Patronato (Afro Cuban Jazz)

Bam Bam Rodriguez (USA): bass
Mark De Jong (NL): drums
Fred Lebeer (BE): piano, voice, compositions
Gratis

Patronato mixes contemporary jazz with Afro-Cuban and African influences. The band plays compositions of singer-pianist Fred Lebeer and arrangements of the jazz and popular repertoire.

Bam Bam was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1987. Had his first steps in music sneaking through rock jam sessions at the age of 4, which led him to start playing the electric bass and studying music on his own from the age of 7. Started taking music lessons at the age of 10, and one year later he joined the “Conservatorio Simon Bolivar” in Caracas, the most prestigious music school of the capital, where he started learning to play the double bass. Few years later he joined the worldwide famous “Sistema de Orquestas” as a bass player and performed regularly all around the country, having the opportunity to work with Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, amongst others. At the same time he kept in contact with his “Rock” roots, and performed and toured the whole country in many occasions, as well as playing Salsa,Afrocuban and Venezuelan music in several ensembles.

At the age of 18 he traveled to Belgium to get a bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Jazz Double Bass, and three years later he moved again to Holland to get a Master’s diploma in Jazz and Latin American and West African rhythms. During his stay in Europe he performed regularly in many countries, such as Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Romania and also overseas in Venezuela, Mexico and theCaribbeans, where he worked with the Latin Jazz Masters Alfredo Naranjo and Nené Quintero, as well as with many others.

In 2012 Bambam moved to NYC to continue his career in music, where he leads and co-leads many musical projects, and he has collaborated with the likes of Claudia Acuña, Ari Hoenig,Yayo Serka, Juancho Herrera and Yuri Juárez. While living in NYC, he still regularly tours Europe, Latin America and the Caribbeans.