Hugo Carvalhais, one of the most talented and idiosyncratic Portuguese jazz artists of his generation, concludes his series of albums with this project exploring various aspects of life and physical reality.

He embarked on this journey in 2010 with the album Nebulosa, which transports listeners into the vastness of space. The artist recorded it alongside saxophonist Tim Berne, the New York avant-garde luminary. The Portuguese magazine Jazz.pt rated the album as one of the most significant Portuguese jazz albums of recent decades.

In 2012, Carvalhais released his second album, Partícula, recorded with French violinist Dominique Pifarély and saxophonist Émile Parisien. It was praised by European critics for its unique blend of electroacoustic music and jazz. In 2015, the Portuguese artist’s album Gran Valis, inspired by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick’s trilogy of novels and exploring the divide between the macro- and micro-worlds, won the prestigious CHOC award from the French magazine JazzMagazine. In 2022, with his album Ascetica, the artist delved into the mysterious depths of the human consciousness.

All the albums were released by the Portuguese record label Clean Feed, which has become a catalyst for the rise of free jazz and improvisational music in Lisbon. It has firmly established Carvalhais’ status as a master of modern music.

The artist is now presenting Sacra, the finale of his multi-movement cycle. At the Vilnius Jazz, accompanied by a select group of top-class musicians, he will revisit the key milestones, landscapes and compositions of his 16-year creative journey, opening up new horizons for improvisation.

The creative journey of the Portuguese double bassist, composer and producer Hugo Carvalhais is unique – from his painting studies at the University of Porto to the composition of mystical, philosophical music. He contemplates art as a conceptual artist, exploring existential themes in his work with almost mathematical precision and consistently expanding his own idiosyncratic creative universe. Carvalhais boldly combines the sound of the acoustic double bass, subtle electronics, synthesiser textures and modern jazz improvisations in his music.

This self-taught double bassist honed his musical skills in masterclasses led by legendary jazz masters Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez and Miroslav Vitous.

Carvalhais has close creative ties with the Lithuanian jazz scene. He has collaborated for many years with saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas and has taken part in the Improdimensija projects initiated by him. In addition, Carvalhais plays in Costa Oeste quartet led by the renowned British saxophonist Andy Sheppard.

The Portuguese drummer Mário Costa is Carvalhais’ regular stage partner, having featured on his albums, and also plays in the quartet led by the British saxophonist A. Sheppard.

Costa’s very first album of his own compositions, Oxy Patina (2018), recorded with guitarist Marc Ducret and pianist B. Delbecq, showcased his exceptional talent: the Portuguese magazine Jazz.pt voted the release to be Album of the Year and Costa – Portuguese Jazz Musician of the Year.

The drummer has collaborated with many musical celebrities, including Emile Parisien, Michel Portal, Joachim Kuhn and prominent Portuguese composers. Throughout his career, Costa has performed with a wide variety of international ensembles and projects, and has given concerts at prestigious venues across Europe, North and South America, and Australia.

The Portuguese pianist and keyboardist Gabriel Pinto is another long-standing member of Carvalhais’ bands, having composed and recorded music with him since his earliest projects. Together with Costa, he forms the rhythmic and harmonic backbone of Carvalhais’ bands. Pinto is a co-composer of three compositions on the album Ascetica.

Portuguese keyboardist, composer, producer and teacher Fernando Rodrigues has been an active participant in Carvalhais’ projects since his fourth album, Ascetica, and performs with the double bassist’s group at prestigious European jazz events. Rodrigues teaches jazz piano, improvisation techniques and theory at the Coimbra Conservatoire (Conservatório de Música de Coimbra) and has published a textbook on jazz music theory.

The Portuguese saxophonist, composer and producer Fábio Almeida is an expressive voice of Portugal’s new generation of jazz musicians. He studied classical saxophone and graphic design, and performs not only with jazz groups but also with soul, funk and pop bands and soloists.

Liudas Mockūnas, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, band leader and teacher, is one of the most prominent figures in improvisational music in Europe and one of the most influential figures in Lithuanian jazz. The artist has been awarded prizes at international jazz competitions, as well as received awards for his musical creativity and contributions to Lithuanian jazz.

Mockūnas regularly performs across the European jazz scene alongside musicians from Scandinavia, the Baltic states, Poland, Portugal and other countries, and has toured with various ensembles in the USA, China, Japan and Israel. He has been collaborating with Carvalhais for more than 15 years.

The Lithuanian musician collaborates with Marc Ducret, Barry Guy, Mats Gustafsson, William Hooker, Mikko Innanen, Jaak Sooäär, all the leading figures of Lithuanian improvisational music, and numerous other coryphées. Composers of academic music write pieces for him; he performs as a soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras.

In 2016, Mockūnas, together with composer Vykintas Baltakas, established a Master’s degree program in contemporary academic and improvisational music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, which brought a qualitatively new generation of improvisers and jazz composers to the jazz scene, and inspired a resurgence of improvisational music in Lithuania.

Together with like-minded musicians, he founded Improdimensija, a creative platform dedicated to improvisation, experimentation and education, as well as the independent record label NoBusiness Records, whose contributions to Lithuanian jazz have been recognised with the Vilnius Jazz award.