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STUDIES:

J. M. Valentino born November 10 of 1961 in Buenos Aires. Since he was five years old until he was nine he studied piano at the Moron Conservatory of Music. From then on he studied guitar with different professors, mainly Walter Malosetti and Armando Alonso and James Tobías. Guitar and arrangements work-shops dictated by the University of Berklee in Argentina in which occasion he was awarded with half a schoolarship to carry on his studies in USA. Guitar master classes with George Benson and Robben Ford. During those years he began to study bass, trumpet and drums as part of his interest in composition and arrangements.

EXPERIENCE:

At the same time that he went on with his studies he formed different groups going from rock to jazz and the different forms of fusions. At the age of 23 he opened his first recording studio (El Monasterio), where musicians like Carlos Lopez Puchio, Patan Vidal, Javier Calamaro, Diego Mizrahi, Lidia Borda, Gustavo Camara, Rogelio Juarez and Javier Malosetti amongs others recorded there. From then on, he made recording jobs of Demos, soundtracks for different radios, musicalization for theatre plays, for example "Radio City" directed by Javier Margulis. It was during this period where he started to use the difficult thumb technique of Wes Montgomery, becoming one of the few guitarrist of the world who uses it in its original way.

Towards the end of the 80’s, already together with Patan Vidal, he gets into the musical circuit of the moment (El Subsuelo, El Samovar de Rasputin) where he plays with musicians like Alejandro Medina, Javier Martinez, el "Negro" García López, Adrian Otero, Moris, Pipo Cipolatti, Celeste Carballo, Claudia Puyó, Jorge Pascuali and Daniel Melingo, among others. There he meets the violinist Jorge Pinchesky with whom he toured all over the country. During 1995, at the Samovar he met Willy Crook who proposes to create the group "Willy Crook and the Funky Torinos". They begin to make the circuit: El Codo, Coyote, El Imaginario, Oliverio, The Roxy, etc., as guests of Charly García and others. They become a national band of cult of soul and funk and they edit the first CD together with the name of the group and a second live recorded CD, "Pirate Crook", during the second year. At this moment, during a concert, Crook asks him to play a theme alone with his band (Funky Torinos) while he changed a guitar string, they performed a Standard of Jazz, which for their surprise arose great enthusiasm in the public. Then they began to include jazz in the repertoire and so the "Valentino Jazz Bazar" was born. This enabled them to play in smaller places, as with the "Funky Torinos" they had entered the bigger circuits: The White Tent Festival, 30 Years of National Rock, supporting band of David Bowie in the Ferro Stadium, Grand Rex Theatre, MTV Festival in the beach, La Trastienda, Michelangelo and supporting band of James Brown. James Brown was greatly surprised by Valentino’s technique and he named him is "spiritual brother", "because you play like a black musician..." (sic)

He became friends with Mr. Brown’s musicians with whom he shared several jam sessions, in his first visit as well as in the second one, where they again were the supporting band. In the year 1997 they left for New York and Miami to record the video clip "Kings" with Willy Crook, they played at different pubs as guests of other local performers. During the year 1999, Dany Ray, James Brown introducer, took Valentino’s CD to play it in his radio program in New York. Along with all this, Valentino played as a guest with Daniel Melingo en "Thirty Years of National Rock" "Festival of Alternative Rock of the Rock and Pop", with "Viejas Locas" in the Obras Stadium and with Diego Torres in the Luna Park Stadium. During the year 1998 together with the ECO producer he edits with Willy Crook a CD (which was also called ECO) and at the proposal of the saxofonist they include a CD of the Valentino Jazz Bazar as a CD Bonus, this way making jazz reach bigger audiences and a younger public which began to know jazz out of the elitistic ambit where it was known, this was of great cultural importance. They made several tours in the provinces: Salta, Tucumán, Jujuy, Córdoba, Ushuaia, Corrientes, etc, as well as other countries, such as: Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay and Chile. He also participated in the recording of Andres Calamaro’s CD "Brutal Honesty".

During the year 1999 the already mentioned reencounter with Mr. Brown, Valentino records a CD with Patan Vidal "Jazz Bazar II", this way initiating his well known cycle at the "Club del Vino" enlarging the band with invited musicians such as Deborah Dixon of the "Black and Blues", Fabián Silverman on saxes, Juan Scalona, trombon, and the original band: Cristián Jerez on piano, Thimoty Cid on drums and Leandro Hipaucha on upright-bass, Conceiçao Soares on percussion, Daniel Melingo, Adrián Otero, Diego Torres and of course, Willy Crook among others. They were summoned by Carlos Inzillo for the "Jazzología" cycle in the Gral. San Martín Theatre. There they performed a concert in tribute to Wes Montgomery in which they were awarded the "Revelation Group of the Year" prize. Also during 1999 they were named "Revelation Group" in the "Jazz and Blues" area of the Clarín newspaper. During the year 2000 he continues with the successful cycle at the "Club del Vino" and parallelly they perform in the "Telecom Jazz & Cocktails" cycle at the National Museum of Art together with bands like the Walter Malosetti Trio, TV Lounge, Swank, Urban Sextet, etc. He also participated of the cycle at the Cervantes National Theatre sponsored by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, together with Jorge Navarro and Baby López Furst, Hernán Merlo and others.

Towards the end of October and November he recorded closing the club a series of sessions recorded by direct stereo digital naming it "Sessions at the Wine Club". This work contains for the first time eight compositions of his own, two co-authored with Diego Torres and Rolfy Calahorrano and one with Adrián Otero (Memphis la Blusera) with arrangements made by Valentino and Juan Scalona. Of this work also participate Deborah Dixon, Fabian Silverman, Conceiçao Soares and others. From then on (November 2000), Diego Torres invites him to his concert at the Luna Park in which occasion they play one of the themes of their own. He participates in the cycle "Ese Amigo del Alma" (That friend of the soul) of Lito Vitale in Channel 13 and in the same cycle taken to the President Alvear Theatre during the 2001 season. He was invited to jams with Maceo Parker’s musicians.

RADIO PARTICIPATIONS

Rock & Pop - Pergolini Bobby Flores Energy National Radio Super Nova - Tribulations FM The Tribe Del Plata Radio Plaza del Pilar Radio

TV PROGRAMS

Duro de Acostar (Hard to knock) - R. Petinato Medios Locos (Half Crazy) - A. Castello Rock de Acá (Rock from Here) Puerta V (Door V) Ese Amigo del Alma (That friend of the soul) - L. Vitale Much Music MTV

RECORDINGS

Willy Crook & Funky Torinos Pirate with Willy Crook

ECO with Willy Crook

Valentino Jazz Bazar I (CD Bonus in ECO of Willy Crook)

Versions with Willy Crook

Valentino Jazz Bazar II with Patán Vidal

Vivo I y II with Willy Crook (Coliseo Theater)

Cruk with W. Crook

Sessions at the Wine Club, Valentino Jazz Bazar

Brutal Honesty - Andrés Calamaro

Ultradeforme (Ultradeformed) - Marcelo Rodriguez (Gillespie)

Pinchevsky (Blues) with Jorge Pinchevsky