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Alex Pinto
He released his debut album, Inner State, on Pursuance Records in 2011, with All About Jazz calling it, "...a rhythmically vital, modern jazz album that's constructed on a global stage, and introduces a guitar talent and composer with great promise." Pinto's guitar playing would go on to be featured in Guitar Player Magazine, Downbeat Magazine and elicit praise from Rez Abbasi, one of today's modern jazz guitar giants - "Alex is one of the very few players of his generation to seriously take on the challenge of creating a hybrid music, namely one of Jazz and Hindustani music. I can only imagine what he'll produce in the years to come." Pinto would later be recognized as a top new talent selection from leading jazz blog, Jazz Station.
Pinto was an active member in the bustling, creative hotbed of San Francisco, where he led his own jazz trio, performed guitar with indie rock outfit The Lawlands, played bass in emerging bands, Magic Fight and Petejota and performed alongside musician/animator Jeremy Rourke. Pinto also co- founded the SF Offside Festival, a new jazz and creative music festival, in 2012 that was selected by NPR as one of 6 creative presenters finding new audiences for jazz music.
Pinto recently completed a Senior Fulbright-Nehru Research Scholarship at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) in India, where he pursued new directions in hybrid music. His research focused on integrating Carnatic South Indian Classical Music with Modern Jazz. His time in India resulted in the dawn of a new project and self titled EP All India Permit which will be released in the fall of 2014
Awards
2013: Senior Nehru Fulbright Research Scholar 2012: Jazz Station Best New Talent 2011: Downbeat and Guitar Player features 2010: Finalist Six String Theory Guitar Competition 2008: 3rd Prize Gibson Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition
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Alex Pinto: Unconditional
by Dave Wayne
Now resident in Seattle, guitarist Alex Pinto has shifted his musical focus somewhat from his previous recordings, All India Permit (Pursuance Records, 2014) and Inner State (Pursuance Records, 2011). Whereas All India Permit was, as one may gather from the title, a synthesis of jazz, rock, and the music of India (Pinto's ancestral homeland), and Inner State dealt more directly with modern jazz, Unconditional finds Pinto working in an overtly rock-derived milieu. There's a casual, indie-rock lope to Unconditional, a ...
read moreAlex Pinto & All India Permit: All India Permit
by Dave Wayne
The recipient of a Fulbright / Nehru Scholarship, guitarist and composer Alex Pinto chose to study and teach for a year at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) in Tamil Nadu, India. The Seattle native quickly made his way into the burgeoning Indian jazz scene, gathering New Delhi-based drummer Tarun Balani and bassist Abhinav Khokhar to form a potent and limber trio. Their new EP, titled All India Permit fuses jazz-based rhythmic aesthetics with compositional concepts derived from Carnatic music. ...
read moreAlex Pinto Quartet: Inner State
by Dan Bilawsky
Indo-American forms of jazz have become more common over the years, but plenty of people who work in this arena have little personal connection to this hybrid form of music. Guitarist Alex Pinto is an exception. Pinto's paternal lineage leads to Karnataka, in southwestern India, and his worldly upbringing contributes to his unique sound. While the guitarist was born in the Washington, D.C. area, he spent part of his childhood in Poland and Russia, where his father was posted by ...
read more"All India Permit" - New Project & Ep From Pacific Nw-based Guitarist/Composer Alex Pinto, Due For 11/4 Release On Pursuance Records
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Alex Pinto
Calarts Grad Alex Pinto has been busy since the release of his highly praised debut album Inner State (Pursuance Records) in 2011. The guitarist launched SF Offside, a Bay Area jazz and creative music festival, with music curator Laura Maguire in 2012. He was an active presence in the bustling Bay Area indie scene, collaborating with animator Jeremy Rourke, while also holding down bass and/or guitar duties in Magic Fight, Petejota and The Lawlands. Capping things off, Pinto was awarded ...
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"Inner State," Debut CD by San Francisco-Based Guitarist/Composer Alex Pinto, to be Released by Pursuance Records 3/22
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Terri Hinte Publicity
San Francisco-based jazz guitarist Alex Pinto has a sound and concept unlike any other player on the scene. On his debut CD, Inner State, which features his working quartet, Pinto makes a powerful first impression with his fluid phrasing, bright tone, and a program of seven original compositions marked by engaging melodies and unorthodox harmonic forms. What I like about Alex is that he is a true artist," says Jaz Sawyer, whose Pursuance Records will release Inner State on March ...
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"Alex is one of the very few players of his generation to seriously take on the challenge of creating a hybrid music, namely one of Jazz and Hindustani music. I can only imagine what he'll produce in the years to come." - Rez Abbasi
"While many critics, academics and fans continue to debate about the demise of jazz, I continue to see signs to the contrary. One such example is 26 year old guitarist and composer, Alex Pinto. His debut album, "Inner State" illustrates the idea that, despite all the doom and gloom predictions regarding the future of jazz, there are still young people with creative voices yearning to be heard." - Elements of Jazz