BIOGRAPHY
Theo Pascal
Composer-multi-instrumentalist-bassist-MD
Master of Arts in Creative music production/mixing and mastering
by the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance
(London-UK)
Theo Pascal is one of the most talented and inspired Portuguese multi-instrumentalist-composer-producers
in the Worldmusic/Lusophone-Jazz scene.
He has been playing professionally since he was 13 years old and has a strong background of tours in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia as a solo artist, bass player and musical director.
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He recorded several albums as a session player or guest musician with Portuguese and African artists from Cape Verde, Mozambique, Angola and Guinea Bissau (Carmen Souza, Sara Tavares, Ildo Lobo,
Maria Alice, Eneida Marta, D.Kikas, etc).
Recorded next to musicians like Bob Mintzer, Dave Weckl or Tom Kennedy, Was directed by artist Lokua Kansa - one of the most talented African singer/musician/producer in the world.
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Was Sara Tavares’s bass player in the first 8 years of her career and her Musical Director for the 'MI MA BOÌ‚' tour until
he decided to leave the project in 2001 to pursue his solo work.
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His first solo album, released in 2001 – Quamundos - received great reviews from the Portuguese Press and international music community and entered playlists on Portuguese radios like Antena 3 or RDP Africa Radio - the Portuguese representative of EBU and World Music Charts. 'Mutebass' and 'Different Moon', two of Quamundos’s songs, entered the playlist at KDFA FM 94.1 Berkeley USA Radio in a World Music Program directed by Kutay Derin,
at the time, the co-founder and program director of the San Francisco World Music Festival, making it to several other radio
programs around the world.
In 2001, this was the first solo album ever released in Portugal by a
Bass player.
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In 2002, Theo Pascal was the producer and musical director in the Political campaign of Durão Barroso, who ended up being elected Portugal's Prime Minister and later the
President of the European Commission for several years.
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Before his 30s, he founded his independent record label -
TheoOTheZz later re-named Jazzpilon - and in 2003 signed a publishing deal with one of the biggest independent
publishers in the World - PEERMUSIC.
Pascal was the first Portuguese artist to sign with Peermusic.
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Between the years of 2002 and 2011, besides his 2 solo albums - 'Quamundos' (2001) and 'Motive' (2005), he produced more than 20 CDs with several Portuguese, African, and Brazilian artists and was the mentor of 2 pioneering Portuguese projects supported
by major telecommunication companies:
PT Communications (Currently ALTICE) and Alcatel Portugal.
‘PT Project’ and ‘Alcatel Rec’ were projects conceived to discover new musical talents in the Portuguese scene across different styles -World Music, African music, Jazz, Fusion, Fado, etc.
With Alcatel Rec the search was done using the Internet something pioneering at the time. Both projects included
Theo Pascal’s production of a music/video compilation and
3 major live music events in Lisbon and Oporto.
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In 2003, after discovering Carmen Souza back in 1999 in an audition for one of his projects, he started producing and co-writing her debut album and in the process, together they created a unique sound signature that reflected their love for Jazz, the Cape Verdean heritage of Souza plus other Lusophone influences.
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To this day, all 10 albums that Theo Pascal produced and co-wrote with Carmen Souza gathered an impressive amount of amazing reviews from the International Press justifying several tours around the World.
In 2008 he moved to London,
a geographic and strategic decision that would impact his career development and increase
his mobility for touring in Europe.
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Pascal's compositions have been included in several international playlists and broadcasted live by major TV/Radio stations like BBC Radio 3 (UK), Vrije Geluiden (NL), CBC (CA), RDP/RTP Africa (PT), CONCERTZENDER (NL), WDR/3Sat (DE), etc.
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He also composed and produced several advertising jingles and station IDs for Portuguese major TV Channel:
SIC Noticias and RTP2.
In 2016 was shortlisted by BLITZ MAGAZINE (the only music magazine in Portugal) as one of the best bass players in Portugal from
the previous 30 years.
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In 2019, just before COVID hit us all, Theo Pascal opened his studio and artist hub in Lisbon (thisissessions.com) and recorded with Carmen Souza the album
'The Silver Messengers' a tribute to Horace Silver.
The album got into all the press charts for World Music and Jazz in Europe: World Music Charts Europe, Transglobal World Music Chart, and
Europe Jazz media chart.
The album was FIP selection album in France and got 4-star reviews in Downbeat magazine (USA), Songlines (UK), among other 4 & 5 Star reviews around the world.
With this album, Carmen Souza was the cover story at Jazzthetik Jazz magazine, one of the main Jazz magazines in Germany.
In the USA the album was on the radio Jazz charts for 11 months
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Aside from being Carmen Souza’s composer and producer,
Theo Pascal is also her musical director, bass player and her double bass player.
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In 2020, Pascal completed his studies and was awarded a Master´s Degree with Distinction in Creative music production/Mixing and Mastering by the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London/UK.
His thesis project sparked his fire to discover and have a deeper understanding of Lusophone music and Culture. Kukambula was born and is still a work in progress.
Meanwhile, watch the Documentary he directed, produced and recorded in Lisbon- Kukambula - Lusophone Gathering.
In 2021, Theo Pascal's solo album QUAMUNDOS2 received funding from Arts Council England and the LIVE SHOW was selected to showcase as a premiere to a sold-out audience at the 33rd Mercat de Musica Viva de Vic in Spain.
Pascal's third solo album "Quamundos2"
was released by Galileo Music on the 20th of May 2022.
Quamundos2 gathered impressive reviews, radio airplay around the World and chart positions on the World Music Charts Europe (#15) and the Jazz Week USA radio charts (15 weeks).
By the end of 2022, it was included in the World Music Charts Europe – ‘Best Albums of the Year 22’ list at position #76.
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In the end of 2022, Carmen Souza´s 10th album with Theo Pascal - Interconnectedness - was also released to amazing reviews all over the World, getting them on the road touring.
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DISCOGRAPHY:
Theo Pascal - Quamundos (2001) - TheOoThezz
Theo Pascal - Motive (2005) - TheOoTheZz
Carmen Souza - Ess ê Nha Cabo Verde (2005) -TheOoTheZz
Carme Souza –Verdade (2008) – Jazzpilon/Galileo
Carmen Souza –Protegid (2010) - Jazzpilon/Galileo
Carmen Souza Feat Theo Pascal-London Acoustic Set (2012) -Jazzpilon/Galileo
Carmen Souza - Kachupada (2013) - Jazzpilon/Galileo
Carmen Souza - Live at Lagny jazz festival (2014) - Jazzzpilon /Galileo
Carmen Souza & Theo Pascal-Epistola (2015) Jazzpilon/Galileo Carmen Souza - Creology (2017) Jazzpilon/Galileo
Carmen Souza -The Silver Messengers (2019) Jazzpilon/Galileo
Theo Pascal - Quamundos2 (2022) Jazzpilon/Galileo
Carmen Souza - Interconnectedness (2022) Jazzpilon/Galileo