It Never Was You Javier Botella & Albert Sanz

• 1They Cant Take That Away03:25
• 2But Not for Me03:21
• 3It Never Was You02:47
• 4I've Got You Under My Skin03:12
• 5I Concentrate on You03:45
• 6My Ship03:58
• 7So in Love03:31
• 8Every Time We Say Goodbye04:37
• 9Love is Here to Stay02:45
• 10Summertime04:02
• 11Lost in the Stars03:17
• 12Love Walked In03:18
• Total Runtime41:58

Info for It Never Was You

Javier Botella and Albert Sanz sing for Gershwin, Porter and Weill: Bottle, one of the voices with the most personality and active on the national scene, closed the pre-pandemic era with a concert at the Palau de les Arts with a repertoire of swing greats and it took little time to reconvert and propose concerts with all the exquisiteness of a theater but in a reduced and private format, adapting to the new times.

Javier and Albert met thanks to the singer, songwriter and music teacher Celia Mur, one of the pioneers of jazz in Spain. Celia and Albert were performing together in a concert and that is how Javier heard his partner sing for the first time. Albert is a great pianist and composer but he was not in the habit of performing as a vocalist. Javier was so dazzled by their particular, characteristic and unique voice that he thought that one day they should unite them and create a joint project.

“It never was you”

This work draws on American music and jazz standards based on Broadway’s golden age, with teachers Kurt Weill, George Gershwin and Cole Porter as guides and role models. Javier and Albert have made an exquisite selection of songs with the experience and knowledge that a lifetime brings accompanied by this music. They have gone to the essence of the melodies and the original lyrics, respecting the germ of emotion that made this explosion of creativity possible.

Javier Botella, known as the Spanish crooner, he's a scenic animal, a charismatic performer who gives off swing and feeling on all four sides. From a very young age he absorbed the slow and elegant rhythms of jazz and, since then, they have not stopped accompanying him. Javier has two successful albums behind his back, “The best is yet to come” and “All the way”.

Albert Sanz, great pianist and composer, he had early contact with very varied themes and rhythms. From a young age he studied classical piano and began playing concerts and jams. He has obtained important recognitions and has taken advantage of the excellent opportunities that his enormous talent offers him. Graduated Cum Laude from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, he has shared the stage with top musicians in Boston and New York and has recorded numerous albums with various artists.

Javier Botella, vocals
Albert Sanz, piano, vocal harmonies

Javier Botella
known as the Spanish crooner , is a scenic animal, a charismatic performer who gives off swing and feeling on all four sides. From a very young age he absorbed the slow rhythms of jazz and, since then, they have not stopped accompanying him. Javier was always very clear that he wanted to dedicate himself to singing, but he preferred to wait for the right moment while acquiring other vital experiences working in other professional fields and soaking up various musical influences. At the same time, he continued to train vocally and paid attention to the great masters of North American jazz, who have been his great references.

Javier Botella usually sings at night, dressed in black, wasting elegance and blending in with that moment of the day when we want to relax and enjoy ourselves, but also when we stop to reflect and remember the rest of the day, and by extension, the rest of our own life. The nocturnal environment, with its lights and shadows and its magical and special atmosphere, generates an introspective bond within us that lends itself to revealing secrets and making confessions. When this slit through which the past slides into our memory opens, it is when emotion floods us and we feel more naked and vulnerable. Intoxicated by this nostalgic energy and by his memories of fragility, Javier uncovers his soul and his voice to surrender to the truth that the most sincere lyrics and the most accurate chords exude. And he does so convinced, passionate and dedicated to the cause. He connects with the public and with the purity of the music, making the songs his own with a style and delicacy that are born from the experience and the deepest feeling of his being.

Javier Botella has two successful albums behind him. The first, "The best is yet to come" , was performed with the Big Band Illustrated Cup, with 16 instruments plus voice and interpreting great jazz standards. His second album, “Todo el camino” , more Latin and sentimental, was presented with string instruments and in the key of boleros and ballads in Spanish that have accompanied us throughout our lives. On this occasion, Javier returns together with Albert Sanz in "It never was you" with a proposal that is simpler in appearance but more profound and intimate, with only two voices, a piano and the wonderful melodies that these two artists sing.

