Guinga – Photo by Manfred Pollert
Guinga’s only performance in Los Angeles this year, 2023, will happen at the 2220 Arts theater, a seating venue with great sound and a cool patio. Through the concert, Guinga will review compositions in his 50+ year career including “Senhorinha” and “Choro pro Ze,” and perform songs from his latest album Zaboio, which Guinga calls a faithful portrait of his soul.
Released in August 2021, it’s the first album to exclusively feature compositions written by the composer and recalls and honors the people and places who have shaped him. Gilly Music also published the accompanying songbook, Cancioneiro Guinga, featuring 11 musical scores for guitar and voice from the new album.
The master guitarist, arranger and composer Guinga, whose real name is Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar, is widely considered Brazil’s greatest and most important living composer. His deep and sophisticated songs connect his love of jazz and classical to Brazilian forms including samba, frevo, modinha, bossa nova and rural baião, creating revelatory harmonies and rhythms. His chord progression is astonishing; at a 2019 masterclass an attendee marveled, “he’s playing chords that don’t even exist!”
He is revered and recorded by musicians worldwide, including by superstars Elis Regina, Leila Pinheiro, Chico Buarque, and Sergio Mendes, who has recorded Guinga’s songs since they met in the early 1980s in Rio. According to Thompson, there have been more than 155 recordings made of Guinga’s music on at least 100 albums – in addition to his own.
Guinga’s songs have been recorded by stars including Michel Legrand, Clara Nunes, and Ivan Lins. As a guitarist he has played with artists such as Beth Carvalho, Alaíde Costa, João Nogueira and the legendary Cartola. He has composed in collaboration with Paulo Cesar Pinheiro, Aldir Blanc, Chico Buarque, Nei Lopes, Sergio Natureza, Nelson Motta, Simone Guimarães, Francisco Bosco, and others.
Almost as pervasive as his music is his own urban legend. Fulfilling his father’s wish, Guinga graduated from dental school and, in 1975, opened a Rio de Janeiro dental practice with his then-wife Fatima, who is also a dentist. For years Guinga made his living as a dentist, and lived through his music. In 1991, songwriter Ivan Lins created the Velas label to release Guinga’s 1991 debut album “Simples e Absurdo”. Its success led to a series of albums which allowed Guinga to compose, play and teach full time.
His album “Rasgando Seda”, in partnership with Quinteto Villa-Lobos, was nominated for the Latin Grammy as Best Instrumental album of the Year. “Roendo Pinho”, released through Acoustic Music Records, was a critical success and was nominated Best Instrumental Album of the Year at the “Prêmio da Música Brasileira”.
The event is presented by Vera’s Heartbeat at 2020 Arts + Archives located at 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, Aug 31st at 8pm. For more information and tickets go HERE.
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