Ginga: Bio
Greg LaLiberte - Flute, saxophones, percussion, vocal
Greg, a woodwind specialist, has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, The Temptations, The Four Tops, the Boulder Philharmonic, Rita Moreno, Barry Manilow, the Opera Orchestra of Albuquerque, Paul McCandless, Art Lande, Kai Eckhardt, Ty Burhoe, Bill Douglas, and his pianist mother, Patricia LaLiberte, in the LaLiberte Duo. He has won several competitions with the National Flute Association, is recorded on many CD’s as a sideman, and performs regularly throughout Colorado and the Midwest as a classical and jazz musician. Formerly the Instructor of Flute at Colorado State University and Instructor of Saxophone at the University of Colorado, Denver, Greg currently lives in Boulder and teaches privately.
Francisco Marques - Guitar, percussion, vocal
Francisco was born in Sao Paulo, Brasil on Oct. 12, 1978. He was raised in Chevy Chase, Maryland where he first picked up the guitar. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) in 1996 and began his formal music studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he focused on classical guitar and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2000. He has been playing in the Boulder area since June of 2000, w/ a variety of bands in a variety of styles. Along w/ guitar Francisco plays cavaquinho, pandeiro, and other Brazilian percussion instruments. He has studied with private instructors in the D.C. area as well as in the Denver/Boulder area. In 2003 he coutinued his studies on the classical guitar, for a year, at the University of Colorado School of Music and during the summer of 2004 he studied guitar and cavaquinho wih private instructors at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), in Salvador, Bahia. Francisco regularly plays with other several other Brasilian inspired ensembles in the Boulder/Denver area. Kid Akimbo, Samba Song, and Beco do Choro.
Bill Kopper - Guitar, percussion, vocal
Boulder guitarist, Bill Kopper, who grew up on the Mississippi River, is also a percussionist and joins in on Ginga’s vocals. His extensive musical experience includes R&B, pop music, jazz and blues. He commented, “I also love the music of Brazil and have gotten into a branch of it called Choro - a sort of jazz music in Brazil.” He played for several years with Billy Tolles, “a masterful tenor saxophonist.” He said he has also had, “...a long-time musical friendship with Sonya Vallet, who conjures an incredible Gypsy-Flamenco-Carioca spirit.” Bill has also, “... done some gigs lately with MaxJazz artist, Rene Marie.” He is also a member of the Bob Montgomery quartet, “...who has put together a group that integrates guitar into the horn section in a very unique way.” In addition, he plays with Brazilian drummer, Henrique de Almeida's band, The Brazilian Jazz Project. Bill has recorded with: Peter Yellen, Rehka Ohal, Mike Pagan, Henrique de Almeida, Garner & Geena Pruit and others. Check him out at: billkopper.com
Raoul Rossiter - Drums, percussion, vocal
Raoul has been playing the drums for nearly 20 years. He started off playing simultaneously in a Christian dixieland band, a fairly 'out' jazz trio, and a prog-rock outfit called "Frogpile". The rest is ... the rest. Some highlights along the way include: meeting and performing Brazilian music with Mitchell Long (6 years), completing a five-45-minute-sets-per-night-for-28-days-in-a-row stint with a latin/pop band at a club in Zürich (not so much a highlight as a feat ... or something), jamming at El Chapultapec with Fred Wesley, playing with the amazing Renée Marie, and joining Hamster Theatre (www.hamstertheatre.com). Recently he has performed with Kenny Walker, Bill Kopper, Erik Deutsch, Sonya Valet, Marguerite Juenemann, Dexter Payne (www.dexterpayne.com), Diane French (www.dianefrench.net), Lois LaFond (loislafond.com), Tina Marx, Hamster Theatre, and many others. Currently he's the regular drummer for Hamster Theatre, Ginga, the Dexter Payne Quartet, Diane French, Lois LaFonde, and Tina Marx.
Bijou Barbosa - Bass
For Bijoux's extensive bio and more info, see his myspace page:
www.myspace.com/bijouxmusic