Home » Jazz Musicians » Ricardo Silveira

Ricardo Silveira

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Silveira has been a professional musician since 1976, playing live and in studios with great names in Brazilian and international music.

His name is present in the technical file of hundreds of records as a musician, arranger, producer and musical director.

As a teenager, I liked to listen from Rock (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream) and Blues (BB King, John Mayal) to Brazilian Music (João Gilberto, Chico Buarque, Mutantes, Novos Baianos, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Tom Jobim, Baden Powell). He also discovered Jazz by Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, George Benson and Wes Montgomery.

He studied classical guitar, music theory and attended the National School of Music in Rio de Janeiro. At this time, he attended a show by Victor Assis Brasil, who had studied at Berklee College of Music (Boston), and by Márcio Montarroyos, who also played at the same show and encouraged him to take a course at Berklee.

After a year, he returned to Brazil, where he spent two months doing shows with Márcio Montarroyos.

Back in Boston, on the recommendation of guitarist Bill Frisell, he started working with a salsa band, Latin Stars, one of his first professional jobs in the United States.

On weekends, Ricardo left Boston on his way to New York, where he played with the Brazilian group Astra Carnival.

Recommended by trumpeter Claudio Roditi, Silveira was invited to join the group of flutist Herbie Mann, with whom he toured the United States for two years.

At that time, living in New York, he also started working in studios participating in recordings alongside great musicians such as Steve Gadd, Richard Tee, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Jason Miles, Nana Vasconcelos, L. Shankar.

Despite four years working abroad, Ricardo maintained contact with Brazilian music. In fact, most of the invitations to play abroad came also because he is a Brazilian musician and is fluent in different languages ​​and musical styles.

At the recommendation of producer and musician Liminha, when they met in the United States, he was invited to tour the album "Aquela Mulher" with the renowned singer Elis Regina.

In the same period he began to work intensively on recordings of jingles and records by various artists.

After touring with Elis Regina, Ricardo started playing with other big names in MPB such as Hermeto Pascoal, Maria Bethânia, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, João Bosco, Ivan Lins, Nana Caymmi and Ney Matogrosso, with whom he also made arrangements and musical direction.

Read more

Tags

5
Album Review

Antonio Adolfo: Octet And Originals

Read "Octet And Originals" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Some people can probably say what they were doing the first time they heard modern Brazilian music. The first wave hit in the early '60s with Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim, but there has been a great deal of water over the dam since then. Stylistic variety, regional variations, new composers, two generations of players, technical advances in both recording and instrumental technique have all played a part in establishing Brazilian as some of the most listenable music. ...

7
Album Review

Antonio Adolfo: Octet And Originals

Read "Octet And Originals" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Antonio Adolfo is a pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader in the Latin jazz tradition, but his music is informed by Brazilian musical styles of the samba, bossa, quadrilha and toada. This latest Adolfo release entitled Octet And Originals features all his original compositions and are played by a stellar band of musicians who have been connected with him for many years. This ten track outing starts with “Heart Of Brazil," which is a tribute to the ...

4
Album Review

Rique Pantoja: Live In Los Angeles

Read "Live In Los Angeles" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Live in Los Angeles was first released in 2001 and this is a remastering and reissue. It says something good about the compositions and the players that the material remains vital, fresh and bright. There is something about Brazilian music that just ages well, which seemingly accounts for its perennial popularity. You can call it what you want: “smooth jazz," “fusion," “samba pop," “Afro-Latino." The labels hardly matter. Music that makes one feel alive and vibrant, that recharges one's mood ...

5
Album Review

Dan Costa: Suite Três Rios

Read "Suite Três Rios" reviewed by Paul Naser


The rich musical history of Brazilian music parallels the development of jazz in the United States' in many ways. At the same time, the two informed and influenced each other as they matured. Brazilian legends like Antonio Carlos Jobim and Dori Caymmi are remembered for their influence on the development of Bossa Nova, and Jobim, like few composers of popular music in the 20th century, continues to be revered for his many contributions and innovations. All this history ...

1
Album Review

Ricardo Silveira & Roberto Taufic: Atlanticos

Read "Atlanticos" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


What do you get when two top-flight studio guitarists grab their acoustic axes and get together to bask in the glow of Brazilian music? The answer is the resplendent Atlanticos. Ricardo Silveira is a Brazilian-born-and-based, Berklee-trained guitarist who's recorded hundreds of sessions, backing everybody from flautist Herbie Mann to Brazilian icons like Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento. His partner on this record is Honduran-born Roberto Taufic, who at the age of five made his way to Brazil, ...

198
Album Review

Ricardo Silveira and Luiz Avellar: Live: Play the Music of Milton Nascimento

Read "Live: Play the Music of Milton Nascimento" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


There's a musical relationship between Brazil and the United States that transcends tourism and politics. Each nation gave birth to its own style of music. Yet those styles, jazz and what many Brazilians refer to as “typical" Brazilian music, when performed by competent musicians, can be interchangeable.Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto and Djavan are just a few Brazilian musician/songwriters who've not only had the honor of their work being translated by North American jazz artists, but who also ...

223
Album Review

Ricardo Silveira/Luiz Avellar: Live: Play the Music of Milton Nascimento

Read "Live: Play the Music of Milton Nascimento" reviewed by John Kelman


The music of Milton Nascimento shares common ground with fellow Brazilian Egberto Gismonti, but there are differences. What they share is a root in the traditional folk music of the forests of Brazil. But whereas Gismonti leans towards the abstract and to compositions that are more complex, sharing an equal affinity with modern classical music, Nascimento is more straightforward, more accessibly lyrical. He's also almost inimitably positive. His songs may portray a variety of feelings, but even his most tender ...

Read more articles
3

Recording

Acclaimed Brazilian Guitarist Ricardo Silveira Releases 'Solo' On Moondo Music

Acclaimed Brazilian Guitarist Ricardo Silveira Releases 'Solo' On Moondo Music

Source: Mouthpiece Music

Renowned Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Silveira released his first solo album, aptly titled Solo (April 16, 2021, Moondo Music LLC). Silveira is a prolific recording and performing artist in both Brazil and the United States. He has worked with a Who’s Who of legendary Brazilian artists, and he has recorded over a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader. He has also appeared on numerous CDs as a sideman for other artists, including Elis Regina, Milton Nascimento, Wayne Shorter, Gilberto Gil, ...

Selva Band
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jules Hay
guitar, electric

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Solo

Moondo
2021

buy

Suite Três Rios

Self Produced
2016

buy

Atlanticos

Adventure Music
2013

buy

RSVC

Adventure Music
2013

buy

Heart Of Brazil

From: Octet And Originals
By Ricardo Silveira

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.