Jean Pierre Magnet Vargas Prada (born in Lima, Peru on September 11, 1949) is a saxophonist, composer, music producer, and director.

Early life

Magnet is the oldest of three and the son of a French Basque father and Peruvian mother. He started his musical career at an early age while working with his father at Country Club Hotel in Lima, Peru. At 10 years old, he revealed his dream to become a saxophonist to his father who immediately gave him his first saxophone. During his adolescence, magnet joined Traffic Sound, a Peruvian rock band in the late 1960s. The band recorded covers of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, The Rascals, The Animals, and Iron Butterfly. Traffic Sound recorded four albums: ''A Bailar Go Go'', ''Virgin'', ''Traffic Sound'' and ''Lux'', with "Meshkalina" their greatest hit between the 1970s and 1980s.

Education

In 1972, Traffic Sound disbanded. At age 20, Magnet began his studies of music theory and flute at the National Conservatory of Buenos Aires in Argentina, followed by jazz at the University of Southern Mississippi. Afterwards, he moved to San Francisco where undertook his first gigs as street musician, striving to accomplish his greatest dream, which was to study at Berklee School of Music of Boston.

Fusing jazz with Peruvian rhythms

In Peru, Magnet organized five jazz festivals, featuring Arturo Sandoval, Ray Barreto, Irakere, Paquito D'Rivera, and Alex Acuña for the first time in Lima, Peru. Magnet was invited to Satchmo's, a jazz club in Peru. He formed Wayruro, a band that played Andean music with other styles. In 1984 he established the PeruJazz quartet with Manongo Mujica, Enrique Luna, and Julio "Chocolate" Algendones. PeruJazz was the first band to combine African-Peruvian and Andean rhythms with jazz. The band performed at Umbria Festival of Italy in 1987, playing after

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. PeruJazz performed for two consecutive years at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada (1989 and 1990). In 1990, PeruJazz played at the

New Music America Festival New Music America was a nomadic American festival (held in Montreal during its last year) showcasing at its origins New York City's Downtown Music, but growing into one of the largest new music festivals ever held in North America, all in an attem ...

(Miami) and the

Cervantino Festival The Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC), popularly known as ''El Cervantino'', is a festival which takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. The festival originates from the mid 20th century, when short play ...

in Mexico, besides London, Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Hamburg. In 1997 Magnet founded Gran Banda (Great Band), performing a 1940s big band style which he directed, built on

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particula ...

and

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

. In addition to their repertoire of

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

and Damaso Perez Prado, the band added classic themes and contemporary jazz. Gran Banda provided Magnet with the opportunity to undertake an African-Peruvian and Criollo fusion project featuring

Armando Manzanero Armando Manzanero Canché (7 December 1935 – 28 December 2020) was a Mexican Mayan musician, singer, composer, actor and music producer, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successfu ...

, the Peruvian rock band Fragil, and

Eva Ayllon Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

Serenata de los Andes

In 2006, Magnet recorded ''Serenata Inkaterra'' in co-production with Inkaterra Hotels. This record was released two years later with 25 musicians, featuring Alex Acuña and

Ramón Stagnaro Ramón Stagnaro (May 10, 1954 – February 16, 2022) was a Peruvian guitarist and producer who had a career of 40 years, and who had toured or recorded with many great artists such as Alex Acuña, Eva Ayllon, Diana Ross, Gino Vannelli, Celine Di ...

. Serenata de los Andes has united musical styles from Peruvian Andes, recreating a sort of Andean symphony with 6 violins, 7 saxophones, 5 panflutes, 1 harp, 1 guitar, and percussion. The band toured in 2011 at Teatro de Bellas Artes de Bogota, Colombia and Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York.

Discography

Traffic Sound

* A Bailar Go-Go (Mag, 1968) * Virgin (Mag, 1969) * Traffic Sound (Mag, 1979) * Lux (Sono Radio, 1971)

Wayruro

* Wayruro (1996)

PeruJazz

* PeruJazz en Vivo (Cernicalo Producciones, 2001) * Mundo Nuevo (Cernicalo Producciones, 2007)

La Gran Banda

* Jean Pierre Magnet y La Gran Banda en Vivo (2007) * Eva Ayllon, Jean Pierre Magnet y La Gran Banda – Le Cantan al Peru en Vivo (2007) * Eva Ayllon, Jean Pierre Magnet y La Gran Banda – Del Peru para el Mundo (2007)

Serenata de los Andes

* Serenata Inkaterra (2006) * Serenata de los Andes en Vivo (2009)

Jean Pierre Magnet

* Arroz con Mango (2007) * Criollo (2003) * Mi Peru

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnet, Jean Pierre 1949 births Living people Peruvian people of Basque descent Peruvian musicians Saxophonists 21st-century saxophonists