Filipe Melo

Born in Lisbon, Filipe Melo was arrested and interrogated at 15 for hacking. He decided then to devote himself playing the piano, getting early interest in jazz and improvisation. Since then, his life focused on music and film, having played with numerous Portuguese jazz musicians. He studied in Hotclube from Portugal and at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he graduated summa cum laude. He was a winner of the Villas-Boas of the Camara de Cascais and the revelation of the award Jazz Portugal site.

Melo is also a teacher, arranger and orchestrator, having worked or played with musicians and groups such as Peter Bernstein, Camané, Carlos do Carmo, GNR, Donald Harrison Jr., Jesse Davis, Sheila Jordan, Paulinho Braga, Swingle Singers, Martin Taylor, Perico Sambeat, Herb Geller, Orquestra de Jazz do Hotclube and Orquestra Metropolitana, among many others. He has more than 12 albums recorded between work and contributions as a leader.

Melo's hobby and greatest passion is cinema: in 2003, he founded O PATO PROFISSIONAL, a production company dedicated to the fantastic genre. Produced, wrote and directed several projects of worship: "I'll See You in My Dreams", winner of the 2004 FANTASPORTO and 12 international awards, and "A World Catita," a series of six television episodes shown in RTP. He also held music videos and documentaries. He is the author of "The Amazing Adventures of Dog Mendonça and Pizzaboy!", edited by Ink-China in early 2010. This book has a foreword by John Landis, director of "Thriller", and won the award for best screenplay in BD AMATEUR 2010 and is now in its 3rd edition.

Melo is currently a board member of the Hotclube Portugal. Having earned a master's degree at the School of Music, he teaches piano and harmony at the University of Évora, Lusíada University and the School of Music. He keeps a busy schedule to play the piano with several groups while preparing new projects for film, music and BD.