Chicago

Neko “Suave” Cortez is a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer, arranger, ethnomusicologist, and educator originally from Dayton, Ohio (the home of the funk), now based
in Chicago. He was introduced to music at a young age through his father, who is a bass player. Neko quickly fell in love with music that makes people dance, and he keeps that rhythm close to his heart. Musically, Neko seeks to act as a vessel for the music that already exists in the universe. He seeks to play honestly and to heal others through music. As an educator, Neko seeks
to guide students towards creating music that is a reflection of life, and to empower students by deepening their musical connection with their identity and ancestors.

In 2010, Neko began attending his city’s performing arts school, Stivers School for the Arts, where he studied both western classical music and Black American Music from 7th-12th grade. After graduating from Stivers in 2016, Neko attended Oberlin Conservatory to continue his study of trombone. At Oberlin Neko studied with Robin Eubanks and Jay Ashby. Inspired by one of his biggest influences, Roger Troutman of Zapp, Neko picked up the talk-box and to this day he pushes the boundaries of the instrument.
In 2019 with the assistance of grant funding, Neko traveled to Indonesia, The Philippines, and Malaysia to conduct research on traditional and folkloric Southeast Asian music and dance. The culmination of this research was the creation of one of Neko’s most distinguishing compositions entitled, “The Kamamatuan Suite”. The suite which is based on a traditional Maguindanao song cycle, seeks to express the musical and cultural duality of the composers identity- being a mixed-race individual and the descendant of immigrants. The composition combines musical and cultural traditions from Southeast Asia with that of Black American Music. The instrumentation is written for a combination of Filipino instruments (such as Kulintang and Gandingan) and western instruments and combines them into one ensemble.

After graduating from Oberlin Conservatory in 2020, Neko spent some time doing studio work as a session player, but settled in Chicago the spring of 2021. He has been playing, teaching, and
writing in the city ever since. Recently Neko released two singles: Waterfalls and Lights On, from his upcoming self-titled debut project Neko Suave. You can find Neko playing all over the city with various projects, including his primary ensemble, Neko Suave and The Purple Method.