Júlio Resende

Júlio Resende is one of the most international Portuguese musicians, with nine released albums.

He was born in Faro, Algarve region, Portugal, and spent his childhood in neighbouring Olhão. Having started to play the piano at the age of 4, he considers this instrument his favourite toy. After studying classical piano at the Conservatório of Faro, his taste for improvisation led him to Jazz, as he needed “a musical language which demands freedom”. In Júlio’s words, “Jazz is not a style; it’s a way of thinking. In Improvisation and Jazz, I found a musical language that works this way, in freedom and demands this of its musicians”.

In 2001, Resende moved to Lisbon. While studying Philosophy at the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, he became involved in the musical activities of the Hot Clube de Portugal. He later went to Paris to study Jazz at the Université de St. Denis – Paris VIII. During this period, he participated in workshops which led him to work with musicians from Hot Clube, the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Berklee College of Music, and the Bill Evans Academy.

His career began with Jazz, passed through Pop-Rock and the Spoken Word, and recently came to Fado in a never-ending search for the perfect place that doesn’t exist. The attainment of this continuous state of dissatisfaction and irreverence allows him to explore even more and more, allowing those who listen to him to come into contact with discoveries.

After recording his first three projects in a jazz trio or quartet (“Da Alma” – 2007, “Assim Falava Jazzatustra” – 2009, “You Taste Like a Song” – 2011), he decided to improvise on other musical genres, like Fado, mixing tradition with modernity and launching, from his piano, a new look over the traditional Portuguese song.

Based on Amália Rodrigues’ (the “Diva” of Fado) most popular themes, Júlio Resende accepts new challenges: bringing Fado to the piano, singing the melodies with the piano instead of just accompanying them and expressing with the piano everything that Fado means. “Amália por Júlio Resende”, released in 2013 by Valentim de Carvalho, was unanimously acclaimed by all Portuguese music critics and received CHOC DISC*****5 Stars by the prestigious French magazine CLASSICA, which ranks the best musicians and instrumentalists in the world.

As a talented and creative improviser, Júlio goes further and risks a(n) (im)possible duet with Amália, serving the Diva’s voice with his piano on the theme “Medo”. Fifteen years after the disappearance of Amália Rodrigues, Júlio Resende manages to convince Valentim de Carvalho (Amália’s editor) and, for the first time in history, a musician is allowed to play with the voice of the Diva.

In 2015, following his first solo project where he integrated Fado and Jazz, Júlio Resende released his fifth album, “Fado & Further”, which includes the participation of Catalan Sílvia Pérez Cruz, one of the most outstanding Spanish female singers.

His sixth album opened the challenge for a new paradigm: the spoken word and poetry, in a happy encounter with the Psychiatrist and Sexologist Júlio Machado Vaz. “Poesia Homónima” (2016) proves that art has no barriers and opens the path for a new relationship between the pianist and poetry. These are poems by Eugénio de Andrade and Gonçalo M. Tavares, in the unmistakable voice of Júlio Machado Vaz, accompanied by the improvisation on the piano by Júlio Resende.

In 2017, Júlio Resende released the most daring and divergent creations. Based on the English poetry of Fernando Pessoa, he created a Pop-Rock band with influences from indie and electronic music to which he gave the name “Alexander Search”, one of Pessoa’s most important heteronyms and who wrote almost exclusively in English. In June, the album went directly to the third position at the top of national sales, confirming that it was a winning bet.

“Cinderella Cyborg” is his eighth album. Released in 2018, it’s a musical adventure, an assumed courtship between man and machine, between the acoustic of the piano, the drums and the bass, and the electronic sounds of the pads and chips.

In December 2019, the pianists Júlio Resende and Maria João Pires performed together for the first time in a memorable show in which the creative spirits of both artists converged. They sought to create a new “concert recipe” whose unique character promotes unparalleled moments in a musical dialogue. Improvisation, fantasy, and inspiration – essential elements in the pianists’ performances – gave way to a concert exceptional of its kind.

2020 was the year in which Júlio Resende released the album “Júlio Resende – Fado Jazz Ensemble”. This unique Jazz and World Music project synthesises a creative vision of a dialogue between Jazz and Fado. The instrumental ensemble comprises a jazz trio – piano, double bass and drums – and the distinctive Portuguese guitar that gives a unique character to the show. ACT Music re-released this album worldwide in February 2022, and is receiving outstanding reviews from some of the most renowned critics.