Amarea
Amarea is the jazz trio led by Eloi Pascual, focused exclusively on his compositions. It was founded in 2021, his senior year at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, together with Korean pianist Chaerin Im (Sun Mi Hong, Reinier Baas) and Belgian electric bass player Matteo Mazzù (Waan, Chai Masters).
The group was born very naturally and without any expectations, just as a result of three affine musicians spending time playing together while there were no gigs due to the pandemic.
By the time the lockdown was over the trio was established with Eloi as the bandleader, as they progressively became more focused on his compositions and started to develop their own sound. For these compositions, characterized by minimalistic, carefully built melodies, Eloi aimed to generate different landscapes that could lay clear improvisational frameworks, so the boundaries of each song were equally as definite as spacious for the other musicians to develop their own individual voices.
To write these pieces Eloi drew inspiration from jazz related composers such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Miles Davis, Paul Motian or RJ Miller, as well as other favorites across genres such as Ravel, Messiaen, Debussy or Radiohead.
In 2022, a year after they could start performing live, Eloi received the highest grant by Amarte Fonds allowing them to record their debut album, which will be released on August 23rd under ZenneZ/Berthold records.
