Juan Alzate

The sound I’ve been looking for years to be able to express myself and project me as musician is in the mouthpiece I use on my saxophones (Mantra). The sound, the overtones and the sound projection are amazing.

Juan Alzate is considered one of the most important jazz saxophone players and educator in Mexico and in the Latin-America countries, he teaches at Conservatorio de Las Rosas, in Morelia, Mexico and he give masterclasses and concerts around Mexico and other Latin-American countries, even in the United States, at the Transylvania University in Kentucky, Yakima Valley Community College in Washington State and the Arizona University in Tucson; he studied at Escuela Popular de Bellas Artes, Conservatorio de Las Rosas and at the Berklee College in Boston where his teachers included Jim Odgren, Bill Pierce, Hal Crook, and studied privately with Jerry Bergonzi. Juan also attended Dave Liebman’s course at East Stroudsburg University. Juan has shared the music set with Mark Levine, Antonio Sánchez, John Benítez, Ignacio Berroa, Bruce Forman, Greg Osby, Muhal Richard Abrams, Hugh Fraser, Paquito D’ Rivera, Luis Perdomo, Bobby Watson, Helen Sung, Boris Kozlov, John Ellis, Rodney Green and many others. Juan has recorded ten CDs: El eco en la piel; Bajo el signo del jazz, with Mark Levine; Autorretratos, Hablar en Jazz, Jugadores de Jazz, Minnewanka, recorded at Canada’s Banff Centre of Arts; Premonición, El jazz y la furia, Variaciones and again with Mark Levine: En el Conservatorio… Alzate is the artistic director of the Jazztival Michoacán, one of the most prestigious jazz festivals in Mexico and Latin America, since 2003 until now. Juan has soloed with different ensambles at Argentina, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Taiwan, USA and Canada, from big band, symphonic orchestras, jazz, salsa to contemporary academic music. Alzate’s philosophy is: “One of the marvelous things about being a musician is that you can play universal music and make new friends.” Several press reviews: “…the musical talents of the participants of this group is absolutely fantastic and one can see the technical capacity of each individual through the group performance. From the jazz and avant-garde point of view, Autorretratos is truly a masterpiece” Vitaly Menshikov, Uzbekistan’s Rock Progressor Review. “…this recording (Autorretratos), reflects all the strains of his post- Coltrane aesthetic.” David Dupont from Cadence Magazine

” …Alzate is one of the best and most important saxophone players in the jazz mexican scene..” Antonio Malacara, Mexico City’s newspaper La Jornada.