LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Justo Almario Official Website) - Mr. Almario continues to showcase Latin Jazz music to the world, fusing it with Mendes' Brazilian hip-hop flair and
Juanes pop artistry. Fueled by exciting talent and vibrant energy, the album is posed to be a crossover, international hit with additional contributions from Italian rapper Jovanotti, Japanese pop group 'Dreams Come True,' the Belgian group 'Zap Mama' and American Stars
Natalie Cole, Herb Alpert and his wife, original Brasil '66 singer, Lani Hall.
"I had a very musical experience working with Sergio on this new project." said Justo Almario. "He is a master of the Brazilian sound and I'm specially delighted to play in the same track with Juanes. It is great to have two Colombians contributing their talents to this great CD."
Encanto caps off a busy start to 2008 for Mr. Almario. Among other recent studio recordings, he was pleased to take part in The Open Hands Project Quartet featuring Abraham Laboriel, Greg Mathieson, and Bill Maxwell - which employed a cutting edge two-channel analog-tape simulating technique.
Veteran producer/engineer Bill Schnee and mastering genius Doug Sax developed the digital delivery medium to simulate the sound quality of the phonograph record. The results are recordings with previously unrealized clarity, definition, and imaging.
"I am tremendously impressed by the quality and integrity of the live-to-two track recordings," said Billy Woodman, President of the famed speaker manufacturer ATC in England. "The image was large, three dimensional and coherent with, as you say, a natural fidelity. Great achievement."
Justo Almario, a native of Colombia, is a renowned reedman - soprano and tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute-a clinician, composer and arranger. He is no stranger to such fusing of styles, often weaving Latin, Afro-Cuban, South American, Funk and Jazz.
He has performed with Patrice Rushen's Grammy Awards Orchestra, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Ayers, George Duke, Tito Puente, Machito, Dave Grusin, Ndugu Chancler, Alex Acuna, Abraham Laboriel, TOLU, Donald Vega, Harold Land Jr. Al Mckibbon, Master P, Bebe Winans, Queen Latifah, Charles Mingus, Chaka Kahn, Linda Rondstadt, Herb Alpert, Bobby Shew, John Heard, Lorca Hart, Billy Higgins and "Jose Rizo's Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars".
Mr. Almario has contributed to a number of Grammy winning albums, including - Andrae Crouch's "Mercy", and by the late Cachao's "Master Sessions, Vol. 1" and "Ahora Si".
Justo Almario is also heard on the soundtracks of the Oscar-winning films "Sideways" and "Happy Feet." In addition, Mr. Almario is featured on Andy Garcia's recent release, "The Lost City", and on "Romance and Cigarettes" produced by John Turturo and starring Susan Sarandon and James Gandolfini.
