​Alvaro Lopez

Biography

 

 

 

Alvaro 'Al' Lopez is a Spanish-German drummer - percussionist,

arranger and songwriter based in London. He began his drumming

career playing his mother's pots and pans and has since those early

days, played with an eclectic range of bands and artists, embracing

musical styles from Jazz to Pop via Trip-Hop & Samba. 

 

After his music degree at the London School Of Music and Media, Alvaro studied percussion in Cuba under "Betún", Luis Valiente Marín, of Chachaito Lopez's band (Buena Vista Social Club). A few years later this was followed by a Masters in Jazz Performance at Guildhall School of Music & Drama under the tutelage of Ralph Salmins and Trevor Tomkins.

It was during his time at GSMD that Al's love of all great music (not just Jazz) became very apparent. 

 

He is noted for his work with critically-acclaimed British trip-hop

band Second Person. After releasing three albums over seven years,

the group eventually disbanded and since then session work has been

Alvaro's main focus. He has played or recorded with, among others, the

following bands and artists:  Tim Minchin, Dee C Lee,

The Feeling (then called Loza), Badger Badger, Julia Gray, Karim Haas, Abel The Kid, Caiyo, Sol Chango, Sabor A Mi, Guilermo Rozenthuler, RomD Collective, NZ Rapper Maitreya of The Babysitters Club, Azadeh and Flamenco Guitarist Ricardo Garcia.