Albert Sanz
was born in Valencia, Spain, into a very musical family. His mother is the great singer, songwriter and actress Mamen García, and his father is Josep Sanz, conductor, classical pianist and composer.

From an early age (Mamen remembers being pregnant with Albert doing many piano concerts and singing) Albert was surrounded by his father's classical music and Mamen's varied repertoire of songs. From coplas to bossa nova, to Cuban boleros, tangos, Italian, French songs, and jazz standards. Entering adolescence Albert begins to learn songs with the guitar and electric bass until he decides to study classical piano at the Valencia Conservatory. Shortly after, his father takes him to a Tete Montoliu concert where, without realizing it, he will fall in love forever with the spirit of this music.

In a short time Albert begins to imitate what he hears and begins to play with other musicians in Valencia, combining the conservatory with studies at the Barcelona Music Workshop, concerts and all possible jams. At the age of 18 he was selected to represent Spain in the European Youth Jazz Orchestra (EJYO), traveling for three weeks throughout Europe and recording the first EJYO record.

In 1998 Albert recorded his first album ("Des D'aquí") as co-leader with the Catalan bassist David Mengual. This album is voted best Spanish jazz album of the year by Spanish jazz critics (Cuadernos de Jazz). A year later, Albert received the SGAE Award for the Jazz Revelation Artist and another award for Revelation Artist by Turia magazine.

After offering him a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Albert moved to Boston in 2000 where he played with Robert Stillman, Chris Van Voorst, Kendrick Scott, (eventually forming the band Kalifactors and recording his CD "Kalifactors", released on the Fresh Sound label) and also with David Doruzka, Jason Palmer, Walter Smith, Lage Lund, Lionel Loueke, Javier Vercher or Ferenc Nemeth among others.

After graduating Cum Laude at Berklee, Albert moved to New York in 2002 where he immersed himself in the scene, playing with the groups of Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Cheek, Joe Martin and debuting as a leader and composer at the Jazz Gallery with a group. in which Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard and Chris Cheek stand out. This concert was also recorded and released with Fresh Sound Records under the name "Los Guys" (2003).

In 2004 the IVM of Valencia commissioned Albert to record an album and compose all the material with the subsequent edition of "El fabulador" by Albert Sanz and the eleven Dedos, where the colorful instrumentation consisted of 8 wind instruments, in addition to the section of rhythm. This album was voted one of the best Spanish jazz albums of the last decade by critics in Spain (Cuadernos de Jazz).

Shortly after this recording, Albert moved back to Spain, where he was offered a position as Jazz teacher at the Musikene Superior Conservatory of the Basque Country and later in the Jazz department at the Valencia Superior Conservatory. During those years Albert combined teaching with concerts and released a live album ("Metamorphosis") with his trio at that time (with Masa Kamaguchi and RJ Miller) for the Fresh Sound Records label. He also collaborates in the bands and in the recordings of the Flamenco big band of Perico Sambeat, the trio and quintet of Jorge Rossy (here as hammond organist), Jordi Matas and Carme Canela (as organist as well), and the famous project Silvia Pérez Cruz and Javier Colina trio that gave rise to the album "En La Imaginacion", to name some of the important bands he was part of. As a musical producer and arranger, he records the album by Mamen García ("El Cofrecito") in which musicians such as Jorge Rossy, Javier Colina or Antonio Serrano collaborate.

In 2011 Albert took a step forward producing the album "O que sera" in New York, an album with a stellar trio made up of the great drummer Al Foster (Miles Davis) and the double bass player Javier Colina (Bebo Valdés). Engraved by the great James Farber. In 2012 he had the opportunity to travel with this great trio playing at the main festivals in Spain and also recording the album / bootleg "For Regulars Only" live at the Central Café in Madrid. As a composer for theater, Albert has collaborated with the award-winning and special company "Bambalina teatre practicable", creating the music for the shows "Ulysses", "Cosmos", the musical "El Geperut de Notre Dame" and "Petit Pierre".

In 2014 his last important collaborations are mostly duets, the album "Mahalo" with the virtuoso harmonica player Antonio Serrano (Paco de Lucía) and "Dolphin´s Blues", vinyl recorded live with the young trumpet genius Félix Rossy. Albert is currently focusing more than ever on songwriting and his next project is for a big Bigband.

This album contains no booklet.