Augustus 6th, Nelson Latif with 'Trio Raiz' in 'Lizboa Boat'

Nelson Latif (Brazil)
Specialized on cavaquinho and acoustic guitar, Nelson Latif comes from the generation of Sao Paulo musicians of the eighties. With a background based on the styles of choro and jazz music, Latif has developed a unique approach towards playing the guitar. Nelson Latif merges techniques of the classical guitar with the musical influences assimilated during his career. His melodic phrasing was strongly influenced by bebop and the syncopated Brazilian rhythms. Also the virtuosity found in the flamenco way of playing the guitar forms a strong part of Latif's style.
Latif started his studies at the age of fourteen. Already at seventeen he was accompanying singers in the Sao Paulo nightlife. At this time, he had won a competition of a music school and he was awarded a scholarship to study conducting and composition at the Faculdade Santa Marcelina. Afterwards, he continued his classical guitar studies at the Faculdade Paulista de Musica. At the beginning of the 80´s, Latif joined several groups in his hometown. Two of these groups were a strong influence to his musical development: the Quarteto Paulista, a choro group formed by some of the best Sao Paulo musicians and a flamenco duo with guitarist Julio Ramires. Also during this period, Latif studied electric guitar with Mozart Mello and improvisation with Paulo Belinatti.

In 1988, after a tour in Europe with the choro trio Remelexo, Latif moved to Lisbon, where he started giving workshops at the Juventude musical Portuguesa and teaching classical guitar at the well-known Escola de Guitarra de Duarte Costa. In 1989 Latif moved to Amsterdam, where he lived for twelve years. During this time he was a member of Uit de Kunst, a Dutch governmental organization created to promote the foreign culture in Holland . Latif also continued his career as a musician playing with several important names of the Dutch jazz scene. Among others, saxophonists Paul Stoker and Michael Moore, and singers Josee Koning and Lilian Vieira . During this time, Latif also travelled through many countries with Brazilian musicians playing at jazz and world music festivals. He also started working at recording studios.
During the 90th, Latif started performing on the cavaquinho, an instrument that has became his trademark since then.
Between 1997 and 2000 he leaded the group Raiz Latina, touring many times through the Asian continent. They recorded their debut album in Seoul with the well-known Korean singer Kim Jun. Nelson Latif came back to Brazil in 2001, when he formed Trio Baru with the musicians Fernando Corbal and Bosco Oliveira.
He recorded the CD Brazilian Portrait together with the saxophonist Flávio Sandoval in 2003, and started promoting this album in Brazil and Europe . At this same year he went several times to Suriname to play concerts and give workshops and lectures. Together with the guitarists Stanley Noordpool and Robby Faverey he played at the Carifesta and the Groen Festival. In 2004, Latif formed a duo with the multi-instrumentalist Carlinhos Antunes. In 2005 he joined forces with the Ustad Zamir Khan, sitar and tabla player and a member of the legendary family of Indian musicians. Latif and Khan merged the traditional music of their countries, discovering a whole new world of musical possibilities. Also in 2005, Latif recorded the CD Choro, Samba e Afins, together with Dutch guitarist Joeri de Graaf. This recording was the starting point to the Choramundo Project, gathering musicians from Holland, Suriname and Brazil .

more info: http://www.nelsonlatif.com/

Trio Raiz
Nelson Latif: accoustic guitar, cavaquinho, bass
Edson Gomez: percussion, berimbao
Marcelo Godoy: vocals, accoustic guitar
Date: Sunday, Agustus 6th
Time: 20 hrs.
Entrance: free
Place: Lizboa Boat, Amsterdam
De Lizboa Veemkade 251
1019 CZ Amsterdam
020-4191338

http://lizboa.nl/