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About

 

Andres Lafone's solid bass playing and musicianship have taken him throughout the continents performing at some of the top jazz and open festivals such as Montreux Jazz Festival; North Sea Jazz Festival; Capetown Jazz Festival ; Central Park, New York; Albert Hall; Festival Hall; Queen Elizabeth Hall; Beijing Heineken Festival; Womad; Glastonbury;  Japan Tokyo Blue Note and Billboard; Catalina Island Jazz Festival (California); Yoshi's, San Francisco; Blue Note, Hawaii; Blue Note, Beijing.  Just some of the thousands of Venues  BUT.....

As a self taught musician/bassist his first gigs in England were with Mataya Clifford in 1977 from Zimbabwe but things really got serious when he started playing with Danny Adler, mainly Bluesy Funk compositions with very complicated arrangements and bass lines.  There would be endless rehearsals as Danny knocked the band into shape.   You can hear some of those early recordings on iTunes or Spotify.   

 

As a semi pro he always had a part time job at that time; as a chauffeur, a cleaner, warehouse 'operative' and a desk job answering the phone.  He taught himself to read music while doing this desk job and also did a course at Morley College.

In the late seventies he formed one of the first 'latin' bands in England called Tres.   The highlight was supporting Tito Puente at the Venue in Victoria.  He became heavily involved in the Latin music scene and eventually ended up joining the Republic with Sara Jane Morris as lead singer.   Maybe the first ever 'World' music band.

One day in 1985 he was told of auditions at the Guildhall School of Music to get into the jazz and rock course.  Thanks to help from Dill Katz he was granted an audition and gained a place on the course.   He was awarded a grant by the council and so was able to study music full time for a year and was able to give up any part time day jobs.  After studying at the Guildhall his career took off.  He then went on to back or play with various artists.   See the artists page for a few examples..

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