Alex Pertout is one of Australia 's leading percussionists and with credits on hundreds of singles, albums, soundtracks and jingles is undeniably one of Australia 's most recorded musicians. Born in Santiago, Chile, he lived in Italy before settling in Australia where he graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with distinction in performance and composition. Diversity is certainly one of his greatest attributes and apart from his vast studio recording career he has also attained credits on countless live performances, with theatre and television orchestras, as a musical director, record producer and recording engineer. He has also established himself as a respected educator and is the Head of the Improvisation Stream at the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts, VCA Music, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Alex has toured Europe, Asia and North America with the Australian Art Orchestra, has featured as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and has performed and recorded with artists such as Powderfinger, Brazilian artist Badi Assad, Tina Arena, Japanese fusion band Casiopea, Merril Bainbridge, Little River Band with John Farnham, Hunters & Collectors, James Morrison, Mark Seymour, Archie Roach, Daryl Braithwaite, Brian Brown, French artist Charlelie Couture, Jane Rutter, Slava Grigoryan, Christine Sullivan, Things of Stone and Wood, Tommy Emmanuel, Paul Grabowsky, Earl Brown, Tony Gould, Debra Byrne, Olivia Newton-John, Kavisha Mazzella, The Lovers, Don Burrows, Grace Knight, Lisa McCune, Malaysian band Wings, Goanna, Redgum, Australian Philarmonic Orchestra, The Seekers, Mark Gillespie, Mike Brady, Ted Egan, Brian Cadd, Kids In The Kitchen, James Reyne, The Black Sorrows with Joe Camilleri, Stephen Cummings, Ross Wilson, Richard Pleasance, Cezary Skubiszewski, Anthony Warlow, John Foreman, Kate Ceberano, Danii Minogue, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Kevin Borich Express, Pseudo Echo, Chantoozies, Steve Grace, Mondo Rock, Marc Hunter, Vince Jones, David Hirschfelder, Colin Buchanan, Coco's Lunch, Peter Cupples, Broderick Smith and Neil Murray among many others.
His percussive work can also be heard on numerous motion picture and television soundtracks including Crocodile Dundee, A Few Good Years, Empire Falls, Siam Sunset, Witch Hunt, Shiner, Lilian's Story, The Craic, Aladdin The Return of Jafa, Andre The Seal, Diana & Me, Gross Misconduct, The Silver Brumby, Lightning Jack, Last Days of Chez Nous, Hurricane Smith, Death Before Dishonour, Napoleon Kulta, Cheetah and Brilliant Lies to name a few, with television orchestras on all the major Australian networks backing artists such as Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Khan, The Commodores, Tim Finn, John Tesh, Don Burrows, Tom Jones, John Farnham, Ray Davies, Margaret Urlich, Glen Shorrock, Petula Clark, Joan Carden, Skyhooks, Gina Jeffreys, Anthony Warlow and Slim Dusty. In the theatre he was a featured percussionist in the production of "The Lion King".
He directs the Alex Pertout Ensemble which has performed in numerous concerts, festivals, on radio and television, both in Australia and internationally. The ensemble has also featured special guests including Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy, American pianist Mark Levine, jazz trumpeter Scott Tinkler, trombonist James Greening, pianists Joe Chindamo, Alister Spence, Tony Gould and vocalist Christine Sullivan among others. Alex has released cds as a producer, composer and multi instrumentalist, was featured in the cd "Percussion On Fire" a compilation by noted US magazine Jazziz, and is the author of "Sight Reading: The Rhythm Book" distributed in Australia by Musictek Publications and internationally by Mel Bay Publications. He has conducted percussion masterclasses throughout Australia, is the percussion writer for Drumscene magazine, a correspondent for Drum! (USA) and is endorsed worldwide by Meinl percussion, Sabian cymbals and Vater sticks. His latest cd release "From The Heart" featuring Mike Stern, Tom Coster, Tommy Emmanuel, Raul Rekow and Mark Levine among others is out now through Vorticity Music (Australia) and via J.Jazz (Nicolosi Productions, Italy) internationally.
