César Cardoso - Origins [2025]

DESCARGA (320 Kbps)

César Cardoso, saxophonist and composer, who already has 4 original albums recorded and 3 books published in jazz theory, has now released a new album entitled “Origins”. As the name suggests, it is a journey to the origins and places that marked its growth.

After the last album “Dice of Tenors”, in an octet format (with Miguel Zenón, Jason Palmer, Massimo Morganti, Jefferi Davis, Óscar Graça, Demian Cabaud and Marcos Cavaleiro), César Cardoso returns to the quartet format with a very typical jazz formation (saxophone, piano, double bass and drums). The possibility of having greater space for improvisation and the desire to create different compositions than what was done on the previous album led him to return to this lineup.

In this new album “ORIGINS”, are mentioned places that were part of his youth, such as Calvaria, Serra de Aire e Candeeiros, B.R.P., Encosta do Castelo, but the biggest emphasis is on the theme “Vila Forte”. Vila Forte is the description given by Luís de Camões in the Lusíadas (canto VIII, stanza 16) to the village of Porto de Mós where he originates.

As Luís de Camões' 500th birthday (considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet), is being celebrated and with reference to his origins, César intended to enhance the Portuguese language using this short excerpt, giving it life through the composition of a theme. There is a contribution to this theme from one of today's greatest singers, fado singer Ricardo Ribeiro.

With this new album, the saxophonist intends to bring new freshness at a melodic, harmonic level and even at an arrangement level, in a smaller type of formation, with a special appreciation of his origins and the Portuguese language. 

lançado em 23 de maio de 2025

- César Cardoso – tenor saxophone

- Óscar Graça – piano

- Demian Cabaud – double bass

- Pedro Felgar – drums

- Ricardo Ribeiro – vocals (special guest)

jazz jazz; saxophone; luís de camões modern jazz saxophone Portugal

César Cardoso - Dice of Tenors [2020]

YANDEX (192 Kbps) Size:86.6 MB

This new album is the result of the intention of his mentor, César Cardoso, to seek new approaches, paths and ideas of composition and arrangement, through an extended formation. This ensemble has 8 elements, distributed by winds - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, trumpet and trombone - and rhythmic section - vibraphone, piano, double bass and drums.

Having already other projects with a quartet and a quintet and having written many arrangements for Big Band, the idea of this collective arose because it is different from what he has done and above all to challenge himself to present a record with its own identity and to approach the songs with innovation and freshness.

For this album César Cardoso chose 8 songs, 6 of which are Jazz Standards made famous by some of the greatest tenor saxophonists - Hank Mobley, Benny Golson, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson -, and composed 2 original songs to complete the album. These arrangements contain new approaches and techniques, recently studied, with the intention of creating songs as if they were new ones but at the same time without losing the essence of the originals. In addition, one of the premises was to raise the musical level through harmonic, rhythmic and metric complexity, without losing the musical side, making everything as organic as possible.

In César Cardoso’s career there are 3 albums, all with original music - “Half Step” (2010), “Bottom Shelf” (2015) and “Interchange” (2018) -, more than 100 arrangements for Orchestras and Big Bands - written mainly for the Jazz Orchestra of Leiria and for the Jazz Orchestra of Hot Clube de Portugal - plus 2 books, written in Portuguese, about Jazz Theory. 

released April 17, 2020

- César Cardoso – tenor sax and arrangements

- Jason Palmer – trumpet

- Miguel Zenón – alto sax

- Massimo Morganti – trombone

- Jeffery Davis – vibraphone

- Óscar Graça – piano

- Demian Cabaud – bass

- Marcos Cavaleiro – drums

jazz big band ensemble jazz modern jazz Portugal

César Cardoso - Interchange [2018]

YANDEX (192 Kbps) Size:56.2 MB

released February 10, 2018

- César Cardoso (tenor sax)

- Bruno Santos (guitar)

- Demian Cabaud (bass)

- André Sousa Machado (drums)

Special Guest:

- Miguel Zenón (alto sax)

jazz big band modern jazz Portugal

César Cardoso - Bottom Shelf [2015]

YANDEX (192 Kbps) Size:68.2 MB

released September 24, 2015

- César Cardoso (tenor & soprano sax)

- Bruno Santos (guitar)

- Demian Cabaud (bass)

- André Sousa Machado (drums)

jazz big band modern jazz Portugal

César Cardoso - Half Step [2010]

YANDEX (192 Kbps) Size:67 MB

released November 27, 2010

- César Cardoso (tenor sax)

- Bruno Santos (guitar)

- Filipe Melo (piano & rhodes)

- Demian Cabaud (bass)

- Bruno Pedroso (drums)

Special guest:

- Pedro Moreira (tenor sax)

jazz big band modern jazz Portugal