Mosco Project
Mosco Project was formed in 2016 with the intention of raising awareness to the original compositions by classical Canarian jazz musicians, such as Eliseo Lloreda, Felu Morales and the leader of the group, Juan Carlos León ‘Mosco’. To these outstanding artists on the Canarian scene, the experience and talent of José Méndez ‘Churchi’ & Gino Marcelli were added later. All of them gathered together in the warmth and enthusiasm of 'Mosco', who decided to promote this unique jazz band to review themes and musical creations of all its members, resulting in a repertoire as suggestive as it is eclectic which brings together in its music exotic, classic & contemporary nuances alike.
Argentine writer Julio Cortázar claimed that jazz is a “cloud without borders”. In this path of universality the music of Mosco Project is twinned with rhythms and melodies of the world, such as like ballad, funky, jazz waltz & swing. With over thirty years of experience on the most prestigious festival & concert stages of the archipelago, as well as on the national scene, the members of Mosco Project now show us all their enormous talent, and whose concept of music brings together the Atlantic and exotic air of islands located in the middle of three continents. A land of undeniable multicultural influences.
Juan Carlos León ‘Mosco’ has a long professional career expounded through the saxophone, clarinet and piano as a complementary instrument, as well as being a composer & arranger. He has accompanied international musicians and artists such as Armando Manzanero, Omara Portuondo, Isaad Delgado, Olga Guillot, Lucho Gatica, Victor Manuel, Elsa Baeza, Lorenzo Santamaría… and in the Canary Islands area, different soloists and groups such as Olga Cerpa-Mestisay, Taburiente, Chago Melián & Fabiola Socas, among others.
He has also shared his music with great musicians and jazz figures such as Victor Mendoza, Polo Ortí, Jorge Pardo, Pepi Taveira, Marcelo Geblón, Kike Perdomo, Eliseo Lloreda, Felu Morales, Agustín Carló and shared the stage with musicians of the stature of Chick Corea, John Patitucci, Gary Novak, Bob Berg & Bill Evans among others. He was a member of legendary groups such as La Ferretería, Monoloco, Orquesta Jazz de Canarias, Eliseo Lloreda Quartet & Jazz Friends. In the cinema he has collaborated with David Baute in documentaries such as La memoria silenciada & Fetasianos.
Alongside his artistic career, he teaches at the Funcanorte Foundation (Icod School of Music) – Los realejos), and previously at the Tegueste School of Music, the Santiago del Teide Music Band, as well as tutoring different courses held at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias (Canary Islands Higher School of Music) and the Guimar Music Band.
For Mosco, there is a deep connection between nature and sound in music, in which it is intended to give a name to each scale & each harmonic cadence, with the same simplicity and passion that a name is given to things.
Line-Up:
Juan Carlos León ‘Mosco’: saxophone
Eliseo Lloreda: guitar
Felipe Morales ‘Felu’: bass
Gino Marcelli: piano
José Miguel Méndez ‘Churchi’: drums
