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César Cardoso

Born in 1982, in Leiria, soon dedicated his time to studying music, with only 7 years old. From 2004 to 2008 he studied at Hot Clube de Portugal’s Jazz School, where he had lessons with Jorge Reis and Pedro Moreira and started to distinguish himself as a jazz musician. In 2008 he enrolled at Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, where he continued to work with Jorge Reis e Pedro Moreira, having completed the Jazz Bachelor Degree in saxophone performance. César is a member of the dixieland group Desbundixie, with whom he recorded “Kick’n Blow” (in 2007) e “Up 2 Nine” (in 2009), this last one with Maria João in vocals and Filipe Melo at the piano as special guests. He is the mentor and artistic director of Orquestra Jazz de Leiria, a big band which gathers Leiria’s jazz community and has given a set of concerts with Portuguese artists as special guests, such as Vânia Fernandes, David Fonseca, Maria João, Herman José, Luísa Sobral, Áurea, Tiago Bettencourt, Pedro Abrunhosa, Ana Bacalhau, Camané, Sara Tavares, António Zambujo, Jorge Palma and Simone de Oliveira. In 2010, César recorded his first debut CD, “Half Step”, with the musicians Bruno Santos, Filipe Melo, Demian Cabaud and Bruno Pedroso, his quintet at that time. The album also features Pedro Moreira as special guest and was presented at Marinha Grande’s Jazz Festival. His second album, “Bottom Shelf”, was released in 2015, in Hot Clube de Portugal, and also features original music by César, specifically written for the members of his quartet – Bruno Santos, Demian Cabaud and André Sousa Machado, some of the best Portuguese jazz musicians. He also played with many other great jazz musicians, such as João Moreira, Jorge Reis, Claus Nymark, Alexandre Frazão, Bernardo Moreira, Lars Arens, Afonso Pais, Nelson Cascais, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Julian Arguëlles, Maria João, Mário Laginha, Bernardo Sassetti, Zé Eduardo, Perico Sambeat, Rosario Giuliani, Stacey Kent, Benny Golson, John Ellis, Miguel Zenón, Joe Lovano, John Hollenbeck, Guillermo Klein and others.

In 2016 César published the book “Teoria do Jazz” (“Jazz Theory”), with Chiado Editora, the first book ever written in Portuguese about the theoretical bases of Jazz, thought through to serve as handbook for Jazz students. His passion for composing for Big Bands has led him to write as much as 120 arranges, originally composed for Orquestra Jazz de Leiria (including themes of the guest artists) or for Orquestra do Hot Clube de Portugal, who has recently released the album “Dança dos Pássaros”, featuring music of António Pinho Vargas, 3 of which arranged by César.

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Album Review

César Cardoso: Dice of Tenors

Read "Dice of Tenors" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


The captivating and cinematic Dice of Tenors is Portugese saxophonist César Cardoso's fourth release as a leader. Cardoso has brought together an international octet of accomplished musicians for an eight track tribute to six saxophone giants including John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, and Benny Golson. In addition to six standards either penned or popularized by these legendary tenorists, there are two Cardoso originals which are in the same spirit as the covers. Cardoso's haunting “Rafaela" is constructed out of ...

Album Review

César Cardoso: Dice of Tenors

Read "Dice of Tenors" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Cresciuto nella sempre più vivace scena jazzistica portoghese, César Cardoso giunge al quarto disco da leader in dieci anni, il primo in cui guida un organico internazionale con gli statunitensi Miguel Zenon al sax contralto (già ospite nel precedente Interchange di quattro anni fa), il trombettista Jason Palmer, il vibrafonista Jeffery Davis, il trombonista italiano Massimo Morganti, il bassista argentino Demian Cabaud e i connazionali Oscar Graça al pianoforte e Marcos Cavaleiro alla batteria. In questo progetto ...

4
Album Review

Cesar Cardoso: Dice of Tenors

Read "Dice of Tenors" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Dice of Tenors is Portuguese-bred tenor saxophonist Cesar Cardoso's ardent salute to a half-dozen of the world's foremost tenor saxophone masters: Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson and Benny Golson. To carry out that purpose, Cardoso has convened an admirable octet on which he shares the front line with trumpeter Jason Palmer, alto Miguel Zenon, trombonist Massimo Morganti and vibraphonist Jeffery Davis. The group's hard-working rhythm section consists of pianist Oscar Graca, bassist Demian Cabaud and ...

7
Album Review

César Cardoso: Dice of Tenors

Read "Dice of Tenors" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


Judging solely by the credits and scope of the Portuguese saxophonist César Cardoso's newest undertaking, one could expect a pretty conservative affair. The title of the album sums it up quite adequately. From Benny Golson to Sonny Rollins to Joe Henderson, Cardoso cuts through the oeuvre of some of the most distinguished masters of the tenor saxophone and presents their works in a new light. Of course John Coltrane's “Giant Steps" can't be left out of this equation. Sound familiar? ...

10
Album Review

Cesar Cardoso: Interchange

Read "Interchange" reviewed by Don Phipps


On his album Interchange, Portuguese tenor saxophonist César Cardoso offers up a lively set of original compositions to make the head nod and the heart soar. Cardoso hails from Portugal and his music is vaguely reminiscent of Weather Report--but instead of Joe Zawinul's playful keyboard there is Bruno Santos on guitar, propelling the music forward with lines that accentuate the strong melodic phrasing of Cardoso and guest alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón. This front three is backed ably by the rhythm ...

3
Album Review

Cesar Cardoso: Interchange

Read "Interchange" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Every now and then, musicians whose names and reputations are relatively unknown may be appraised in some measure by the company they keep. On his third recording as leader, Portuguese-born tenor saxophonist Cesar Cardoso, a new name in this neighborhood, is in splendid company indeed, adding to his working quartet the talents of multi-Grammy Award nominee Miguel Zenon, a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist who has been awarded Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, recorded roughly ten albums of his own and appeared ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Dice of Tenors

Self Produced
2020

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Interchange

Self Produced
2018

buy

Bottom Shelf

Independent
2015

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Half Step

Independent
2010

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