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Jovino
Santos Neto
 The barriers between
classical music, jazz, and indigenous Brazilian
music have been obscured by Rio de Janeiro-born
and Seattle-based pianist, flutist, and composer
Jovino Santos Neto.
A
member of Hermeto Pascoal's legendary band from
1977 to 1992, Santos Neto has continued to
expand on his world music-influenced vocabulary.
He built on his knowledge of Brazilian music
during a stint with Airto Moreira and Flora
Purim's group, Fourth World, from 1993 until
1997. He also worked with such artists as Mike
Marshall, Richard Boukas, Celso Machado and
Chitravina N. Ravikiran. He has recorded several
albums with flutist Gary Stroutsos, including
the Native American-influenced People of the
Willows in 2000. He toured Europe in 1994 with
Swiss cellist David Pezzoti.
Santos Neto's 1997 debut solo album, Caboclo,
featuring his compositions with the
accompaniment of quartet members Hans Teuber
(saxophones, flute), Chuck Deardorf (bass) and
Mark Ivester (drums), was followed by Ao Vivo em
Olympia in 2000 (with the addition of
percussionist Jeff Busch and Harvey Wainapel on
saxes and clarinet) and by Canto do Rio in 2003.
Canto do Rio was commissioned by Chamber Music
America's New Works program and was nominated
for a 2004 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin
Jazz Album. He also received commissions by the
IAJE and ASCAP, Jack Straw Foundation, Seattle
Arts Commission, Artist Trust and Meet the
Composer. Jovino was the recipient of a Golden
Ear Award as the Best Jazz Instrumentalist of
the Pacific Northwest in 2004. Santos
Neto’s most recent release in 2006, Roda
Carioca, has received rave international reviews
Studying classical piano from the age of 12,
Santos Neto moved to Beatles and Rolling
Stones-influenced pop by his 15th birthday. He
began to focus on jazz while studying biology at
McGill University in Montreal. Invited to tour
Brazil with Hermeto Pascoal in 1977, Santos Neto
remained an important part of the Brazilian
multi-instrumentalist's band for 15 years,
co-producing six albums, including Festa dos
Deuses, which received a Sharp Prize as Best
Instrumental Album in 1992, and archiving
thousands of Pascoal's compositions.
Relocating to the United States in 1993 after
performing on Sergio Mendes's Grammy
award-winning world music album, Brasileiro,
Santos Neto studied conducting at the Cornish
College of the Arts in Seattle, where he
continues to teach piano, composition, and jazz
ensemble. He gives lectures and workshops on
Brazilian music worldwide and continues to
collaborate with his long time mentor Hermeto
Pascoal as the music director of the Hermeto
Pascoal Big Band.
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