JAVIER VERCHER
It's the sax guy
JAVIER VERCHER
It's the sax guy
Born in Madrid, 1978. At the age of 6, his family moved to Gandía (Valencia) where he began to study music theory, piano and clarinet under the guidance of his father. After finishing his classical clarinet studies at the conservatory he became interested in Jazz and attended several seminars with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Perico Sambeat and Jorge Pardo between 1995/96 organized by Sedajazz.
In 1997 “Berklee College of Music” in Boston and the A.I.E. (Association of Performers and Executives) awarded him a scholarship to study in Boston, where he graduated with a degree in Performance in 2000.
There he studied with great masters of improvisation and contemporary harmony such as George Garzone, Frank Tiberi, Rakalam Bob Moses, Dino Govoni, Ken Cervenka and Andy McGhee.
In 2001, he moved to New York and started playing and recording albums with various musicians of the local jazz scene such as Lionel Loueke, Henry Cole, Francisco Mela, Ferenc Nemeth, David Kikoski, Chris Higgins, Sam Yahel or Robert Glasper.
During this period (2003/06), he also freelanced on several recording projects and toured the US, UK and the Netherlands with the American folk duo Chip Taylor/Carrie Rodriguez, where on some occasions he had the opportunity to play and record with guitarist Bill Frisell (Seven Angels on a Bicycle, EMI).
During 2007/08, Vercher worked with the artist Alejandro Sanz presenting the album “Tren de los momentos” (2006-Warner). He had an important contact with outstanding American Rhythm & Blues musicians such as Mike Ciro, Nathan Townsley or Selan Lerner, among others from flamenco and Latin pop such as Carlos Martin, Chris Hierro, Alfonso Perez, Luis Dulzaides or Steve Rodriguez. As a result of this period, the group toured extensively throughout Latin America, Spain and the United States for approximately two years.
In 2009 he moved to Spain and resumed his career as a solo musician playing and recording in Europe and the United States with artists such as Jorge Rossy, Billy Hart, Kevin Hays, Lionel Loueke, Moises P. Sanchez, Sam Yahel, Polo Orti, Ben Monder, Perico Sambeat, Masa Kamaguchi, Albert Sanz, Pepi Taveira and Roberto Gatto among others.
It is worth mentioning the excellent contributions he has made as a composer to the world of documentary film with the soundtracks of: The Architect of New York, Guastavino (2016, RTVE), Josep Renau. L’ Art en perill (2018, RTVE), Chicote, el barman de las estrellas(2019, RTVE), Bosch i Morata, Sempre els quatre(2019, A PUNT), Mujeres sin censura(2022, RTVE) and Javier Goerlich, El arquitecto que soñó con su ciudad(2023, A PUNT).
And, his work as professor of saxophone/clarinet/flauta and ensemble at Berklee College of Music – Valencia since early 2016.