Bechegas (born 1957) was an artist from an early age. Growing up he studied drawing, and at age 18 he was already teaching drawing, arts, and crafts at the Lisbon Official School, a job that would continue to support him financially throughout his career. In 1977, he started to play professionally as a flutist, and soprano and alto saxophonist, with mainstream jazz and rock ensembles, participating in many recording sessions. He formed his own bebop quartet in 1980, and from 1983 to 1987 was part of Carlos Zingaro's trio Plexus.
All the while, Bechegas was getting in touch with avant-garde music, working his way from John Coltrane to Ornette Coleman and then to Braxton, Parker, and Derek Bailey. He attended every workshop held in Lisbon and studied extended flute techniques with Pierre Ives Artaud. In 1987, he began to work with flute and electronics, using a pitch-to-midi converter to hook up the instrument to a synthesizer he controlled with a set of foot pedals.
By 1988, Bechegas had dropped the saxophone entirely and chosen to devote his music career to improvisation. For almost a decade he organized workshops and music meetings, and developed his technique, but remained completely silent on record. His first CD came out in 1997 on Leo Records Laboratory. Split between his trio project IK*Zs (3) and solo performances, it went by rather unnoticed. The 1998 Flute Landscapes showed all the extent of his talent in a series of short solo improvisations focusing on specific techniques and effects -- a glossary of the modern flute. In April 2001, he created the record label Forward and released Open Secrets, a duet with bassist Peter Kowald, one of his main influences. ~ François Couture, Rovi