A B O U T

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Hugo Carvalhais was born in Oporto / Portugal and graduated in Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts. Considered to be one of the most talented and sui generis double bassists of his generation, worked with musicians such as Julian Arguelles, Tim Berne, Emile Parisien, Dominique Pifarély, Liudas Mockunas, Andy Sheppard, Sheila Jordan, Benoit Delbecq, Jeremiah Cymerman, Jeffery Davis, Art Themen, among others.

In 2010 he released his first album as a leader, featuring saxophone player Tim Berne. "Nebula" was considered one of the best albums of the year by the Portuguese magazine Jazz.pt and had a lot of outstanding reviews from the national and international press. The album was also chosen as one of Clean Feed's most representative and relevant albums on its tenth anniversary.

In 2012 released "Particle" with his usual teammates (Mário Costa and Gabriel Pinto) and the special guest Dominique Pifarély (ECM artist) and Emile Parisien. "Particle" was considered one of the best albums of the year by Público (Portuguese newspaper), Cuadernos de Jazz (Spain), Karl Lippegaus - Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany).

"Grand Valis" was released in 2015. This third album was the first Portuguese album to be distinguished with the "Choc" print by the prestigious French publication Jazzmagazine.

After seven years, Carvalhais surprises again with his new "Ascetica", that is among the best jazz records of 2022 for Jazz.pt magazine, Citizen Jazz Magazine France, Jazzin Serbia Magazine and Radio Radar (Portugal). Among many international reviews, it is worth mentioning the highlights given to Ascetica at Radio France, DAG og Tid (Norwegian Nacional Journal) and NDR (German).

As sideman Hugo Carvalhais is doublebassist in the 'West Coast' quartet of British saxophonist Andy Sheppard (ECM artist).