Born: July 20, 1971 Primary Instrument: Guitar
Guilherme Monteiro was born in Rio de Janeiro on July 20th 1971. He started playing music at the age of seven and to learn the guitar at the age of twelve in Sao Paulo. By the age of fifteen he was performing in jazz clubs and teaching privately in the city of Belo Horizonte, soon becoming one of the most respected musicians in that city. In Belo Horizonte Guilherme played with Toninho Horta and Tavinho Moura at the age of nineteen. These composers had a strong impact on his musicianship as they brought him closer to the roots of Minas Gerais. In 1999 Guilherme was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, a highly selective program that accepts only eight students of each instrument after auditioning musicians from all over the world. At the Institute he studied privately with Clark Terry and Jimmy Heath, also performing and teaching clinics with these living legends. Living in New York City since 2000 Guilherme has played and recorded with some of the most respected musicians in town, such as Kenny Werner, two records with Ron Carter and Grady Tate for Harry Allen, Slide Hampton's Jobim's project with Claudio Roditi and Duduka da Fonseca, Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, Bernard Purdie and Johnny Alf. On September 2007 Guilherme and Lionel Loueke performed in a duo setting at the 3rd International Guitar Festival in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Throughout the years he has been living in New York, Guilherme has lent his unique sound to help shaping the music of very different artists. He is featured on Kurt Elling's release, “Night Moves” alongside Christian Mc Bride and Bob Mintzer, Eliane Elias' record “Dreamer” with Mark Johnson and Michael Brecker and Luciana Souza's acclaimed release, “Duos II”, which won her a nomination for the Grammy of best Jazz vocalist of 2004. Guilherme was also one of the special guests alongside Paquito De Rivera on Arturo O'Farril's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's latest release: “Two Acres and a Burro”, which has just being nominated for this year's Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He also holds the guitar chair on Anat Cohen's Anzic Orchestra. As a member of Lila Downs' band, he toured for four years and recorded three albums. The first one of them (One Blood) won a Latin Grammy for best Folk album. Guilherme is also a current member of Duduka Da Fonseca's Quintet and the band Forro in the Dark, with whom he is helping to redefine Brazilian music for this century. With Forro, Guilherme had the opportunity to collaborate with special guests David Byrne, Miho Hatori and Bebel Gilberto on the band's 1st album, Bonfires of Sao Joao. FITD has been touring the world on it's own and with bands like Gogol Bordello since 2007. Besides leading his own band, Guilherme is the co-leader of experimental project, Green Lotus, which plays regularly in NYC's 55 Bar, Nublu and Southpaw. Most recently, Guilherme was featured on Ron Carter's release for Blue Note Records, Jazz & Bossa. A collection of Mr. Carter's originals and classics the legendary bassist recorded in the past. In the summer of 2009 Guilherme joined Ron Carter's group to tour in Europe and Lebanon along RC's long time collaborators Stephen Scott, Payton Crossley and Rolando Morales-Matos. His first album entitled “Air” came out on the spring of 2009 trough the independent label Brooklyn Jazz Underground. Known for his versatility, he recorded bass on Jesse Harris' latest release “Through The Night” and guitar on Jesse's upcoming album, which was done in Rio de Janeiro. On a previous trip to Rio, Guilherme recorded two tracks on Kassin's latest album: “Sonhando Devagar”. Most recently he wrote the original soundtrack for the movie “Toxic Amazon”, which is gathering very good responses throughout the international media. Publications like the Huffigton Post and CNN.com have already praised the movie even before it hit the festival circuit.
