DESCRIPTION:
Mario Castro's debut quintet album; "primavera"(2012) was released under Greg Osby's record label Inner Circle Music. Primavera consists of nine original compositions by Mario and his quintet, seven of them credited to Castro. The recording features his long time Berklee College of Music classmates and close friends bassist Tamir Shmerling, drummer Jonathan Pinson, pianist KyuMin Shim and trumpeter David Neves, plus collaborations by sound designer Gabo and vocalists Julia Easterlin, Anita Fearon and Kathleen Doran. Every composition in this album has a special place, meaning and reason. There are no tracks on this album that are present just to take up time. Primavera is a piece of art from beginning to end.

featuring:
Julia Easterlin: vocals

Mario Castro: composer, saxophone & background vocals @themariocastro
David Neves: trumpet
KyuMin Shim: piano
Tamir Shmerling: bass
Jonathan Pinson: drums
Anita Fearon & Kathleen Doran: Background Vocals
Gabo: Sound Design

"Producing your first recording as a leader is quite a challenge on several fronts, mostly since this will be what people remember about you for at least awhile. On this recording Mario Castro shows all sides of his talents... arranging and composing along with the actual playing; a gorgeous sound on the tenor and most of all , leadership and passion. The music is infectious with the band members contributing to a repertoire that touches on several different stylistic trends of modern jazz. But for me, most of all is that this is a real JAZZ recording, no tricks, no games, pure beauty, energy and honesty. For a premier performance it doesn't get much better. My compliments"

-Dave Liebman

Filmed by: Manuel Lara @mnulara