Andres Lafone's South Atlantic Groove Project (SAGP) ft. Joanna Eden
Andrés ‘Andy’ Lafone, Uruguayan bass player, co-founder and musical director of hit makers Negrocan introduces his new venture SAGP (South Atlantic Groove Project). Accompanied by fellow Uruguayans Guille Hill (guitar), Andres Ticino (percussion), plus British/Brazilian drummer Fabio de Oliveira with special guests Joanna Eden on piano/vocals and Bosco de Oliveira (percussion), they revisit tunes by Airto, Opa, Santana, Negrocan, and add some original compositions with a distinct groove-based South American flavour.
A very old friend of the Club, Andy moved to London in the late 70's and has been here ever since. A leading light of the Latin American music scene in the UK and Europe, he came to prominence in the late 80's and early 90's as part of the Jazz Dance/Acid Jazz movement and has, since then, toured and recorded worldwide with Basia (picking up a gold record along the way), New Orleans-based singer/pianist Jon Cleary, leading UK Latin musician/bandleader Snowboy and iconic Latin band Da Lata. With Negrocan, Andy’s composition ‘Cada Vez’ was nominated for a Billboard Award in 2002 as well as the “Song of the Summer’ award in Ibiza, becoming a worldwide hit! Tonight’s special guest Joanna Eden first established herself as a singer, pianist and songwriter to watch in the 2000’s with a breakout album on Universal Records and tours with the likes of Jamie Cullum, the Buena Vista Social Club, Ronan Keating and the Blockheads. A featured judge on BBC One’s singing programme ‘All Together Now’, she is also a sought-after vocal coach - her student Sam Smith, whom she first started working with when he was ten, is now an international mega star, with whom Joanna performed at the Proms earlier this year. A simply incredible lineup of musicians and not to be missed! "Andy Lafone....formidable talent" LatinosInLondon; “Eden…sings…sweetly and with conviction” Evening Standard
Photo of Andres Lafone by Graham Pattison.