Doug Little - flute
Doug Little has released nine CDs as a leader or co-leader and appeared on concert tours throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. As a performer he has worked with Tiempo Libre, Chuchito Valdés, Pepito Gomez, Joe Lovano, Nachito Herrera, and many others. As a composer he has written for small ensembles to full orchestra.Little began his career as a jazz saxophonist. After co-founding and recording three CDs with the innovative sextet Motion Poets, Little moved on to the Doug Little Quartet, which recorded two more CDs and toured Europe multiple times with Italian pianist Giacomo Aula.
In 2002 Little received the first of several research grants to study music in Cuba. Over the next decade he spent nearly a year in Cuba apprenticing with music masters such as flautist Joaquin Oliveros (Chucho Valdés, Frank Emilio Flynn, others), Jorge 'Lele' Leliebre (Grammy winner with Los Van Van), David Bencomo (flautist for Manolito Simonet), percussionist Mauricio Upmann (Habana D'Primera, HabanaSax), pianist Andrés Alén (Latin Grammy nominations, pianist for Arturo Sandoval), and Cuba's greatest musicologist, Dr. Olavo Alén.
As part of Little's research into world music he also studied music in northern Brazil for 2 months and received 3 month artist residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France.
In 2006 Little founded Charanga Tropical, one of the few salsa ensembles in the United States that feature the classic charanga instrumentation of three violins, flute, and full Latin rhythm section. Little also begin creating other ensembles and compositions that incorporate a strong Cuban influence. His four-movement suite for saxophone quartet and Cuban percussion, “Cuban Voyage,” was performed at the 2009 World Saxophone Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. He originated the world music trio Tres Mundos andstarted and continues to lead the popular Latin jazz ensemble Seven Steps To Havana.
For his work as a musician and composer Doug Little has received support from the American Composers Forum, the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State ArtsBoard, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, the Minneapolis Arts Commission, the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the French Ministry of Culture. Active in education, Little has led master classes on Latin music at high schools, colleges, and conservatories. He is founder and director of the Twin Cities Jazz Workshop. 