Marco Antonio Santos

Marco Antonio Santos is a guitarist, arranger, composer, and music educator. Originally from Minas Gerais, Brazil, he is currently based in Austin, Texas.

Throughout more than fifteen years as a professional musician, Santos has performed extensively in Brazil and the United States, navigating freely between jazz, funk, pop, and Brazilian music. His singular style blends traces from his multiple musical influences, ranging from Radiohead and Pat Metheny to Maria Schneider and Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento.

In spring 2023, ears&eyes Records will release Santos’s debut album, About: Silence, a conceptual work that combines music, visual art, improvisational dance, and poetry to explore the various meanings of silence—introspection, grief, oppression, absence of sound, and more. Conceived during the forced solitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, when live musical performances all but ceased, and amid times of social upheaval and racial violence, About: Silence is a full-throated embrace of artistic expression across multiple dimensions. The album’s eleven compositions are brought to life by a jazz trio of guitar, upright bass, and drums, joined by a woodwind quartet on four tracks and a string quartet on five.

Santos grew up in Betim, a blue-collar town on the outskirts of the Minas Gerais state capital, Belo Horizonte. The twelve-year-old boy who picked up an old guitar because he couldn't play soccer never imagined that his musical journey would take him thousands of miles from home. As a performer, arranger, and composer, Santos has recorded and toured with acclaimed artists from across the globe, including Grammy-nominated Brazilian drummer Nenê, Brazilian vocalists Di Melo and Hilda Maria, Brazilian jazz group Katchie Cartwright Trio, the University of Texas Jazz Orchestra, pop jazz group Live Jukebox Trio, and Austin-based elite big band CWBB. Santos has also played alongside renowned artists such as Jeff Hellmer, Dr. John Mills, Andre Hayward, Fernando Correa, Rafael dos Santos, Jurema Paes, and André “Limão” Queiroz. Behind the scenes, he has been producer and musical director on several albums, including Hilda Maria's Feita de Rendas and Realinhando by Selía Nask.

"I play with an arranger's approach, not only strumming guitar lines, but also creating textures and thinking about how the music resonates as a whole,” says Santos. “When playing in an ensemble, I like to guide the other musicians, suggesting ideas that lead us together down unexpected paths."

 Santos holds a doctorate in jazz composition and a master of music degree in jazz performance from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). He was a member of UT Austin's elite jazz ensemble, A.I.M.E., in 2017, when it won Downbeat Magazine's Award for Best College Jazz Ensemble, performing several of his works. In 2022, he became chair of the guitar panel at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), where he has been a member of the jury since 2021.

 Santos maintains a busy schedule performing with numerous ensembles. In 2023, he plans to showcase About: Silence on tour across the United States, Brazil, and Europe. "The album reflects my maturing as a composer and arranger, and offers a balance between classical and popular music,” says Santos. “It was born from my desire to break my own silence and to find my voice as an artist and as an immigrant. I know many people can relate to that."

Gear

Guitars: Gibson 335, João Batista Nylon Guitar, Doublemaker Telecaster, Fender Telecaster Thinline

Amplifiers: Polytone (several of them)

Delays and Reverbs: Mood, Ventris, Feedback x4, HolyGrail, Boss RV, DL4

Modulation: Superego +, Nova System, AnalogMan Chorus

Drives: Euphoria, Tumnus, RAT