About
Bill Milkowski, contributor to DownBeat and Jazziz Magazines. He is also the author to "Ode to a Tenor Titan": The Life and Times and Music of Michael Brecker (Backbeat Books).
Photo: Alex Postigo
2018 was a very prolific year in terms of music being released. It was a year of excellency, in terms of great new music being created. After a hiatus we are back with our very own list of best recordings of the year. As we have previously said, this is not a definitive list (we include only those albums submitted for review), but it is a good representation of the good music that’s always authentic and remains faithful to its roots, and that never goes out of style. It also gives us a glimpse at the new trends and evolution in the music we cover. We have to recognize that today, more than ever before, we are experiencing a melting pot of global music, where different elements, different genres, rhythms and cultures are mixing together to create a global sound.
UPCOMING CONCERTS
..."It sparkles,glows, and sweeps you onto the dance floor. This is a perfect appetizer for the Brazil Olympics". Five Star *****
Grady Harp, Author, Los Angeles - Amazon
..."Sergio Pereira, an artist that displays great experience and a beautiful sensitivity that allows him to interpret every song of this project with great class and feeling…"
Bruno Pollacci, Animajazz, Radio Punto FM, Pisa Italy
Singles releases:
'Swingando' jazz charts - 2016
TOP 40 JAZZ CHARTS FOR A STRAIGHT 12 WEEKS
The Lives and Times of Working Musicians.
by Paul Irwin
'Jazz with Martin Freedman' Best of 2022.
Five weeks at # 1
#2 on the Top 100 Latin Jazz Album Charts of 2022
Silver Medal for "Finesse"
in three categories:
- Best Brazilian/Latin Jazz
- Best Album
- Best New Release
"...His guitar is soft yet intricate, full of so many flavors that instantly transport you to the Southern hemisphere..."
"...Pereira's compositions and arrangements lean toward the impressionistic, resulting in a sound that envelops you with warmth, vivaciousness and a miraculous gift of seduction..."
Know a bit more about the album 'Finesse':
"Finesse" available on all digital platform. (Sedajazz Records)
"Finesse" album reviews
"...His understanding of harmony, technique, and melodic form honed his skills as a composer, songwriter, arranger, and guitarist..." Five Star*****
Blogcritics
"…Pereira weaves a gentle and joyous session of mostly bossa novas and does so without referencing Jobim..."
Robert Rush, Cadence Magazine
My new Album "Finesse" is out on all digital platforms. The album includes world class musicians such as drummer and co-producer Mauricio Zottarelli; bassists Mark Egan (Pat Metheny), Paulo Paulelli (Rosa Passos) and Andre Vasconcelos (Djavan/H. Holanda); saxophonists Ralph Moore, David Mann and Rodrigo Ursaia (Rosa Passos); accordionist Vitor Goncalves (Hermeto Pascoal); harmonica ace Gabriel Grossi (Hamilton de Holanda); pianists Helio Alves and Matt King (Chuck Loeb); guitarist Marcus Teixeira (Gal Costa/R. Passos) and Reza Khan; jazz vibraphonist Christos Rafalides; singers Paula Santoro and Filo Machado...and more. Released by Sedajazz Records.
..."Some people just have the right touch... this is jazzy, snazzy and delightfully high octane in it's approach… if this is nu Brazil, put us down for more. Well done".
Chris Spector, Editor and Publisher – Midwest Record
I am a Brazilian guitarist, composer, arranger and producer from Rio de Janeiro. I have been living for many years in New York City and I am now sharing my time between NYC and Spain.
Welcome to my page!!!
'Swingando' Review/press
2019 TOP TEN albums
SERIUS/XM SATELLITE RADIO - NYC
EL PAIS, MADRID
As in football, so also in music, Brasil’s cup runneth over. So great is the outflow, in fact that both have reached the furthest corners of the world. Interestingly, however, there appear to be more guitarists [percussionists excepted] per square-kilometre in Brasil than any kind of musician and instrumentalist. Both are also Brasil’s greatest gift to the music scene in the USA. Sergio Pereira is one of those great gifts – a musician of such prodigious talent that we listen in a state of wonder and awe – once again – to the music he has created on Finesse.
