Mike De Souza Trio, Dugong

Two bands:
Michael De Souza Trio

Mike De Souza – Guitar / Compositions
Huw V Williams – Double Bass / Electric Bass
Jay Davis – Drums

This new trio led by Guitarist Mike De Souza perform all new original music that seeks to infuse the traditional ‘Guitar-led Jazz Trio’ with sound and structure concepts inspired by alternative-rock bands such as Radiohead and Deerhoof, to name but a few influences. Having self-released their debut EP ‘Road Fork’ in December 2018, they have already had multiple plays on Jazz FM’s ‘Somethin’ Else’, being described as ‘Magnificent’ by Chris Philips, and Jez Nelson using ‘Fusionesque Pyrotechnics’ to sum up a live performance at Jazz In The Round.

Mike De Souza trio features two of the most exciting and distinctive rising stars from London’s vibrant jazz scene, drummer Jay Davis and bassist Huw V Williams. Jay and Mike first met as students at Leeds College of Music in 2009, but their musical alliance only began to take shape when they took their studies further on the post-graduate course at the Royal Academy of Music in 2012. After graduating they helped co-found the band ‘Big Bad Wolf’, with whom they released the debut album ‘Pond Life’ to critical acclaim in 2017, ‘One of the best albums I’ve heard this year’ - Mike Flynn (Jazzwise).

Dugong
Michele Caiati - Guitar
Nicolo Ricci - Saxophone
Andrea Di Biase - Bassist
Riccardo Chiaberta - Drums

Dugong is an up-and-coming band by some of the best musicians of the Italian jazz scene. It was originally created in Milan by guitarist Michele Caiati and saxophonist Nicolò Ricci, but it was later expanded abroad to London based bassist Andrea Di Biase and drummer Riccardo Chiaberta.

They released their debut album “Miscommunication” in 2014 with critical acclaim and toured it extensively in Italy, Switzerland and UK.

They released their second album “The Big Other” in May 2018 with the prestigious Italian label Honolulu Records. The band has a very individual sound which draws inspiration from many genres of music, from Alternative Rock to Modern Jazz to Contemporary classical music. In their last album Dugong experimented with different kinds of musical structures other than the usual jazz approach of theme, improvisation and final melody. They also worked on the potential of linear counterpoint, drawing inspiration from Classical composers such as J. S. Bach and Frederic Chopin.