Nate Najar and Daniela Soledade with the Jimmy Masters Trio at the Sandler Center

Since the introduction of Brazilian music to the United States in 1962 by Charlie Byrd, artists such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Gal Costa, Astrud Gilberto, Gilberto Gil, Claudia Acuna, to name a few, have continued to have a great influence on the American audience. Add to that roster guitarist Nate Najar and vocalist (also guitarist and flutist) Daniela Soledade, a welcome addition to an illustrious list of musicians.

Najar started as a classical guitarist but soon came under the influence of Byrd and Byrd's love of Bossa Nova and Brazilian music. Becky Byrd, Charlie's widow, gave Najar Charlie's 1974 Ramírez 1A classical guitar, which he still plays. One of Najar's more noteworthy albums Jazz Samba pre Sempre (Blue Line, 2022), pays homage to the 1962 album Jazz Samba by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz.

Soledade, who was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, comes from a musical family including her grandfather Paulo Soledade, who worked with such legends as Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius De Moraes. Her first album A Moment of You (Blue Line, 2019) and her followup Pretty World (Blue Line, 2022) established her as one of the leading voices of Brazilian music.

In 2018, when Soledade was looking for a guitarist experienced in Brazilian music, a mutual friend introduced her to Najar. Their professional relationship soon morphed into a personal one, and the two have been performing together ever since. The Jimmy Masters Trio, Masters on bass, John Toomey on piano, and Emre Kartari on drums, were fortunate enough to get the couple to join them with Najar and Soledade's Love & Bossa Nova concert. The near sell out crowd was treated to the couple's passion for Brazilian music, and for 90 minutes, the audience experienced a warm summer night in Rio de Janeiro.

Following are photos of the concert.

Comments