FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2021
Media Contact:
Gina Hyams, PR Consultant
413-629-3175
[email protected]
Spencertown, New York–Spencertown Academy Roots & Shoots Streams will broadcast a virtual concert by three-time Latin Grammy nominee, Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto on Saturday, June 5 at 8:00pm. The performance is free (though tips are welcome via a virtual tip jar) and advance registration is not required. A link to the performance will be posted on the Academy’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/spencertownacademy.
“Jovino Santos Neto is an expressive, brilliantly accomplished pianist, as well as a master composer and arranger,” says Gerald Seligman, member of the Academy’s Music Committee. “For the Academy’s Roots & Shoots series, he’s recorded a special solo piano program in which he explores all the possibilities of the instrument, combining the rhythmic and harmonic audacity of Hermeto Pascoal’s pieces with his own Brazilian tone poems, spanning the distance between lyrical and effervescent within a few measures. He also pays tribute to some of the great Brazilian composers like Jobim, Pixinguinha and Ernesto Nazareth. His commentaries on the music are enlightening and educating, providing the audience with a unique musical experience. Tune in!”
Currently based in Seattle, Washington, Neto 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. His personal style is a creative blend of energetic grooves, deep harmonies, telepathic improvisation, lyrical melodies, and ensemble playing, always inspired and informed by the colorful richness of Brazilian music. His compositions include samba, choro, baião, xote, forró, marcha, and many more styles, rooted in centuries-old musical tradition while pointing to new and adventurous harmonic languages.
Neto now leads his Seattle-based Quinteto and Trio. He taught piano and composition at Cornish College of the Arts for 26 years. He can also be heard around the world as a piano soloist, working with symphony orchestras, jazz big bands, chamber music groups, and in collaboration with musicians such as his mentor Hermeto Pascoal, Bill Frisell, Paquito d’Rivera, Airto Moreira, Claudio Roditi, David Sanchez, Joe Locke, Anat Cohen, and many more.
Roots & Shoots Streams Concerts is a series that showcases artists who reach back to earlier traditions in music (Americana, jazz, blues, rock, and world music) for inspiration, while incorporating more recent forms and influences of the present.
Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact [email protected].
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