Albino Mbie, at age sixteen, built his first guitar out of a 5-liter can of oil, scrap wood, and strings made out of electrical cords. In Mozambique’s capital city of Maputo, folks get resourceful. In 2009 he emigrated to the US on one of the first full scholarships from the African Scholars program awarded by the Berklee College of Music.

At Berklee, he participated in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, which is directed by Danilo Perez and the residency teachers, including Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, and Terri Lyne Carrington. The Institute emphasizes an artist’s original vision in jazz and has helped Mbie find his own unique voice in the art form. With the help of his mentors, Richard Bona and Lionel Loueke, he began to bridge his former life in Mozambique with new pathways in the US.

His Boston-based quartet features Matt Williams (drums), Jiri Nedoma (piano, keyboards) , and Ebinho Cardoso (bass). With a range of global influences ranging from Brazil to Czechoslovakia to South Africa, Albino’s bandmates might make you feel like you’re touching down on several continents in the course of a single set.

IF YOU LIKE: Lionel Loueke, Pat Metheny, Afropop, Jazz improv, light float-y grooves