Saxophonist Carlos Vega's band crackles...crafty arrangements, spirited group interplay, and ear-grabbing freshness and spontaneity in their soloing.
Saxophonist and composer Carlos Vega was born and raised in Miami, Florida. As a young musician in Miami, Carlos Vega pursed his passion of studying jazz in college during the day while also immersed in playing Latin and Salsa six nights a week with some of Miami's most innovative and authentic Latin bands. These early eclectic musical experiences helped to form the foundation for Vega's dynamic and unique approach to composition as well as jazz improvisation.
Throughout his career, Carlos Vega has had the great fortune of touring extensively in the United States, Europe, South America and Africa. He has also performed with a variety of high profile artists including Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, Arturo Sandoval, Ira Sullivan, Tito Puente, Tito Puente Jr., Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble (CALJE) and trumpet legend Doc Severinsen, to name a few.
In 2005, he traveled to pursue a graduate music degree at the University of Illinois and quickly became part of the very exciting and dynamic Chicago Latin & Jazz scenes, playing with some of Chicago's finest musicians in some of the most famous venues and events. He had such positive musical experiences in Chicago that he decided to record his first release as a leader accompanied by four of Chicago's finest jazz musicians - Victor Garcia on Trumpet, Stu Mindeman on Piano, Josh Ramos on Bass and Xavier Breaker on Drums. This release showcases a set of exciting and very musical versions of all originals tunes composed by Carlos.
Vega is currently Associate Professor of Saxophone and the director of the Latin Jazz Ensemble at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida.
Mark Taylor
Don Lanphere
Brent Jensen
David Sills
Daniel Carter
Hans Teuber
Richard Cole
Yoshiyuki Yamanaka
Kim Richmond
Tim Jensen
John Gross
Rick Mandyck
Matt Otto
Brad Wheeler
Alex Graham
Bobby Porcelli
Pete Christlieb
Scott Burns
Joshua Redman
Rob Lockart
Hadley Caliman
Mitch Paliga
Geof Bradfield
Mark Colby
Phil Dwyer
Michael Brockman
Ricky Sweum
Matt Vashlishan
Peter Epstein
Jim Gailloreto
Bruce Williamson
Tom Luer
Ed Epstein
Michael Zilber
Tim Garland
Ira Sullivan
Dudley Owens
Amit Friedman
Joel Miller
Idit Shner
Marc Bernstein
Francois Theberge
Brian Gephart
Dave Liebman
Bobby Selvaggio
Renato Caranto
Ernie Watts
Jim Norton
Lucas Pino
John Wojciechowski
Roxy Coss
Steffen Weber
Jason Hainsworth
Zem Audu
Edgar Steinitz
Benjamin Boone
Neil Welch
Aaron Lington
Xose Miguélez
Dann Zinn
Greg Yasinitsky
Alon Farber
Mark Zaleski
Jared Sims
Jordan VanHemert
Ralph Bowen
Santosh Sharma
Tim Warfield
Maddie Vogler
Vincent Herring
Donny McCaslin