz night clubs in Amsterdam with guitarist Christiaan Brester, drummer Robberto Haliffi, and many others.
Since 2007 he is a member of Klezmokum, led by Burton Greene, playing tenor and soprano saxophones, and with whom he is touring all over Europe.



Philip Harper

Philip Harper, born in Baltimore, Maryland, was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He picked up his first trumpet at ten years old and started studying under his older brother Danny. He left his high school graduation in Atlanta and went straight to the airport, bound for New York. As soon as he hit the ground there, the young Harper brother started holding his own with the likes of "Little Jimmy" Scott, Betty Carter, Jimmy McGriff, Etta jones, Bill Cosby, Cedar Walton and Harry "Sweets" Edison. Between 1986 and '88 he toured with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He is on several live recordings with that group. He left Blakey to form his own group with his brother, drummer Winard Harper. The Harper Brothers' recordings were highly successful and they toured the world. Philip is on more than 50 CDs. His solo album's "Soulful Sin" and "The Thirteenth Moon" on Muse records highlight his incredible versatility. He has been rated number one on numerous jazz play lists and critic's polls.



Roberto Haliffi