Jean Pierre Magnet Vargas Prada is a saxophonist, composer, producer and director.

Early life and career beginnings

He is the oldest of three, son of French Basque father and Peruvian mother.Jean Pierre started his musical career since early age, while living and working with his father at the exclusive Country Club Hotel of Lima, Peru. At 10 years old, Jean Pierre revealed his dream to become a saxophonist to his father who immediately gave him his first saxophone.

During his adolescence, Jean Pierre joined Traffic Sound

Traffic Sound

Traffic Sound was a Peruvian rock band founded in 1967 by Manuel Sanguinetti , Freddy Rizo-Patrón , Jean Pierre Magnet , Willy "Wilito" Barclay , Willy Thorne and Luis "Lucho" Nevares . Freddy and Manuel had met in school and played in Los Hang Ten's...

, a Peruvian rock bands in the late 60’s. At the beginning, the band recorded covers of Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

, The Rascals

The Rascals

The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...

, Animals and Iron Butterfly, main influencers of the band and whose singles were included in their first LP in 1970. Traffic Sound recorded four productions: A Bailar Go Go, Virgin, Traffic Sound and Lux; being Meshkalina the greatest hit between the 70’s and 80’s.

Education

During the dictatorial government of General Velazco in 1972, Traffic Sound splits up and soon after, Jean Pierre decides to get musical education.

At age 20, Jean Pierre began his studies of musical theory and flute at the National Conservatory of Buenos Aires in Argentina, followed by jazz at the University of Southern Mississippi (U.S.A.). Afterwards, he headed to San Francisco where undertook his first gigs as street musician striving to accomplish his greatest dream, which was to study at Berklee School of Music of Boston, dream that came true along with sacrifices and effort.

Fusioning jazz with Peruvian rhythms

Back in Peru Jean Pierre organized five major Jazz Festivals, featuring Arturo Sandoval

Arturo Sandoval

Arturo Sandoval is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, in the newest renamed Artemisa Province, Cuba....

, Ray Barreto, Irakere

Irakere

Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...

, Paquito de Rivera and Alex Acuña

Alex Acuña

Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved...

 for the first time in Lima, Peru. As a consequence, Jean Pierre is invited to Satchmo's partnership, one of the most important jazz clubs of Peru. There he could nurture even more his musical knowledge and experience, which led him to a new adventure in his career: Wayruro, the most influential band of Andean music of the time. Through this project, Jean Pierre endeavored to introduce a new approach towards Andean music, thus further developing his musical style under an open framework that allowed him to interact with other world genres and trends.

In 1984 he established PeruJazz, quartet formed by Manongo Mujica, Enrique Luna and Julio “Chocolate” Algendones.

PeruJazz was the first band fusioning African-Peruvian and Andean rhythms with jazz elements, genre that freely recreates the different harmonic structures of the music. The outstanding interpretation level attained by PeruJazz made the band perform at many festivals including Umbria Festival of Italy in 1987, playing after Sting for a twenty thousand audience.

PeruJazz performed for two consecutive years at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada (1989 and 1990). In 1990, PeruJazz played at the New Music America Festival (Miami) and the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, besides London, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Hamburg.

Once established, in 1997 Jean Pierre Magnet founded Gran Banda (Great Band), a band performing a 40’s Big Band style, which he directed on the basis of mambo and swing genres. Along their usual mythical chords repertoire of Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller

Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...

 and Damaso Perez Prado, this band added in a selection of classic themes and contemporary jazz.

Gran Banda provided Jean Pierre of a new environment of fresh genres and the opportunity to undertake an African-Peruvian and Criollo fusion project, featuring the renowned Armando Manzanero

Armando Manzanero

Armando Manzanero Canché is a Mexican musician and composer of Maya descent, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America....

, the legendary Peruvian rock band Fragil

Frágil

Frágil is a Peruvian progressive/symphonic hard rock band. Named after an eponymous Yes album , Frágil is one of the most respected rock bands in Perú. Fragil started as a symphonic progressive/hard rock band influenced by the likes of Yes, Genesis, ELP, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Rainbow . They...

 and Eva Ayllon

Eva Ayllón

Eva Ayllón , a composer and singer, is one of Peru's foremost Afro-Peruvian musicians, and one of the country's most enduring stars.-Biography:...

.