João Hasselberg
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João Hasselberg (born in Lisbon in 1986) is a Portuguese musician. He began playing electric bass at the age of 15, taught by Gregg Moore. In 2004, he graduated from high school and began to study at the jazz school of Hot Clube de Portugal. One year later he quit the electric bass and switched to the double bass with Nelson Cascais as a mentor. In that same year, he recorded with IMI Kollektief the album "Snug As A Gun" for Clean Feed Records with Alípio C. Neto (ts), Elsa Vandeweyer (vib), Jean-Marc Charmier (trp), Rui Gonçalves (drums).
"The IMI Kollektief demonstrates the global power of improvised music's appeal, specifically that strain lovingly referred to as jazz. Supported by an abiding preference for boisterous free-bop, the IMI Kollektief traffics in a menagerie of sonic pleasures. Brazilian tenor saxophonist Alipio Carvalho Neto, French trumpet player Jean-Marc Charmier, Belgian vibraphonist Elsa Vandeweyer and the Portuguese rhythm section of bassist João Hasselberg and drummer Rui Gonçalves deliver a feisty program of infectious melodies infused with pneumatic swing.
Taken from a line by Seamus Heaney, Snug As A Gun is a thrill ride through histories both real and imagined. The sprightly circus-theme bounce of “Proof Boum Boum” and the title track invoke the sort of manic, noir inflected chase music so fondly adapted from Raymond Scott by such visionaries as Phillip Johnston and John Zorn for their genre-pillaging works. But this ensemble doesn't rely on cut and paste tricks for shock value, their's is a wholly organic approach. Unafraid of tradition, the ensemble mines rich territory with Vandeweyer's vibes evoking the experimental zeal of the more adventurous 1960s Prestige and Blue Note sessions.
''The ostensible leader of the ensemble, Neto's Brazilian heritage materializes on occasion, such as on the driving “Thierry na Caatinga.” Many of the tunes' quirky angularities and oddball meters invoke the influence of Steve Lacy. Oscillating between deconstructed funk rhythms, sprightly group interplay and energetic swing, “The Hole in My Sole” blends divergent genres. With whip smart horn charts, propulsive rhythms and energy to spare, the IMI Kollektief premiers with a bang.
Tracks: Proof Boum Boum; Frevo Sonoris Causa; Snug As A Gun; Fucked Up; Hitching; Manhanhão; The Hole In My Sole; Thierry Na Caatinga; ZEDAVIS; Pão de Deus."'' by All About Jazz
In 2006 he moves to Amsterdam to study in the Conservatory van Amsterdam, where he is working on new projects as Inner Energy.
