Renato Caranto

Portland, Oregon area saxophonist Renato Caranto was born in the Philippines in 1955, and studied music with his musician father from a very young age. He started performing professionally at the age of 15 and eventually traveled to Japan and Guam where he attracted the attention of booking agents from the U.S. He arrived in America in 1981 and continued studying and honing his skills while touring with various top-40 cover bands. He became part of the Portland, Oregon music scene in 1992, where his early years were spent playing the blues, leading to several yearly awards for “Best Blues Horn” from the Cascade Blues Association. But he wanted to to play jazz, and finally got to do this when he was asked to join the Mel Brown B3 Organ Group in 1995. Renato is now a fixture in the Pacific Northwest music community, and has recorded and/or performed with many notable talents (Mel Brown, Tom Grant, Michael Allen Harrison, David Ornette Cherry, Dan Balmer, Alan Jones, Sweet Baby James, Louis Pain, Ron Steen) as well as nationally known artists (Esperanza Spalding, Bernard Purdie, Arturo Sandoval, Curtis Fuller, Javon Jackson, James Carter, Clarence Clemons, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Grant Green, Rob Paparozzi of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bruce Conte and Mic Gillette of Tower of Power, Teddy Edwards, horn section for Harry Connick, Jr,). He has performed in all of the major festivals in the area and was the featured artist and poster-musician for the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival in 2006.