Hugo Fernandez Crossing Quartett

The band blends modern jazz with influences from minimal music, Afro-Brazilian music, and other genres, combining structured compositions with expressive improvisation.

With Benedikt Jahnel’s nuanced piano playing, Thiago Duarte’s earthy and globally influenced bass, and Philipp Bernhardt’s dynamic drumming, a sound emerges that is both sophisticated and open—effortlessly navigating between tradition and new musical paths.

• Hugo Fernandez – Guitar and Compositions
• Benedikt Jahnel – Piano
• Thiago Duarte – double bass
• Philipp Bernhardt – Drums

Hugo Fernandez is a Mexican jazz guitarist who moved from Madrid to Berlin more than 10 years ago. He began his training at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied with jazz educators such as Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Crook, and Ed Tomassi. There he also met musicians Antonio Sanchez, Anat Cohen, Avishai Cohen, Miguel Zenon, and Lage Lund. Since earning his master’s degree in jazz studies in New Orleans in 2003, Hugo Fernandez has been a regular at festivals and jazz clubs around the globe: Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid, Festival del Centro Histórico (Mexico), Teatro de la Ciudad (Mexico), HKW Berlin, Festival de Jazz de Madrid, Festival Internacional de la Guitarra de Guatemala, Jazz Fermin (Spain), Jazz en el Centro (Gijón), Fundación Olivar de Castillejo (Spain), B Flat, Kunstfabrik Schlot, and many others...

Christoph Benedikt Jahnel (born May 28, 1980, in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France) is a German jazz musician (piano, composition) and mathematician. He began taking piano lessons at the age of ten and discovered a passion for improvisation and jazz at an early age. He was a member of the BundesJugendJazzOrchester, studied jazz piano at the Berlin University of the Arts and in New York with John Patitucci, Garry Dial, Clarence Penn, Kenny Werner, and Jean-Michel Pilc, among others. Concerts have taken him to nearly 50 countries.

Thiago Duarte is a bassist and composer from southern Brazil. As a sideman, he has already played with greats such as Egberto Gismonti, Joao Bosco, and Airto Moreira, and recorded the album "If You Will" with Flora Purim, which was nominated for a 2022 Grammy in the "Best Latin Jazz Album" category. He has performed at festivals and in clubs across the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia. In 2021, he released a trio album featuring Airto Moreira on two tracks. His next album, Casas e Raízes, blends his Afro-Brazilian roots with influences from the European music scene.

Philipp Bernhardt, a native of Braunschweig, studied jazz drums at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany and later at the City College of New York, where he studied with John Riley and Jamey Haddad. He has toured Europe, Asia, and the U.S. with music projects spanning various genres. Bernhardt has performed with Ron Carter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Daniels, Alan Bern, Joan Baez, Gene Pritsker, Heliocentric Counterblast, MR ZARKO, Fanfara Kalashnikov, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Absolute Ensemble for Tom Tykwer’s film production “Babylon Berlin.”