Alex Alvear (ECU)
Musician
Born in Quito, Ecuador, musician, composer, producer and arranger Alex Alvear is considered a milestone in contemporary Ecuadorean music. His work is a constant search for finding a unique voice by creating meeting points between various musical traditions, genres and styles. His music shares influences from universal musical expressions such as Jazz, Rock, Funk, Reggae, Blues, Afro-Latin roots music and Ecuadorean traditions.
Alvear's diverse musical projects include his landmark Equatorial, original compositions and arrangemente that portray a very personal approach to Ecuadorean musical traditions, the Afro-Latin roots fusion sounds of Mango Blue and his latest Andean fusion project Wañukta Tonic. While very distinctive and diLerent from each other, these eclectic ensembles and productions maintain a common thread with Ecuadorean traditions and Afro-Latin roots.
Alvear has received numerous recognitions both in Ecuador and the US and several projects he has participated in have nominated to the Grammy and Latin Grammy awards. He has also worked extensively as an arts promoter in New England producing New England's only Latino performance series between 1996 and 2013 as part of Boston's Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, IBA, cultural programming.
He has also conducted extensive educational work promoting Latin America music in schools, colleges and universities. Lastly, Alvear has performed and/or recorded with outstanding artists such as Celia Cruz, AfroCubism, Jonatha Brooke, Paquito D'Rivera, Néstor Torres, Isaac Delgado, Gonzalo Grau, Chiara Civello, Larry Harlow, Raíces Habaneras and many more.