Alto saxophonist Lucas Santana (b. Sao Paolo, 1993) arrived in the Netherlands in 2015. He was nominated as a member of the JM Jazz World Orchestra by the Amsterdam University of the Arts in 2019. A sensible decision, because his debut album Reflections (2020), which he recorded at the Lullabye Factory with his Lucas Santana 5tet (pianist Jetse de Jong, guitarist Davor Stehlik, bassist Tijs Klaassen and drummer Tim Hennekes) made an immediate impression with its dynamic hard bop featuring pieces the saxophonist wrote himself. That debut was followed by the album Ambivalence in 2022. It too received rave reviews. On it, the group again explores the outer limits of loudness and softness, but they also convincingly convey the delicacy of a lyrical melody. Besides playing with his own group, Santana also plays in the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and the Metropole Orkest, among others.
