Nilson Matta

Diego Figueiredo: I Love Samba

by Jack Bowers
April 26, 2025

One upside to Brazilian-born guitarist Diego Figueiredo's latest album, I Love Samba, is that the title says it all. In case you are unfamiliar with Figueiredo, you should know that he not only loves samba, he also plays samba--quite well--and has entertained audiences in more than sixty countries around the world doing exactly that. And while he is only in his mid-forties, I Love Samba brings the number of CDs Figueiredo has under his belt as leader of his own ...

Nilson Matta's Brazilian Voyage: Copacabana

by Howard Mandel
July 26, 2023

Everyone wants to go to Brazil, and one of the easiest, most pleasant ways of doing so is to listen to bassist Nilson Matta's Brazilian Voyage. The third album organized by Matta, a native of Sao Paolo who moved to Rio in 1970 and the U.S. in 1985, conjures the vistas and moods of a country that is idealized as a source of breezy airs and pulsing rhythms. That Brazil in fact even more than in myth generates ...

Trio Da Paz: 30

by Howard Mandel
March 27, 2023

Only very special collaborations last 30 years, and rarely do they become more exciting and together over the decades. Trio da Paz, however, is one such long-lasting and still lightning band. The team of drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, guitarist Romero Lubambo and bassist Nilson Matta, all Brasilian jazzmen of New York City, is just as dashing today as when the three first met in 1985. So 30 , their seventh album, wastes no time glancing back. Rather, Trio ...

The Brazilian Trio: Águas Brasileiras

by Dan Bilawsky
January 2, 2021

Brazilian waters beckon with their beauty and energies, and this trio serves as a perfect vessel to carry the ears across that aqua viva. Pianist Helio Alves, bassist Nilson Matta and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca--three Brazilian heavies long based in New York—have played together in different configurations and situations for decades. And when they first banded together under this appellation for Forests (Zoho Music, 2008), they quickly earned the respect they so richly deserve by netting a Latin Grammy nomination. ...

Trio Da Paz: 30

by Dan Bilawsky
January 14, 2016

Time really does fly when you're having fun. Just ask Trio da Paz. Guitarist Romero Lubambo, bassist Nilson Matta, and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca are celebrating three decades of togetherness with the aptly-titled 30. It's a collection of music that, like the best of their work, finds them merging the sounds of Brazil with the attitude of The Big Apple, creating Brazilian jazz that finds the perfect balance between the two poles in that genre's name. Past ...

Nilson Matta: EastSideRioDrive

by Dan Bilawsky
April 25, 2015

Many a bassist is renowned or applauded for the way they serve as ballast in a band, but what of the bassists who go the other way, providing lift instead of weight? There are precious few of them out there, but Nilson Matta is one one of them. Matta, whether working with the collectively-operated Trio Da Paz, backing cellist Yo-Yo Ma, playing with any number of legendary jazz figures, or working his own projects, tends to do something that few ...

Nilson Matta: Nilson Matta's Black Orpheus

by Edward Blanco
March 28, 2013

Brazilian bassist Nilson Matta has, like all artists, has drawn inspiration for his music from a variety of sources--of which a play and a movie serve as the influence for the moving Black Orpheus. Antonio Carlos Jobim's compositions for the 1957 Vinicius de Moraes Brazilian play Orfeu da Conceicao and the 1959 Black Orpheus movie that went on to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, is beautifully and tastefully reimagined here with the benefit of an all-star ...

Motéma Music Will Release Nilson Matta’s Black Orpheus On February 12, 2013

Source: Cary Goldberg
January 23, 2013

Bassist’s Inspired Re-imagining of Classic Brazilian Music Includes Contributions from Leny Andrade, Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker, Anat Cohen and Gretchen Parlato When Nilson Matta was a young child in his native Brazil, his father brought home an LP of the music from the play Orfeu da Conceição, by the playwright Vinicius de Moraes, which retells the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice in the then-contemporary setting of Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval. Matta, along with his entire family, were entranced ...
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Nilson Matta & Roni Ben-Hur @ The Kitano (NYC) on June 17-18

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
June 16, 2011

In Support & Celebration of Their New Recording On Motéma Music—MOJAVE Nilson Matta & Roni Ben-Hur Featuring Victor Lewis & Café! The Kitano is located at 66 Park Ave., NYC, 212 885 7000 “An exceptional collaboration that has produced some exceptional music." —Straight No Chaser “The primary importance of Mojave is its global, yet accessible appeal. Anyone with an interest in Brazilian jazz music will find Mojave scintillatingly addictive" —Inside World Music Uniting their mutual love for both ...
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On May 10, 2011 - Motema Music Will Release "Mojave" From Nilson Matta & Roni Ben-Hur

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
April 20, 2011

On May 10, 2011—Motéma Music will release MOJAVE from NILSON MATTA & RONI BEN-HUR Featuring VICTOR LEWIS & CAFE CD Release Celebrations For Mojave: May 25 @ 7:00 PM SOKA University—Roni Ben-Hur (guitar), Nilson Matta (bass), Peter Sarik (piano), Juli Fabian (vocals, debut American performance!), David Hodek (drums) Campus Green Stage May 27 @ 7:00 PM Dizzy's @ The San Diego Wine & Culinary Center—Roni Ben-Hur (guitar), Nilson Matta (bass), Peter Sarik (piano), Juli ...
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Jazz at the Berrie Center, Ramapo College Presents Nilson Matta's Brazilian Voyage

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
January 18, 2008

Travel to Rio, Right in the Garden State! Jazz at the Berrie Center, Ramapo College Presents Nilson Matta's Brazilian Voyage Featuring Tenor Saxophonist Harry Allen and Trumpeter Claudio Roditi Saturday, January 19 at 8 pm Berrie Center, Sharp Theater Ramapo College 505 Ramapo Valley Rd Mahwah, NJ Tickets: 201-684-7844 $15-$26. Chase away the mid-winter blues with Brazilian Voyage! The group sails in on an ocean breeze, ...
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New CD "Green Heart" by Brazilian Musicians Nilson Matta, Ze Luis, and Paulo Braga to be Released on Green Label, New Orbita; CD Release Party at Joe's Pub, Monday, Dec. 17

Source: Leah Grammatica Public Relations
November 19, 2007

"The Amazon Rainforest is called the lungs of the earth because it recycles the natural elements and cleans up pollution from all over the world. Currently, the rainforest destruction in some parts of the world is estimated to be...the equivalent of 7.5 football fields per minute." - Alice Benzecry, Ph.D.

A team of award-winning, world-class musicians has converged to create an exciting, first-of-its-kind compilation CD, GREEN HEART, a collection of songs of varying, sublime textures that epitomize the best in ...
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