JOVINO SANTOS-NETO
Pianist, composer, arranger, and three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto is among the top Brazilian musicians working today. Currently based in Seattle, Washington, he has throughout his career been closely affiliated with the Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal. He was an integral part of Pascoal’s group from 1977 to1992, where he fine-tuned his artistry, performing around the world and co-producing several legendary records.
Jovino’s personal style is a creative blend of energetic grooves, deep harmonies, telepathic improvisation, lyrical melodies and great ensemble playing, always inspired and informed by the colorful richness of Brazilian music. His compositions are rooted in a centuries-old musical tradition, and feature samba, choro, baião, xote, forró, marcha and many more styles, while pointing to new and adventurous harmonic languages.
Currently, Jovino leads his Seattle-based Quinteto and teaches piano and composition at Cornish College of the Arts. He can also be heard as a piano soloist, working with symphony orchestras, jazz big bands, chamber music groups, and in collaboration with musicians such as Hermeto Pascoal, Bill Frisell, Paquito d’Rivera, Airto Moreira, Claudio Roditi, David Sanchez, Joe Locke, Marco Granados and many more. He has recorded multiple albums with his Seattle-based Quinteto, including Canto do Rio, nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2004. His compositions have been performed by the Seattle Symphony, NDR Big Band in Hamburg and by numerous chamber music groups. In addition, Jovino gives lectures, clinics and master classes worldwide on the music of Brazil. Jovino has received commissions by the Cheswatyr Foundation, IAJE, ASCAP, CMA/Doris Duke Foundation, Jack Straw Foundation, Seattle Arts Commission, 4Culture, Artist Trust and Meet the Composer; and was the recipient of a Golden Ear Award as the Best Jazz Instrumentalist of the Pacific Northwest in 2004. (Photo by Maria Camillo)
DUDU MAIA
Dudu Maia is distinguished for his soulful style, his unique touch, and his mastery of the 10 stringed bandolim, an instrument that has two more strings than the standard bandolim, expanding its musical range and harmony. He served for five years as the bandolim professor of the Escola Brasileira de Choro Raphael Rabello in Brasília, and is considered one of Brazil’s top bandolim players. Dudu brings to his work a lifetime of research and study of Brazil’s greatest musical traditions.
Besides devoting himself to composing and playing, Dudu has developed his own methodology of teaching Choro and the Brazilian mandolin. He routinely travels throughout Latin America, the United States, Canada and Europe, spreading his way of teaching music.
For the past four years, Dudu has worked as the Brazilian mandolin instructor at David Grisman’s and Mike Marshall’s Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz, California. Dudu has taught the particular aspects of Choro harmony and its vocabulary and history. In 2010 Dudu went to Savona, Italy, to share Brazilian culture at Carlo Aonzo’s Accademia Internazionale di Mandolino Italiano, a European version of the mandolin camp in California.
His discography includes, Dudu Maia (2006), Bandolim Brasileiro (2007) with A Quattro, performing compositions of Luperce Miranda, a legendary Brazilian mandolinist; Caraivana (2009) produced by Daniel Vangarde, and featuring musicians from various regions of Brazil; and his latest album, Grande Circular, which was released in 2010. His most recent work, in fact, was conceived to be performed in a relaxed and joyful mood, just like in an authentic “Roda de Choro” (Choro jam), highlighting and preserving the best of the gender that is the fundamental stone of Brazilian popular music. Besides these records, Dudu Maia also produced and arranged the album, Piano de Fole(2007), performed by Rob Curto, a NY based accordionist.
ANDY CONNELL
Dr. Andrew Connell is an ethnomusicologist whose primary research is in Brazilian popular instrumental music, focusing on issues of identity and musical globalization. He has recent articles published in Music Cultures of Latin America: Global Effects, Past and Present (UCLA Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology) and Women and Music in America Since 1900 (Greenwood Press), and has given presentations at various national and international conferences including the Society for Ethnomusicology and the International Council of Traditional Music. His current scholarly activities include completing a book on Brazilian jazz.
As a performer, Dr. Connell plays saxophone and clarinet in ensembles ranging from jazz to classical chamber music to Brazilian chorinho. He studied jazz improvisation and arranging with Ray Brown, clarinet with Rosario Mazzeo, Janet Averett, and Fred Ormand, and saxophone with Don Sinta. He has played with the Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Toledo (Ohio) Symphonies, and has appeared at the Monterey, Montreux–Detroit, and San Francisco jazz festivals, and the Spoleto Festival USA. In addition, Dr. Connell has performed with a wide range of artists including Luciano Pavarotti, Dave Leibman, Lou Rawls, Mike Marshall, and Hermeto Pascoal, and has recorded for the Musical Heritage Society, Intrada, Adventure Music, Earthbeat! Traveler, and Acoustic Levitation labels. Currently, Dr. Connell teaches courses in American music, the history of jazz, world music, and coaches small jazz ensembles at James Madison University in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
HENRIQUE NETO
Henrique Neto is dedicated to research and study of Brazilian music. His interest in music came from his father, Reco’s Mandolin, President of the Brasília Choro Club and founder of the Brazilian School of Choro. In addition to making appearances as a soloist, Henrique has shared the stage with musicians such as multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, the mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda, Paulo Moura, accordionist Sivuca, the mandolinist Macedo, guitarists Sebastião Tapajós, Manasseh and Guinga, and accordionist and Dominguinhos clarinetist Paulo Sergio Santos.
Henrique receives frequent invitations to participate in concerts and workshops in Brazil and abroad, including the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and the Kennedy Center in New York. He has appeared as a soloist in the “Festival of Music and Pulse Pua” in La Coruna, Spain, and in 2008 was nominated to represent Brazil in the World Youth Festival in Tunisia, where he was invited to perform at the prestigious Tabarka Jazz Festival. Henrique currently performs with the group Choro Livre, and teaches guitar at the Brazilian School of Choro.
ALEXANDRE LORA
Alexandre Lora moves easily among different styles of Brazilian popular music, performing either as a drummer or percussionist. Lately he has been recognized internationally for his work as a choro and samba pandeiro player.
A member of the group Caraivana, he is also the drummer in the instrumental trio Zera Reza, and has performed with such leading names in instrumental music as Martin Fondse and Ramon Valle (XLJazz Orchestra- Netherlands), Ney Rosauro, Seu Jorge, Mariana Aydar, Baiao Brazil (Spain), and the Brazil Guitar Duo.
Lora has performed in theaters and cities around the world, such as Bimhuis (Amsterdam), Lantaren Venster (Rotterdam), LUX Theater (Nijmegen), Spain Tour 2010 (Barcelona, Tarragona, Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Alicante, Menorca, Mallorca, Pontevedra, Torrevieja, Almendralejo, Alcala la Real, Granada, Zarautz, Girona, Fuerteventura, Estepona, Antequera), Denmark (Copenhagen), USA (University of Miami) and major theatres throughout Brazil.
Lora completed his Master in Musicology and Music Education at the UAB (Independent University of Barcelona, 2009), and Bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music (drums) at the FAAM (Faculty of Arts Alcantara Machado, 2002). He has been a Professor at UniSantanna (2011), the Brooklyn Conservatory (SP), and Professor of percussion at the “Associacao Amigos do Brasil”( Barcelona ). He also teaches private lessons.