Bob Aves

Bob Aves is a guitarist and jazz musician. A composer, arranger, record producer and musical director rolled into one, Aves is one of the leading proponent of Filipino jazz fusion. His jazz arrangements and compositions have been performed and recorded by many musical ensembles around the world such as the prestigious Berklee Concert Band. Aves enrolled in the University of the Philippines College of Music in 1974 to pursue his interest, but stopped after two years.

Aves enrolled in the University of the Philippines College of Music in 1974 to pursue his interest, but stopped after two years. He then went abroad and studied at the jazz center of the world, Berklee College of Music in Boston where he learned among others, his jazz orchestra under Herb Pomeroy and Phil Wilson, while supplementing his classical music studies with Dr. Hugo Norden of Boston University. He earned his Bachelor's Degree of Music, major in Composition from the prestigious school that had nurtured jazz legends Quincy Jones and Chick Corea.

Aves's career in the Philippines has always been marked with excellent works in the fields of composition, arranging and performance and has produced a number of award-winning albums in a wide range of musical genres. In the 1990s, Bob embarked on a quest of rediscovery of Philippine indigenous music, fusing traditional instruments, rhythms and chants, forms and improvisational techniques with contemporary music genres. His original musical style has been apprarent in the multi-awarded world-music albums of his wife Grace Nono as well as his own jazz releases.

His musical works also crossed to other genres such as musical scores for documentaries and independent films shown in international film festivals (Sundance Film Festival, Montreal Film Festivals, Cleveland Int. Film festival etc), special collaborative projects with other traditional artists for small ensembles to full orchestra, theater and music for contemporary dance. Together with Grace Nono, they have performed in international music festivals (Womad in Yokohama, Music Village in UK, HK Festival of Asian Arts, Singapore Arts Festival, 2005 World Exposition in Aichi, Japan, Berlin House of World Cultures, Barcelona-Madrid Asian festival, Naning Folk Festival, China) where they have presented their brand of Filipino-world music. Also in the 90s, Bob and Grace established Tao Music, an all-Filipino record label that specializes in the production and publication of traditional and contemporary culture-based titles of Philippine music. Bob Aves was recently featured in the DVD Pinoy Jazz, a video documentary on the history and development of jazz in the Philippines. Today he continues to push the boundaries of his unique musical style with his new jazz CD Translating the Gongs.

More info about Bob Aves & his musical journey at: http://www.bobaves.com/