Nilson Matta

Nilson Matta has long been considered one of Brazil’s best bass players. Since his arrival in New York in 1985, he has become the first call of many of the top musicians in the United States. Nilson studied bass at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with Sandrino Santoro, Brazil’s premier classical bass player. While in Brazil he played with such top artists as João Gilberto, Hermeto Pascoal, Chico Buarque de Holanda, Nana Caymmi, João Bosco, Johnny Alf, Nivaldo Ornellas, MPB-4, Hélio Delmiro, Luiz Bonfá, and many others. In 1983 Nilson was invited to Japan to perform with singer Lisa Ono. Together they spent a year promoting Brazilian music. While with drummer Pascoal Meirelles in 1984, Nilson founded the fusion band Cama de Gato.

Nilson has performed and recorded with such renowned artists as Joe Henderson, Paquito D’Rivera, Slide Hampton, Herbie Mann, Mark Murphy, Oscar Castro-Neves, Don Friedman, Paul Winter, Claudio Roditi, Gato Barbieri, Yo-Yo Ma, Kenny Barron, and many others. Five years after his move to the States, he co-founded an extraordinary quintet—The African Brazilian Connection with pianist Don Pullen. This group released three critically acclaimed CDs: Kele Mou Bana, Ode to Life, and Live at Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1993 Nilson returned to Brazil to record the CD The Magic with the great composer and guitarist Luiz Bonfá. Along with fellow Brazilians Romero Lubambo and Duduka da Fonseca, Nilson founded Trio da Paz, one of the foremost Brazilian Jazz groups in the world. The trio has recorded five CDs, the third of which, Partido Out, won the Jazz Journalists Association Award for Best Brazilian Jazz Album of the Year in 2002.

From 1995 to 1998, Matta worked extensively with saxophonist Joe Henderson, recording on the Grammy Award–winning Joe Henderson Big Band. A few years later, he recorded his first record as a leader, Encontros. In 2003 and 2004 he made two recordings with the virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Obrigado Brasil and Live at Zankel Hall, both of which earned Grammy awards.