Nelson Latif & Universes in THE MATRIX

You are in a matrix in the original sense of "source". It is a "small-world" network, meaning that the nodes inside it — mirroring human society & the 6 degrees phenomenon — tend to within a few steps of everybody else inside it. The matrix was built to allow regional Brazilian musicians to be discoverable-degrees away from everybody else in the arts world (and so the whole world), and by logical necessity this m.o. requires not only that the great Brazilians be matrixed, but so far as possible, all working artists in our time. Ergo:

This Nelson Latif matrix node is steps away from the entire planet by the well-known small-world ("6 degrees") phenomenon dictating that in human society you yourself are within several degrees of Nelson Latif.
THESE ARTIST NODES are routed to from this Nelson Latif node.

Are these Nelson Latif's personal recommendations?

CURATION STATUS

Worldline Generation: Routes by The Matrix

Who & Where

Name: Nelson Latif
City/Place: São Paulo
Country: Brazil

Life & Work

Bio: ENGLISH:

Cavaquinho and acoustic guitar player Nelson Latif formed his musical identity in the legendary jazz scene of 1980's São Paulo. With roots in choro and jazz, Latif merges Brazilian styles and a classical guitar technique with diverse musical influences. In his melodic phrasing one hears bebop and Brazilian syncopations, and in his virtuosity the energy of flamenco.

Latif started his studies at age fourteen. At seventeen he was already accompanying singers in the São Paulo nightlife. At this time he won a music school competition and was awarded a scholarship to study conducting and composition at the Faculdade Santa Marcelina. Upon completing this course, he continued his classical guitar studies at the Faculdade Paulista de Música.

In the early 80´s Latif joined several groups in his native São Paulo. Two of these strongly influenced his musical development: the Quarteto Paulista, a choro group formed by some of the best São 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 gave workshops at the Juventude Musical Portuguesa and taught 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, an organization designed to promote foreign culture in Holland. Latif also continued his musical career by playing with several important musicians on the Dutch jazz scene. Latif also toured many countries with Brazilian musicians, playing jazz and world music festivals, and made several recordings.

During the 90's Latif started performing on the cavaquinho, an instrument that has since become his trademark.

Between 1997 and 2000 he led the group Raiz Latina, touring throughout the Asian continent. They recorded their debut album in Seoul with the well-known Korean singer Kim Jun.

In 2001 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 promoted this album in Brazil and Europe. In this same year he went to Suriname several times 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 Ustad Zamir Khan, sitar and tabla player and 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 with Dutch guitarist Joeri de Graaf. This recording started off the Choramundo Project, uniting musicians from Holland, Suriname and Brazil.

Since 2002 Nelson Latif has been ahead of the Alma Brasileira Project, designed for universities and cultural institutions all around the world. The project consists of workshops, concerts and lectures, addressing the history and diversity of traditional Brazilian music.

Nelson Latif is also a sociologist, graduated from the University of São Paulo.

PORTUGUÊS:

Violonista e cavaquinista, Nelson Latif é fruto da boa safra de músicos paulistanos da década de 80. Com formação musical em jazz e choro, atua nos principais palcos brasileiros e europeus.

Nelson Latif une os fundamentos da música clássica às diversas tendências musicais assimiladas ao longo da carreira. No fraseado melódico, linhas de forte influência jazzística executadas ora no ritmo sincopado e alegre do choro, ora com a precisão e o vigor do flamenco produzem um estilo singular, marca inconfundível do artista.

Latif iniciou seus estudos de violão clássico aos 14 anos e aos 17 já acompanhava cantores nos bares da intensa noite paulistana. Um ano mais tarde, venceu o festival de música secundarista promovido pela Faculdade Santa Marcelina, onde passou a estudar composição e regência. Continuou seus estudos de música na Faculdade Paulista de Arte, como aluno do curso de Bacharelado em Violão.

No início dos anos 80, integrou diversos grupos musicais na cidade de São Paulo com o violonista e guitarrista, entre os quais se destacam o Quarteto Paulista e o duo de música flamenca que formou com o violonista Julio Ramires. Nesse período, foi aluno do guitarrista Mozart Mello e do violonista Paulo Bellinati, com quem estudou harmonia e improvisação.

Em 1988, com Trio Remelexo, mudou-se para Portugal, onde ministrou workshops de música brasileira para a Juventude Musical Portuguesa. Em Lisboa, foi professor da renomada Escola de Guitarra de Duarte Costa. Apresentou-se com o Trio Remelexo (Nelson Latif, João Arruda e Eduardo Miranda) durante um ano nos principais teatros portugueses.

