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Esdras Nogueira

Baritone saxophone player Esdras Nogueira is 37 years old and was born in Brasilia, Brazil. He is a member of Móveis Coloniais de Acaju, one of the most important independent bands in Brazil and also has solo work with the baritone saxophone and Brazilian music. In 2000, prior to initiating his research on baritone saxophone, he worked as a musician in circus shows featuring Brazilian music during two years in Germany and Italy in cities such as Cologne, Oberhausen, Mannheim, Naples, Milan, Sardinia, Sicily, Parma, Rimini, Cagliari, among others. In 2002 he returned to Brazil to dedicate himself to his career and, since then, be it with Móveis or with his solo work, he has played throughout Brazil and in important festivals such as Rock’n Rio, Planeta Terra, Instrumenta Brasília, Bananada, as well as abroad, at Primavera Sound, in Barcelona, Pukkelpop, in Belgium, Daka Jazz & Blues Festival, in Bangladesh, at Niceto Club, in Buenos Aires, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. During his career so far he has released five albums and two DVDs, one of which is a feature film.  Art: Oga mendonça | Design: Domingo Arquitetura In July 2016 he released his most recent album, NaBarriguda. It is his second solo album and uses baritone saxophone in Brazilian music. The album has five songs composed by Esdras himself, some in partnership with guitar player Marcus Moraes, plus “O Mundo é um Moinho”, by Cartola, “Lôro”, by Egberto Gismonti, and “Capricho de Raphael”, by Hamilton de Holanda. The album also includes the participation of the great trombonist Bocato in three songs. It is an instrumental album with upbeat melodies that can be danced to highly influenced by the rhythms from the north of Brazil, the guitarradas (from Pará), and forró (from the entire northeast), with the musical freedom provided by jazz, and also influenced by experiences in travels throughout the world, but with the certainty that Brazilian music is the true north. In December 2014, Esdras released his first solo album with the baritone saxophone, Capivara, where he plays songs by Hermeto Pascoal with the approval of the composer himself. "I listened to it and it’s very good. I was very pleased with his interpretation of the music. The songs are different but without losing their essence. I write songs always hoping that people will play them. If he had come to me before recording I might have even given him some ideas, but Esdras is off to a great start.

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