Hugo Fernandez – guitar (MX) | Dima Bondarev – trumpet (UKR) | Martin Lillich – bass (DE) | Jesus Vega – drums (USA)
Hugo Fernández is a Mexican jazz guitarist who has settled in Berlin after more than a decade in Madrid. His musical quest has led him to build his own universe, where the rich legacy of jazz coexists with the energy of other music such as pop-rock, world folklore and classical. At the age of 23, he traveled to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with honors in 1998. While in Boston, he took lessons with renowned jazz teachers such as Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi and Jamey Haddad. During that period he coincided there with musicians Antonio Sanchez, Anat Cohen, Avishai Cohen, Miguel Zenon, Lage Lund, among others. In 1999 he returned to México City and began teaching at the Fermatta Music Academy affiliated to the Berklee College of Music network. In 2003 he moved to New Orleans to study for a master’s degree in jazz studies under the tutelage of Steve Masakowski and Ed Petersen. With four albums to his credit, he has performed at venues and festivals in Mexico, Spain and is increasingly carving a niche for himself on the jazz scene in Germany and the rest of Europe. His album „Cosmogram“ (Origin Records 2015) in collaboration with drummer Antonio Sanchez (was very well received by the public and received excellent reviews from Rollingstone Magazine, Jazztimes, El Pais and Downbeat Magazine, which called „Cosmogram“ one of the best albums of 2015.
„His songs are generally both catchy and inventive, many of the performances evolve in unexpected directions, and the often episodic frameworks make most of the selections sound like mini-suites.“ – DOWNBEAT
Dima Bondarev – trumpet
Born in 1984 in Ukraine, Dima Bondarev began playing the trumpet at the age of 9. He discovered his passion for Jazz after initially studying classical music as a child.
Between 2008 and 2013, Dima was very active in his homeland taking part in major Jazz festivals and concert tours. He was a member of the famous Ukrainian Jazz bands Acoustic Quartet and Magnifika group.
In 2011 and 2016, he was awarded the Polish Cultural Scholarship “Gaude Polonia” and took lessons in Warsaw and Wroclaw with Piotr Wojtasik and Robert Majewski.
Since 2013 Dima has been based in Berlin where he undertook both Bachelor and Master studies at the Jazz Institut Berlin (JIB) with Gerard Presencer, Tom Arthurs and Sebastian Studnitzky, as well as John Hollenbeck, Greg Cohen, Geoffrey De Masure, Julia Hulsmann, Tino Derado, Guilherme Castro and Javier Reyes. During his studying Dima was awarded with JIB-Jazz-Preis der Karl Hofer Gesellschaft (2015) and Deutschlandstipendium (2017). Shortly after his graduation as a Master of composition in 2020 Dima was granted the scholarship Elsa-Neumann Stipendium. In 2021 he got a year Scholarship program from Jazzcampus Basel (CH) called Focusyear, where Dima improved his knowledge under his mentor Ambrose Akinmusire, and regularly performed with well-known jazz artists.
Along his professional carriere Dima has collaborated with Aaron Parks, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Larry Grenadier, Logan Richardson, Coung Vu, Kris Davis, Lionel Loueke, Jorge Rossy, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Elena Pinderhughes, Greg Cohen, Doug Weiss, Joey Baron, Conrad Herwig, Steve Turre, Nels Cline, Jim Black, NDR Big Band, Brussel Jazz Orchestra, Guillermo Klein, Josh Ginsburg, Wanja Slavin, Elias Stemeseder, Ingrid Laubrock, and many others. All while developing his own band, and recording his debut album I’m Wondering (Unit Records, 2017)
Both as a sideman and a band leader Dima took part in a number of major jazz festivals such as North Sea Jazz Festival (Nederland), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Xjazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Fest (Germany), Jazz and Odra (Poland), Jazz Bez, Leopolis Jazz Fest (Ukraine) and Jazz à Montauban (France) and others.
Martin Lillich studied double bass at the Hochschule der Künste with Klaus Stoll. Musically, Martin is at home in the genres of classical, Caribbean, Jazz, Turkish as well as the New Klezmer scene. Known for his incredible versatility Martin is an integral part of the Berlin and German jazz scene as a soloist and as a sideman. He has worked such iconic artists such as Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Mariano, Enrico Rava, Leszek Mozdzer, Mikis Theodorakis, Al DiMeola, Benny Bailey, Pandit Kamalesh Maitra, Lynne Arielle, Chris Bennett, Perry Robinson, Helmut Brandt, Alan Berne, Niko Schoyble, Walter Norris, Maria Farantouri, Billy Bang…
Jesus Vega is an American Drummer/Educator/Composer currently residing in Berlin, Germany. Born in King City, California, he was first introduced to Jazz by the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Education Program. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Music from Sacramento State University and University of Nevada, Reno. In his short career Mr. Vega has had the privilege to study/perform with: Peter Epstein, David Ake, Vince Lateano, Joe Lovano, Ben Wendle, Ingrid Jensen, Kenny Washington, Greg Hutchinson, Geoffrey Keezer and many more
More info:
PRESS QUOTES
„…catchy and inventive…the selections sound like mini suites…“ Downbeat Magazine
„…personality, competence and a sound all their own…“ El País
„…a projection to a magic world…“ RollingStone Magazine
. Spark of Desire – Hugo Fernandez – New Grounds Quartet live at B Flat Berlin:
https://www.youtube. com/
. Neptune Grass – Hugo Fernandez – New Grounds Quartet live at B Flat Berlin:
https://www.youtube. com/
. Web Hugo: https://www.
. bandcamp : https:// hugofer