LIVE at Piedmont Piano Company
Claudia Villela & Vitor Gonçalves
Claudia Villela (vocals, pianos, and percussion) returns to the piano store, joined by Vitor Gonçalves (accordian, piano). They will play music from her latest album, Cartas ao Vento, plus Brazilian classics by Egberto Gismonti, Villa Lobos, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Pixinguinha, and more.
General Admission
$35 in advance / $40 at the door
We are offering a limited number of seats for this performance. Advance purchase is recommended. Masking is optional.
CLAUDIA VILLELA
“A Brazilian-born genius with a blistering voice" (JazzTimes), Claudia Villela has developed a reputation as a singularly unique singer, pianist and composer, lending her five-octave voice to work with jazz luminaries including Kenny Werner, Michael Brecker and Toots Thielemans. Inspired to sing from hearing the intoxicating sounds emanating from the samba school behind her grandmother’s house in Rio de Janeiro, Villela began singing professionally as a teen and eventually moved to the Bay Area. She later attended New York’s Manhattan School of Music where she studied with the legendary Sheila Jordan and then returned to California “on a mission to create fresh, original music born of her Brazilian upbringing and passion for jazz.” Blending Brazilian samba with jazz, blues, and songs from around the globe, “Villela doesn't just sing – she actually dances with her voice on top of Brazilian beats” (San Francisco Chronicle critic Phil Elwood).
VITOR GONÇALVES
Vitor Gonçalves is a pianist, accordionist, composer and arranger from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After an illustrious career as an in demand musician in Brazil, playing with such icons as Hermeto Pascoal, Maria Bethânia, Itiberê Zwarg, and many others, he made the move to New York City, where he currently resides.
Since arriving here in 2012, he has garnered much acclaim and built a star lighted resumé, including features in NPR’s Jazz Night in America, hosted by Christian McBride and The New York Times as a guest of the renowned Spok Frevo Orquestra. A frequent resident on the stages of Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, and the Jazz Gallery, he both leads his own projects, and collaborates with figures in the New York scene such as Anat Cohen, Vinícius Cantuária, Anthony Wilson, Cyro Baptista, and Yotam Silberstein.
He also has played in Jazz Festivals and venues around the world, such as Newport Jazz, Jazz à Vienne, Umbria Jazz Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and the Coliseum in Lisbon, Portugal. vitorgoncalvesmusic.com