User:Huferjo/sandbox

Hugo Fernandez Mexican-born is a modern jazz guitarist that lives since 2018 in Berlin, Germany. His music writing skills reflect an exposure of a broad mix of musical genres, such as: pop-rock, classical and on the other hand, the great jazz artists.

= Education = At the age of 18 he began to work professionally as a guitarist for Mexican pop artists. At the age of 23, he travelled to Boston, USA to study at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with honors in 1998. During his time in Boston, he had lessons with renowned jazz educators such as: Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi and Jamey Haddad. In that period he coincided there with the musicians Antonio Sanchez, Anat Cohen, Avishai Cohen, Miguel Zenon, Lage Lund, among others. In 1999 he returned to Mexico City and began teaching at the Academia de Musica Fermatta affiliated with the Berklee College of Music network. In 2003 he moved to New Orleans to study a master's degree in jazz studies under the tutelage of Steve Masakowski and Ed Petersen.

= Career =

In 2001 the Hugo Fernández Quartet was formed, having its first important concert in 2001 in the cycle "Cinco de Jazz" of the “Sala Ollin Yolitzli” with Pablo Prieto (drums), Luri Molina (double bass) and Sergio Galván (alto sax). The evolution of this project has been constant. In the early years, this group was aesthetically looking for the sound of "Bebop" music, and played a "Jazz Standard" repertoire with original arrangements by Hugo Fernandez. They were then invited to the International Guitar Festival of the CNA (2002) and opened the concert of the international drummer Antonio Sanchez at the “Teatro de la Ciudad” (2003). During this period Hugo also collaborates with several jazz musicians based in Mexico City like: Magos Herrera, Omar Aran, Alex Kautz, Iraida Noriega, Joe D'Etienne, Israel Cupich, Miguel Villicaña and Gabriel Puentes among others.

In 2006 he traveled to Madrid where he lived for 12 years. In his time in Spain he had the opportunity to collaborate in several projects such as: "Cordelia", a Sevillian group led by singer and actress Lola Botello, where jazz, Latin American music and literature converged. In the 7 years together, they performed several concerts and recorded their album "Solitude".

With the singer from Granada, Celia Mur, he recorded "Amerikanda", a project that mixed Latin American folk music, with jazz and flamenco.

In Madrid, in 2013 Hugo recorded his first album as a leader. "Origenes" is recorded with: Ariel Bringuez (saxophones), Ander Garcia (double bass) and Mariano Steinberg (drums). Here, they included a selection of 7 original songs. Hugo’s compositions had different atmospheres and textures inspired by the energy of other musical genres, such as: pop, funk or classical music. With this project, Hugo is invited to close the jazz cycle "Por lo tanto Jazz" at the “Palacio de Bellas Artes” in Mexico City. In this period the quartet made several tours presenting their material in Mexico and Spain. Their next album "Cosmogram" (2015 Origin Records), had a very special place in his discography. This album had the collaboration of the magnificent international jazz drummer Antonio Sanchez, Antonio Miguel on double bass and Ariel Bringuez on saxophones. The press and the public received magnificently this proposal and it is considered as one of the "best albums of jazz 2016" for the specialized magazine Downbeat Magazine. With this project Hugo makes several concerts in Spain and Mexico.

In September 2018 he recorded "Naualli" with a quintet conformed by: Julian Sanchez (trumpet), Ariel Bringuez (saxophones), Tomas Merlo (electric bass) and Marc Miralta (drums). This album was his more "experimental" and "electric", where the mixture of other musical styles were more evident and showed a very personal sonorous universe.

Current Projects
Hugo Fernandez The quartet/quintet focuses its repertoire on original material, where it continues to present the rich legacy of jazz, that is combined with classical music, pop rock, world music. The ensemble also includes in it's concert program, original arrangements to songs by renowned Mexican composers in order to review and reinterpret this music in a "jazz" context.

Navegantes This project reunites five authors with very different stylistic perspectives. They share their authorship to propitiate a unity in their sound. Pedro Cortejosa (Cadiz, Spain - Saxophones) Joaquin Sanchez (Granada, Spain - Clarinets and Flutes) Javier Delgado (Seville, Spain - Double bass) Jimmy Weinstein (NYC, USA – Drums)

= Jazz Discography =


 * Naualli (Self Produced 2018) Hugo Fernandez Quintet
 * Cosmogram (Origin Records 2015) Hugo Fernández Quartet
 * Origenes (Self Produced 2012) Hugo Fernández Quartet
 * Amerikanda (2012) Celia Mur and Hugo Fernández
 * Solitude (2011) Cordelia

= Relevant Tours and Concerts: = As a jazz player, he has collaborated in several projects playing in important festivals such as: Festival Internacional Cervantino, Mexico City Historic Centre Festival, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Jazz-MX Festival, Circulo de Bellas Artes (Madrid), Madrid Jazz Festival, Granada Jazz Festival, University of Seville Jazz Festival, Jazz en el Centro (Gijón), JazzFermin (Pamplona), Guatemala International Guitar Festival, among others.

= Teaching Experience = He has contributed as an educator, teaching: Guitar, Modern Harmony, Arrangement, Ear-Training and has conducted ensembles or combos of jazz, pop and rock. He has created an original 3 year guitar method with 144 fix lessons.

In addition, he has taught masterclasses and taught in the following academies: Taller de Músicos (Madrid) - Pioneering jazz teaching school in Spain. He taught guitar and ensembles.

Elite Musical (Madrid) - Network of modern Brazilian music schools. Developed guitar materials for its 15 schools and taught guitar and music theory.

Fermatta Music Academy (CDMX) School within the Berklee College of Music Network. Developed the curriculum and materials for the school's harmony courses. He taught guitar, ensembles, harmony, arrangement, and ear training.

= References =

= External Links =


 * Hugo Fernandez artist page
 * Hugo Fernandez Origin Records

Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Jazz guitarists Category:Mexican guitarists Category:Musicians from Berlin‎ Category:Musicians from Mexico City