Brazilian Bossa Nova Pioneer Oscar Castro-Neves to Give Residency at NJW

Photograph: © 2006 Curtis McElhinney
Brazilian composer/arranger/guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves is coming to the Nashville Jazz Workshop for a weekend residency, November 5-7, 2010. One of the founding pioneers of the Bossa Nova movement in Brazil, Oscar Castro-Neves is a true musical treasure.

The residency is made possible through grants from the South Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and Tennessee Arts Commission. During his stay in Nashville, Mr. Castro-Neves will give a number of performances and special activities.

The public performances begin with a Friday evening concert (November 5, 8 pm) where he will be joined by Lori Mechem and Ritmos Picantes. The group will perform many of Mr. Castro-Neves's classic works along with Bossa Nova standards by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and several other classic composers.

Saturday morning's event will be a Young People's Concert aimed at Middle School and High School students. Mr. Castro-Neves will demonstrate and discuss music of Brazil, helping the young audience to understand and appreciate Brazilian culture and music.

Saturday evening's event will be a solo concert with featured guests, celebrating "50 Years of Bossa Nova." This will be an intimate "armchair concert," where Mr. Castro-Neves will talk and perform almost like being a guest in your living room. He will discuss the development of Bossa Nova, including his own role in this history, and will perform musical selections as a solo artist, with special guests from the NJW community.

Sunday afternoon there will be an open rehearsal with NJW Brazilian ensemble-in-residence Samba Nove.

Tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening concerts will be $20 each ($10 for high school and college students), and will go on sale October 25, at 242-5299. Saturday's youth concert is free of charge, as is the Sunday open rehearsal.

While here, Mr. Castro-Neves will be interviewed by media veteran and NJW Board member Maxx Myrick, for later broadcast on the NJW's internet radio station (Nashvillejazz Radio).