Brazilian saxophonist Lucas Santana has established himself on the international music scene, making a shift from Brazil to Amsterdam and forming the Lucas Santana Quintet. Santana has released two albums so far, ‘Reflections’ (2021) and ‘Ambivalence’ (2022), with the latter having two songs dedicated to his parents.
Ahead of his debut performance in Mumbai (April 29) next week at the Banyan Tree World Jazz Festival, the musician speaks about his early days, his band, first visit to India, and how he crafts his unique sounds capes.
Excerpts from an interview:
How did you got into music?
I was born in the favelas in São Paulo. At some point my parents decided to raise me in the countryside, in a quieter place. In this small city called Piracaia, my dad Luiz Carlos Santana created a project to teach music for kids and young adults. I was learning music within this project. My dad was my first teacher and inspiration. I wanted to be like him when I was growing up. I started playing clarinet when I was 6 years old, and changed to saxophone when I was 11 years. I had classical music as my background, but I always had jazz and Brazilian music as a hobby. When I turned 16, I decided to study jazz and become a professional. I moved to São Paulo to study in one of the best music schools in Brazil called music school of São Paulo State (EMESP Tom Jobim).
Did your parents play a role in influencing you into music?
My mom is an art teacher and my dad a history teacher. I was surrounded with art since I was a kid, and so I think this was really important as I was growing up. As I said before, my dad was my first musical inspiration. His patience to teach and his ability to think about the community was encouraging, and I tried to bring that to myself.
What role do your bandmates play in bringing the sound that goes as the Lucas Santana Quintet?
As part of my band, I have great friends and amazing musicians on my side. On drums we have Tim Hennekes from the Netherlands, on Double Bass Matheus Nicolaiewsky from Brazil, on piano Timothy Banchet from the Netherlands and on guitar Davor Stehlik from Serbia. In Amsterdam there’s a big jazz community, and I had the chance to play with great musicians, but I was fortunate enough to have these people playing with me. They find new music inside of my own music, I get surprised every time we play the same songs. With them I feel free to discover and explore new colors and sounds.
Lucas Santana with bandmates |
You fuse electronic and organic textures, samples from classical music, pop and jazz, Brazilian and global influences in your music. How do you achieve the mix?
For this tour to India, I bring a mix of modern jazz chord progressions, mixed with several rhythms such as straight ahead swing, salsa, bossa, bolero. Being raised in Brazil means that you have all the culture from the globe around you. This mix of culture made me who I am today, and I tried to bring this into my songs.
How did the switch from Brazil to Amsterdam happen?
Moving to Amsterdam was never my plan. I was in Brazil studying to become a music teacher when I applied for a scholarship to study abroad. I was granted a scholarship by Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation awards to come to the Netherlands and study jazz music at Conservatorium van Amsterdam. I remember that at that point I couldn’t speak English very well and I didn’t have any money. I arrived in the Netherlands in 2015, I had the chance to do my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in the same educational institution, and after my studies I started my band.
What is a Lucas Santana jazz set like and what can the audience at the Banyan Tree World Jazz Festival expect?
The people in the audience can expect a really energetic jazz concert with the musicians exploring the most of their instruments. I’m lucky enough to share the stage with amazing musicians, and they make every song sound unique. Expect to dance, to shake the body, to go into reflection moments.
Have you heard Indian music? What are your plans while in India?
When I was young I had the chance to study the Konnakol rhythm (the art of performing percussion syllables vocally in South Indian Carnatic music) method. It was really challenging and fun to learn. This method helps me every day, especially when I have to solve rhythmic problems. I’m super excited to visit India for the first time. I’m from the generation that already grew up with the internet, so throughout YouTube sometimes Indian culture and music always crossed my path. I’m looking forward to visiting places, but also to bringing a little bit of jazz and Brazilian music to your country.
What’s next on your agenda?
I want to travel with my band around the world, play to as many people as possible and visit places. I think playing music is a privilege, as we get know people and places. Coming to India is one of the greatest gifts I ever had and exchanging this culture with mine will make my music in the future sound differently than now. I want this kind of experience. I want to exchange and make music as much as possible.
What music influenced you?
The first music style that influenced me was classical music, and later I started watching musicals with my dad, he was a big fan of Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. That’s the part where Classical and Jazz meet. George Gershwin, Cole Porter were a few composers that I started listening to when I was younger and then later on, I had a chance to listen to Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nate King Cole and Louis Armstrong. Brazilian music was always around in my house, some of my heroes are Pixinguinha, Chiquinha Gonzaga, Nailor Proveta, Chico Buarque, among others.
To date you have released two albums, ‘Reflections’ (2021) and ‘Ambivalence’. On listening to them, are they vastly different from each other?
The album ‘Reflections’ was released in 2021 just when I graduated from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. As the name suggests, the album brings a few reflections of my musical studies in the past few years. So here I pay tribute to some of the great saxophone heroes that influenced me, such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Joe Henderson, among others. ‘Ambivalence’ is the second studio album of the Quintet. On this album I wanted to make a contrast on everything I have written before. I try to explore a little bit with longer forms and stretch the harmony a little bit more towards the modern Jazz chord progression. You can definitely notice on the song called Faith that there is a really strong classical background underneath, but as long as we progress with the tune, we can also find also some Latin emphasis and even if you want to call it hip-hop influences. I dedicated two songs to my parents, Luiz and Regina. The song Regina is a lullaby song where I wanted to bring not only my mom, but more people in general closer to this jazz environment. The song I dedicated to my dad is called Luiz, and it’s a bolero. This song I composed because I wanted people to dance while we play, and my dad loves dancing.
Banyan Tree World Jazz Festival
Date: 29th & 30th April 2023
Time: 6.30 pm
Venue: Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra, Mumbai
Tickets: Bookmyshow.com
Line-Up:
Day 1 - 29th of April:
• Collaboration of young Indian Classical musicians with Alexander Beets, Ellister Van der Molen and Rolf Delfos.
• Lucas Santana Quintet
• Baer Traa with Lizzy Ossevoort
• Susanne Alt Featuring Zosja - DJ and After Party Jam session
Day 2 - 30th April
• Monsoon Raaga Jazz featuring Sebastiaan Van Bavel
• Susanne Alt Featuring Zosja
• Anna Serierse featuring Lucas Santana Brazilian Experience
• All Band Jam Session
