Marcos Ariel
A legitimate carioca, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Pianist, flutist and composer, Marcos Ariel has over 25 years of career and 19 years of phonographic work. His compositions have since the beginning been crossing frontiers and his first LP, ‘Bambu’, was released in France in 1986 and was awarded earlier, in 1983, with the Chiquinha Gonzaga Trophy. After that, the LP ‘Terra do Indio’ was released in the U.S. and elected by JAZZIZ magazine as one of the best releases of the year. He performed in several concerts in Los Angeles and in the circuit of International Jazz Festivals.
“The career of the pianist Marcos Ariel is one of the most prolific and successful between our instrumentalists. This youthful veteran began in the Cantares group, in 1976, after intensive studies of piano, and then earned experience leading the group Usina, with which he recorded his early disks.
Following his path, he acted in numerous contexts, developing his style and his language in many areas, always with balance, inventivety and consistency. I have known Marcos Ariel for 20 years, since his first release ‘Bambu’, and realized I was facing a promising potency with a brilliant future. In the occasion, in a critique published in the ‘Jornal do Brasil’ newspaper, I affirmed that, beyond being a pianist and a flutist, Ariel was a composer and arranger with great future. Time has confirmed my predictions, and going beyond them, he was established definitely his international name.
Living for the past 10 years in the Rio-Los Angeles connection, a lot has happened in the path of this connection, and a series of records have sedimented even more his talent here in Brazil and in the United States.”, O Globo Newspaper, José Domingos Raffaelli
10 CDs released in the U.S. since 1989
12 CDs released in Brazil since 1986
Elected by JAZZIZ magazine as one of the best releases in the U.S. (1989)
18* place in Billboard Magazine in 2001
16* place in Billboard Magazine in 2002
Director and communicator of “Nota Jazz”, “Rio-Los Angeles Connection” and “Open Studio” programs in Globo FM Radio Station (Rio de Janeiro) between 1996 and 1998. Director of Humaitá Record Label.
Quotes:
“Ariel, revealed a major-league compositional talent. His vibrant works – rich shifting multiplique rhythms – managed to combine the twists and turns of be-bop articulation with the soaring melodies of the samba.”, Los Angeles Times, by Don Heckman, May 1989
“Ariel’s unique musical phrasing are played out stylishly employing classical keyboard technique and very ‘Brazilian’ ideas have a sensibility steeped in Rio brew that combines ‘Choro’ with Chopin”, JAZZIZ Magazine, by Mark Holston, March 1991
“Ariel’s compositions bring out the best in Brazilian beat…Marcos Ariel: the Brazilian pianist whose luch sense of phrasing comes with a feel that’s at once sensitive and impressionistic.”, LA Weekly, by Bill Kohlhaase, July 1998
Informations about the present release and project ‘Piano Com Tom Jobim”
Marcos Ariel’s most recent CD is a solo work, he made a tribute to the great Brazilian master Jobim.
“’Piano Com Tom Jobim’ reaches an even higher plateau. It is a master piece of a mature and conscientious artist, who knew very well what he plays, a challenge he overcomes graciously while playing songs exhaustively explored by hundreds of performers, dismissing the obvious and redundant. With this refined work, Marcos Ariel approaches in the end of the century as a mature and victorious artist, whose experience and skill have guaranteed him a position of eminency without having to prove anything. It is a work of a creator who refines, by each day, his art.”, José Domingos Raffaelli for O Globo newspaper, Set/2000
Marcos, has dedicated himself to the divulgement of his work through several presentations in Brazil and elsewhere, such as the “Hommage To Tom Jobim Show” that took place in the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles September 30, 2005.
“The program opened with a solo piano set by Marcos Ariel. Starting from a classical viewpoint, he found Jobim linkages in Chopin and Bach, then moved into a curious but ultimately effective conncection with Thelonious Monk, adding his own breath vocals to complete the mix. The always adventurous Jobim (who died in 1994 at age 67), would surely have loved it all.”, Los Angeles Times, by Don Heckman, October 2005
PianoBossaJazz:
After being on stage in Los Angeles (Ford Amphitheatre), New York (50 years of Petrobrás in Wall Street), Montreal (International Jazz Festival) and Ottawa (Maison Máxime) Marcos Ariel is now presenting the show “PianoBossaJazz”. The show is about 2 hours long, and is divided in two parts: the first movement is dedicated to Bossa Nova music, in which Marcos Ariel plays songs from the “Piano Com Tom Jobim” album, reverencing the great master. In the second part, the musician presents jazz classics and some of his own compositions.
With original arrangements and in an innovating form, Marcos Ariel promotes the encounter between Bossa Nova and Jazz, intercalating the Be-Bop articulations with the Swing from Samba and Choro. The most remarkable characteristic of Marcos Ariel’s musical presentations is its interaction power with the audience, a skill developed during his job as a host of the radio program “Nota Jazz” of Globo FM Radio Station in Rio de Janeiro. Beyond being a virtuous instrumentalist, Marcos Ariel has revealed himself to be an exceptional communicator that entertains the audience (in Portuguese or in English) in a relaxed way, delivering informations and oddities about the music and its composers.
Repertoire:
Jobim compositions
Wave, One Note Samba, Girl From Ipanema, Luiza, Samba Do Aviao, Aguas De Marco, How Insensitive, Ligia, Olha Maria, Desafinado
Ariel’s compositions
Lua Branca, Ponteio Da Manha, Calm, Conversation With Angels, Rhapsody In Rio, Green Eyes
Jazz Classics
Donna Lee, Blue Monk, ‘Round Midnight, Spain, Stella By Starlight, Giant Steps
