Profiles – Samuel Quinto

SAMUEL QUINTO

(Brazil)

Samuel Quinto Feitosa, FRSA is a Brazilian pianist of jazz, pop, gospel, and classical music as well a music producer, composer, arranger, educator, and writer.

From the age of seven, he developed his musical talent by virtue of contact with the piano through the gospel, accompanied Baptist Church who attended in childhood with his family in Salvador. Mr. Quinto took his first steps in piano in the family home learning harmony, reading, and writing music and orchestration, musical composition, arranging for the church choir.

At the age of 25, leaving behind the study of Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Bahia, he decided to follow his passion and pursue a career in music by starting as a pianist at the Marriott Hotel in Costa do Sauipe, Bahia. Having experimented with various genres ranging from Brazilian music to jazz standards, Chick Corea, Cole Porter, through Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Samuel Quinto discovered the pianist Michel Camilo and Latin jazz, and decided to focus on that genre.

In 2004, Samuel Quinto moved to Portugal and began teaching jazz piano and Latin jazz in the city of Porto as well as participating in concerts and jazz festivals. He later formed his “Samuel Quinto Trio” and toured in Portugal and Spain.

Samuel Quinto published his first CD “Latin Jazz Thrill” in 2007. The content of the CD serves as  the core of his repertoire at various festivals and concerts during the years 2007 and 2008 in Portugal and during his 2008 tour through  Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Heilbronn, Liege and Limoges.

In June 2008, Samuel Quinto gave a special concert in Salvador in partnership with the Catholic University of Salvador. His compositions are used at the University of Porto (ESMAE) in the undergraduate degree program in Jazz as study material for training jazz students.

The second CD entitled “Salsa ‘n Jazz” containing eight original compositions by Samuel Quinto and the standard Stella by Starlight was launched in June 2009 at a concert in the city of Oporto during his tour through Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands and England. In this second work, Samuel was accompanied by another Brazilian – classically trained Marcos Borges on bass – and Manuel Santiesteban, a Cuban drummer.

In late 2009, Mr. Quinto designed the first Latin Jazz course for the Jazz School North, Porto – the first professional school of Jazz accredited in Portugal and the only one in the Iberian Peninsula to have the course in Instrumental Professional Jazz at that time.

Samuel has been invited to conduct workshops in Jazz, Latin Jazz Composition and Arrangement both in Brazil and in Europe.

With his musical talent not being limited to jazz, Mr. Quinto also wrote compositions to accompany the ballet on spectacles, as well as for orchestra and choir.

His first symphonic composition, written in 2011, was the Symphony No. 1 in A flat Major “Pascha Aeternam” for for the Orchestra, Chorus and soloists in 4 parts, that has emphasis on Easter.

Samuel’s unique style reveals a strong influence of Michel Camilo’s music, mixed with Chick Corea, Chucho Valdés, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. His style is percussive, often marked by repetitive bass lines, the characteristic “tumbao” of Cuban music, and improvisation lines that reveal extensive knowledge of the genre as well as jazz harmony.

Website: www.samuelquinto.com

Publications: “Improvisar é muito fácil” – Chiado publishing

Recordings: Latin Jazz Thrill (2007), Salsa’ Jazz Trio (2009).

Videos: http://samuelquinto.com/video/samuel-quinto-trio-salsan-jazz/

Representation: N/A

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