"Luis first picked up a trumpet when he decided to participate in a Philarmonic Association. Later he had private classes with Tomás Pimentel.He attended the Escola de Jazz Luís Villas Boas/ Hot Club de Portugal, where he had the chance to study with João Moreira, Tomás Pimentel, Vasco Mendonça, Afonso Pais, Filipe Melo, Bruno Santos e André Fernandes. During these years, he also participated in workshop with musicians such as Evan Parker, Chris Speed, Mário Laginha, David Binney, Jesse Davis, Julian Arguelles, Ohad Talmor, André Fernandes, Pedro Madaleno e Phil Grenadier.

He already played in dozens of venues and festivals in Portugal and across Europe. He performed and recorded with Carlos Zingaro, Wilbert De Joode, Akira Sakata, Johannes Bauer, Oori Shalev, Jorrit Dijkstra, Kaido Yutaka, Jasper Stadhouders, Giovanni Di Domenico, Mary Oliver, Nuno Rebelo, Jonathan Hafner, André Fernandes, Joost Buis, Marco Franco, Steve Heather, Mette Rasmussen, John Dikeman, Roberto Negro, João Lobo, Hugo Antunes, Valentin Ceccaldi, Seppe Gebruers, José Ernesto Rodrigues, Onno Govaert, Rodrigo Amado, Tó Trips, Luís Lopes, Federico Pascucci, Théo Ceccaldi.

Currently he plays his own tunes in trio and quartet and is a member of : Vicente|Marjamaki; Clocks& Clouds; Fail Better!; Twenty One 4tet; Deux Maisons; Chamber 4; W.A.S?; Jasper Stadhouders' International Improv Esnsemble."

"John Dikeman was born in Nebraska in 1983 and grew up in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Thanks to the extreme isolation of his hometown, he spent most of his free time practicing and studying music. He quickly discovered the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, John Zorn, and Albert Ayler and instantly connected to the unmatched expressive power of free jazz. John was very fortunate to meet and collaborate with many excellent improvisers at a rather early age. Dikeman started performing professionally at the age of 16 after meeting New Mexican guitarist Stefan Dill who became a mentor for John. Stefan also introduced Dikeman to Jack Wright who was living in Boulder, Colorado at the time. Jack would prove to be one of John's biggest influences and a long time collaborator (as well as short term landlord). John also spent a summer in Arkansas where he was able to woodshed and perform with saxophonist Keefe Jackson and bassist Jon Barrios.

Dikeman left Wyoming in 1999 to study saxophone and composition at the Interlochen Arts Academy and then briefly at Bennington College where he attended courses with drumming legend Milford Graves and was also able to collaborate regularly with drummer Ben Hall. John also studied privately with Joe Maneri during this period.

John then moved to New York City for one year where he worked as a satellite dish technician while performing as much as possible. After NYC, John moved to Philadelphia. Frequent collaborators of this time included Daniel Carter, Lukas Ligeti, and Ty Cumbie in The Color Now Band, Nate Wooley, Mike Pride, Jonathan Vincent, Jack Wright, Toshi Makihara, Jon Barrios, Kurt Heyl, Zack Fuller, Reuben Radding, Ava Mendoza, Raed Yassin, Daniel Carter, Jonathan Fretheim, Mike Barker and many others.

In 2004, Dikeman moved to Cairo, Egypt. In the three years he was there, he worked regularly as a performer, studio musician, and teacher. He performed as a soloist with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, played and traveled throughout North Africa with Nubian pop star Mohamed Mounir, led his own jazz bands which performed weekly in downtown Cairo, performed and recorded with DJ Haze, played countless weddings and party's with The Riff Band, and served as the saxophonist in most Egyptian bands that needed one. He also performed at the Lebanese improvised music festival, Irtijal, in 2005 and 2006.

John moved to Amsterdam in December of 2007, after a brief stay in Budapest, Hungary. Since arriving in Amsterdam, John has jumped at the chance to re-enter the world of improvised music. John performs regularly in the Netherlands in venues including the Bimhuis, Paard van Troje, Café Wilhelmina, Paradox, Lindenberg, OT301, etc... John is also a curator for the OT301 New Music and Dance Program as well as the Tabula Rasa series at the Maarten Luther Kerk. Since moving to Amsterdam John has performed with Joe McPhee, Han Bennink, Andy Moor, Terrie Ex, Roy Campbell, Hilliard Greene, Mike Reed, Jeb Bishop, Ab Baars, Nate McBride, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Vatcher, Jason Roebke, Wilbert De Joode, Dirk Bruinsma, Jasper Stadhouders, Onno Govaert, Andrea Taeggi, Frank Rosaly, Klaus Kugel, Yedo Gibson, Renato Ferreira, Raoul van der Weide, Eric Boeren, Viljam Nybacka, Wim Jenssen, Oscar Jan Hoogland, Ivo Bol, Alfredo Genovesi, Meinrad Kneer, Gerri Jager, Stevko Busch, and numerous other musicians from the Dutch and international improvisation scene."

"Wilbert de Joode (1955) is a veritable research scientist of bass pizzicato and bowing techniques. A self-taught musician, he has been playing the double-bass since 1982. He began working in groups that improvised within a jazz framework. Other musicians were soon drawn to his idiosyncratic style, and in the mid 80s he played in groups led by Vera Vingerhoeds, Armando Cairo and Ig Henneman where he further developed his improvisation skills. He came into contact with such musicians as J.C.Tans, Rinus Groeneveld, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink, Han Buhrs (Schismatics) and Ab Baars.

De Joode is currently one of the most active bass players on the European improvised music circuit. His individual style and musicality transforms the double bass into an equal partner in the most varied ensembles. A personal tone colour, exploration of the outer registers, quirky improvisations and the use of gut strings contribute to an instantly recognizable and intriguing sound.

The seventeen improvised pieces on his first solo cd Olo (distributed by ToonDist) show how rich and complex his sound on the double bass is."