Jazztopia is a mythical island of passion, swing and joie de vivre, South Atlantic, close to the Guanabara Bay, somewhere over the rainbow... Do you remember Thomas Morus’ 1516 book inspired by the tales of discoveries along the Brazilian coastline by Amerigo Vespucci?
Jazztopia is also a combo which originated in 2006 as the house band of "Jazz at the Maze" - Rio's most unusual jazz night, hosted by British-Indian artist, film-maker, polymath and singer Bob Nadkarni at The Maze Inn. By the way, we would love to welcome you at our next jam session! - www.jazzrio.com -
Lennart Leslie is an architect and painter from Germany. Fallen in love with the sound of the Hammond Organ since his early days, notably Jon Lord, Barbara Dennerlein and Jimmy Smith, he studied at the Jazzschule Berlin with Ralf Ruh before succumbing to the charms of Rio de Janeiro. He would like to thank Michael Falkenstein, from Hammond Germany, for bringing an original Hammond Organ to Brazil. Sometimes he picks up his Soprano Saxophone to escape for a moment from the bulkiness of his Leslie cabinets...
Wolf - backwoodsman and architect from Germany. Enchanted by Swing and the golden days of the Big Band Era, he plunged into the world of North and South American roots music, studying Tenor Saxophone with Christoph Reiserer in Munich and Fernando Trocado in Rio, until resurfacing in the quiet waters of the Guanabara. Played Samba and Bossa Nova with Beto Monteiro and Samba em Berlim. Also a self-taught guitar player – well, nothin’ what a noisy amp wouldn’t cover up!
Vinícius is Carioca, designer, inventor and maker of fine percussion instruments when he is not paragliding over the green mountains of Rio or preparing spicy Indian dishes.
