GARFO by GARFO

If you were still uncertain about the relevance and the freshness of Portugal’s contributions to the worldwide jazz and improvised music circuits, this is for you: Garfo (Fork in English) is a band formed by four of the youngest generation of musicians active in the city of Lisbon. Lead by saxophonist Bernardo Tinoco, but with all members composing its repertoire, they play a empathic music with mind-puzzling structures and crossed time signatures, with lots of free improvisation to open up the frames. Coming from a family with strong ties with classical and jazz music, Bernardo has a sweet tenor sax sound rather unnusual in these domains. A former pupil of trumpeter Peter Evans, João Almeida’s sonic constructions give the maximum effect to his minimalist approach: just a few motives are enough to make a blast. Bassist João Fragoso and drummer João Sousa keep the motion with an energy that never dissolves. And that’s it: jazz turned again a music made by twenty-something years old innovators, with urgency but also a very surprising maturity. And they’re conquering the local scene, obliging the older musicians to keep the pace. It’s predictable that a new Portuguese jazz boom will come from this.

GARFO
Bernardo Tinoco, João Almeida
João Fragoso
João Sousa.

The group made its debut in 2019 and has since played in several concert halls and festivals. They were considered a Revelation Group in 2021 by the RTP // Festa do Jazz Awards.