Em 1989, Nelson Latif radicou-se em Amsterdã. Durante os 12 anos em que morou na Holanda, foi membro do time de professores da Uit de Kunst, instituição divulgadora da cultura estrangeira no país, e trabalhou com diversos artistas. Também acompanhou nesse período os músicos brasileiros, tais como Mestre Marçal, Alcir da Mangueira, Ceumar e Lílian Vieira e os grupos Raíces de América, Quinteto Violado e Fuzuê. Participou de diversos festivais de jazz e world music, tais como o holandês North Sea Jazz Festival, o belga Sfinks Festival, o austríaco Sun Splash Festival e os Festivais de Jazz de Istambul, Lisboa e Jacarta.

Na década de 90, começou a se apresentar também com o cavaquinho, instrumento que o caracteriza desde então.

De 1997 a 2000, Latif dirigiu o grupo Raiz Latina, que o acompanhou em inúmeras turnês pela Ásia, das quais resultou o CD Love, gravado na Coréia.

Nelson Latif voltou a residir no Brasil em 2001, onde forma com os violonistas brasilienses Fernando Corbal e Bosco Oliveira o Trio Baru.

Em 2003, lançou com o saxofonista paulistano Flávio Sandoval o CD Brazilian Portrait, divulgado em turnês no Brasil e na Europa. No mesmo ano, foi acolhido pelo país vizinho Suriname, onde se apresentou diversas vezes, entre elas no Groen Festival, ao lado dos renomados violonistas surinameses Stanley Noordpool e Robby Faverey, e no Carifesta.

Em 2004, formou parceria musical com o também multiinstrumentista de cordas paulistano Carlinhos Antunes.

Em 2005, em duo com o músico indiano Ustad Zamir Khan, sitarista e tablista da legendaria família Khan, trafega pela pouco explorada união entre a música tradicional da Índia e do Brasil.

De 2006 até o presente, Latif tem se apresentado com o Trio Baru ou em concertos solo em palcos nacionais e internacionais.

Como promotor cultural, Nelson Latif coordena o Projeto Alma Brasileira, composto de oficinas musicais, palestras sobre a história da música brasileira e concertos. O projeto visa à difusão da nossa música no exterior e já foi apresentado em diversas universidades e centros de cultura brasileira, em mais de 30 paises.

Nelson Latif é também sociólogo, formado pela Universidade de São Paulo.

Contact Information

Email: fakhouri@uol.com.br
Management/Booking: Brasília +55 61 9264-0911
Amsterdam +31 (0 ) 623675176

Media & Markets

▶ Instagram: latif_nelson
▶ Website: http://www.nelsonlatif.com
▶ YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwIxHZrPdW28uoTRM6AdsTA
▶ YouTube Music: http://music.youtube.com/channel/UC0bQ4imgAXzuF9uCZMSX4ug
▶ Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/artist/76mdfz2j4FmB9CIVqsxMtQ

Clips (more may be added)

Gafieira Amsterdam - Assanhado - 2019
By Nelson Latif

229 views

Nelson Latif

THE MATRIX WAS BUILT HERE, inspired in (the kabbalah-inspired fiction of) Borges' El Aleph, that in the pillar in Cairo's Mosque of Amr, where the universe in its entirety throughout all time is perceivable as an infinite hum from deep within the stone... The Brazilian "aleph" is different though...it doesn't hum...it sings!

Sprawled across broad equatorial latitudes
Stoked and steamed and sensual in the widest sense of the word
Limned in prosody and cadenced song
brəˈzɪl / from "brasa" / Latin for "ember"

w/ David Dye for U.S. National Public Radio

Given the immense untapped power of the small-world phenomenon, from Brazilians the matrix was expanded to include nodes per jazz artists, given jazz's common roots with Brazilian music (nodes based in publicly available information; some artists we informed — Bob Mintzer, Kamasi Washington, David "Fuse" Fiuczynski, Vijay Iyer, Greg Osby — and got thumbs up, others we'll get to), and moved on from there. Artists/academics/"creative people" are welcome to create their own nodes and curate (connect to other artist nodes, so that others may follow). BTW, our logo is a cortador de cana, cane cutter. It was designed by Walter Mariano, professor of design at the Federal University of Bahia to reflect the origins of the music the shop specializes in.

MUCH MORE on all of this in the window below (which, if you are logged in, will instead contain instructions on recommending), and in the window within that window (which includes a "radio" called by The Guardian one of "10 of the best music radio stations around the world"):