JULY 2023 - Portorroz, Slovenia (various dates to be confirmed)
"Desfilando a Vitoria"
MUSIC AWARDS
2016 top 100 RMR CHART
..."I absolutely love Sergio’s high-spirited Latin jazz guitar work...On “Chega Ai“, you’ll know you’re in the presence of a true Brazilian jazz master (our dearly departed musical friend George Duke would have loved this)..."
Improvijazzation Nation, USA
"Stellar music by a copacetic crew, even if they were continents apart when it was recorded. But with musicians this accomplished and simpatico, all it takes is a little Finesse." (Bill Milkowski)
O's Notes: "Guitarist Sergio Pereira is a Brazilian powerhouse following up his well-regarded debut, Swingando (4/3)"
21 May 2023 - 'Jardin de l'Albarda' - Denia
"Sergio Pereira Quartet" with Adriano Tortola (piano), Ariel Ramirez (bass) and Mariano Steimberg (percussion)
2016 top 10 list for 91.3 kbcs
The JWVIBE: by Jonathan Widran
"...Poring over the guest list – which includes natives of Spain, Cuba, France and Brazil – and figuring out who interacts with who when is almost as frolicsome as listening to Pereira’s brisk, breezy melodic lines.
JazzHalo: by Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther
- #1 on the CMJ Jazz top 5 Jazz Adds
- #3 on CMJ Jazz Charts
- #12 on RMR Charts
- #8 on The National Jazz Charts (Canada).
'Finesse' on the Top 100 Albums 2022
1. Sergio Pereira: Nu Brasil (Zoho Music)
“For the carioca, Sergio Pereira, playing on the Portuguese word “Nu” as the title of his album Nu Brasil and then following it up with a wonderful play on strings to make it all come alive must be the easiest thing in the world. After all he is a strings player himself, playing what Brasilians call violão in the grand tradition of the long line of Brasilian guitarists which he not only follows but embellishes enormously. Mr Pereira has also taken a leap into the great unknown, so to speak, with music that has complex orchestrations, thereby mixing the traditions of men like Laurindo Almeida and Baden Powell with those of Heitor Villa-Lobos. A bold move indeed as Mr Pereira has not attempted before. His debut album, Swingando – although it featured a constellation of Brasilian superstars was a small ensemble effort. But this recording is another matter altogether…” – Raul da Gama
'Finesse' on the Top 100 Albums 2022
#50 on the Top 200 Latin Jazz Album Charts of 2022
"Nu Brasil” – one of the most spirited Latin jazz tunes I’ve heard (yet) in 2018… you’ll be hearing this one in regular rotation on jazz stations across the country, guaranteed..."
Dick Metcalf,
Contemporary Fusion Reviews
Lemon Wire:by Dodie Miller-Gould
"Fans of Latin-infused jazz, and listeners who want to hear something different, “Nu Brasil” is the perfect album"
"Nu Brasil' available now: Spotify, Amazon Music, CDbaby, iTunes and more. "Nu Brasil EPK video"
My album "Nu Brasil" (ZM201808) has been released by the New York based label ZOHO Music on the 7th of September 2018 and is now available on all digital platforms. The album has some of the most amazing heavy weight jazz artists from Europe, Brazil and the USA, including drummer Mauricio Zottarelli, guitarist Marcus Teixeira, flutist Oriente Lopez, saxophonists Alexey Leon and Perico Sambeat, trumpeter Voro Garcia, pianists Helio Alves and Baptiste Bailly, bassists Ales Cesarini and Ariel Ramirez, singers Paula Santoro, Sergio Santos and Viktorija Pilatovic, rapper/drummer Devin Malloy, harmonica player Gabriel Grossi and percussionist David Gadea Al-Saforaui.
"Nu Brasil" Review/press
Contemporary Fusion Reviews: by Dick Metcalf
"...as I listen to Sergio’s splendid guitar on the percussion-driven opener, “Down South“, the “thrill is back” – no doubt!..."
"Trem Do Tempo” (Time Train) will sway you gently on your way to Latin jazz oblivion… I can (easily) see this one winning awards this year....",
LJN Latin Jazz Net: by Raul da Gama
"...Mr Pereira has also taken a leap into the great unknown, so to speak, with music that has complex orchestrations, thereby mixing the traditions of men like Laurindo Almeida and Baden Powell with those of Heitor Villa-Lobos..."
5 times Global Music Awards silver medal winner