Grammy winner Edsel Gomez at MC
Gallery MC
and Rubens Salles present
Grammy winner Edsel Gomez is guest star at Brazil Project
He is the most unique Puerto Rican-Brazilian from New York. Edsel Gomez has his heart in Bayamón, not far from capital San Juan, but São Paulo is as close as it can get. His two sons were born in Latin America’s largest city, where they still live, and there he immersed in samba while delivering his salsa expertise. “Living in Brazil has changed everything, there is this flavor in all I do”, he says in his perfect Portuguese. A two-time Grammy winner, most recently as pianist, arranger and music director for American Jazz-diva Dee Dee Bridgewater, Edsel Gomez is the upcoming guest artist for the Brazil Project at Gallery MC, in Midtown Manhattan. “It will be my thank you tribute to the privilege of participating in the Brazilian culture”. Edsel moved to Brazil right after graduating in professional music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, in 1985. One year later, with a music studio running in his own apartment in São Paulo, he became a hit among national stars like Milton Nascimento, Paulinho da Viola, Caetano Veloso, João Bosco and João Donato, just to name some. “I would do sessions at home and it was always packed”. He spent 10 years in the country, playing and traveling with legends like Ney Matogrosso, Amelinha and Altamiro Carrilho, and returned to New York in the late 90s to just land himself a gig with buddy Puerto-Rican David Sanchez, a saxophone master. Edsel Gomez has been with Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater for the past 12 years, and has also played with stars like drummer Jack DeJohnette. Despite his two Grammys, he holds other 7 nominations, one with his own Jazz album Cubist Music, a musical concept created by him. In May, he performs at New York’s Lincoln Center as a guest of no one less than pianist Chick Corea, who recently declared Edsel Gomez is among his favorite. For the Brazil Project, scheduled for March 30, Edsel promises a repertoire with the best of Dorival Caymmi, Adoniran Barbosa and Lupicínio Rodrigues, and he is followed by Brazilians Adriano Santos on drums and Itaiguara Brandão on bass. In its third edition, the Brazil Project at Gallery MC has featured singer Kay Lyra, daughter of Bossa Nova composer Carlinhos Lyra, singer and guitar player Maurício Maestro, leader of vocal ensemble Boca Livre, and pianist Rubens Salles, who is also the project’s music director. “Edsel Gomez is a piano star, we are thrilled he accepted our invitation and hope to bring more masters of his caliber”, affirms Rubens. A world traveler, Edsel Gomez just laughs of his own cool style: a Panamanian fedora hat, an Indian brownish shirt, Hindu-Ganesh tattoos and an American hot chocolate in hands. He is a New Yorker, a Jazz piano legend and a lover of everything creative, but his two pillars remain there. Salsa and Samba. Puerto Rico and Brazil.
What: Brazil Project with Edsel Gomez
When: Saturday, March 30 at 9pm (doors open at 8pm), tickets at $20
Where: Gallery MC, (212) 581-1966, www.gallerymc.org
Address: 549 West 52nd Street, 8th Floor – New York, NY (between 10th and 11th Aves)
Contact: Rubens Salles (917) 302-0829 or rpeixinho@msn.com
Part of MC Mill’s Brazilian Nights
