“I have dedicated most part of my life to the study of erudite music and jazz. As an artist I always felt like a learner, an eternal apprentice. In order to evolve I must break those rules and get free of the shapes, unbound myself from the commonplaces and the tight structures of jazz idioms. Therefore I keep on studying to reach total freedom.” These are the words of Carlos Barretto, who is the leading figure in Portuguese jazz today. “Suite da Terra” ( BAB, 1998 ) was the esthetic turning point for this musician who is not only the most important representative of portuguese jazz but also a reference of modern european jazz. With him, on this trip, are two other major names in portuguese jazz; guitar player Mário Delgado and drummer / percussionist José Salgueiro. Guesting as soloists were Louis Sclavis, previously (“Radio Song”), and now François Corneloup. His passion for low pitched instruments like bass clarinet, baritone saxophone or tuba, and the search for modernity within a markedly european perspective, have atracted towards his music these mostly interesting french musicians. Corneloup is a saxophone player with a vocabulary charged with urgency, with an exploding sound. His fusion with the trio allowed him greater freedom and improvising intensity than in previous collaborations and contributed for a landmark recording in both the trio and Corneloups discography. The growing internationalization of Carlos Barretto activity has taken his music to many diverse destinations like Grece, United Kingdom, China, Belgium, Italy, Finland and Cape Vert, among others. Internationally, Carlos Barretto worked with many artists, namely: Horace Parlan, George Cables, Kirk Lightsey, Alain Jean Marie, Mal Waldron, Brad Mehldau, Lee Konitz, Barry Altschul, George Brown, Cindy Blackman, Joe Chambers, Jordy Rossy, Aldo Romano, Don Moye, Richard Galliano, Tony Scott, Glenn Ferris, Steve Grossman, Karl Berger, John Stubblefield, Steve Potts, Steve Lacy, Gary Bartz, Art Farmer, Jack Walrath, Marlon Jordan, John Betsch and Gerard Presencer.