LIVE at Piedmont Piano Company
Ricardo Peixoto, Marcos Silva, Brian Rice
Rio Trio
Ricardo Peixoto and Marcos Silva, both originally from Rio de Janeiro and currently based in the Bay Area, are joined by honorary Brazilian Brian Rice. All three have been fixtures of the Bay Area’s Brazilian and Jazz music scenes for decades and have collaborated in many groups and recordings. Silva and Peixoto’s collaborations date back to the 1980’s as part of Airto and Flora Purim’s group as well as Silva’s Steps of the Imagination, and Peixoto’s Terra Sul, while Rice and Peixoto have been part of The Berkeley Choro Ensemble for over 10 years. Join us for a dynamic performance featuring original compositions as well as a wide range of Brazilian classics.
General Admission
$30 advanced / $35 at the door
We are offering a limited number of seats for this performance. Advanced purchase is recommended. Masking is no longer required.
MARCOS SILVA
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator Marcos Silva performs worldwide. Nominated for a Grammy, he has toured with many world-renowned artists, including Paquito D’Rivera, Bud Shank, Dori Caymmi, and many others. He was musical director for Flora Purim and Airto Moreira for 23 years. Marcos has written arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie’s band and replaced Gil Evans as arranger-composer of Airto’s Spiritual Mass in Germany. He is sought after as a producer of CDs, including two of his own. Marcos heads the Brazilian Music Department at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. marcossilva.com
BRIAN RICE
Oakland based percussionist, Brian Rice specializes in both Brazilian and Afro Cuban percussion but can be heard playing a wide variety of music from Mexican son jarocho to the Grateful Dead songbook blended with Celtic music. Brian is a founding member of the Berkeley Choro Ensemble and is frequently called upon for his expertise on the pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine). In 2023 Brian premiered Danzas #4 for pandeiro and orchestra with the Diablo Symphony by Felipe Senna.
In addition to appearing in over a hundred recordings, Brian has worked with Mike Marshall, Jovino Santos Neto, Spok, Claudia Villela, Trio Brasileiro, Alessandro Penezzi, Jorge Alabe, Almir Côrtes, and Rogerio Souza among others. Brian performed at the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Savannah Music Festival and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert with the Danilo Brito Quintet. In July 2019 Brian celebrated the release of his first self-produced choro CD, Três Baías with Almir Côrtes and Nando Duarte. Brian is the co-founder and artistic director of the Berkeley Festival of Choro and teaches Samba School, and the Afro-Cuban Ensembles at UC Davis. brian-rice.com
RICARDO PEIXOTO
Guitarist, composer and arranger Ricardo Peixoto is among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the US, with a fluid melodic style and a keen compositional sense. His music is grounded both in jazz and Brazil’s diverse traditions, but always ventures well beyond their borders. He has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Claudia Villela, Flora Purim and Airto, saxophonist Bud Shank, Dom Um Romão, Claudio Roditi, Paul McCandless Fabiana Cozza, Spok, Sivuca, Arturo Sandoval, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi and Guinga. His recordings include the CDs Scary Beautiful, and Inverse Universe (with Claudia Villela). He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil. Additionally Ricardo has taught Brazilian Guitar and Choro music at the California Jazz Conservatory for over 10 years. ricardopeixoto.com