“I became interested early in the guitar and the guitar.
I liked to take the melodies out of the songs I heard on the radio and on the records, first just on a string and then trying to discover the chords.
I found out later that this is a great exercise for the ear and to get to know the neck of the instrument. ”
"A road of sounds "
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Silveira has been a professional musician since 1976, playing live and in studios with great names in Brazilian and international music.
His name is present in the technical file of hundreds of records as a musician, arranger, producer and musical director.
As a teenager, I liked to listen from Rock (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream) and Blues (BB King, John Mayal) to Brazilian Music (João Gilberto, Chico Buarque, Mutantes, Novos Baianos, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Tom Jobim, Baden Powell). He also discovered Jazz by Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, George Benson and Wes Montgomery.
He studied classical guitar, music theory and attended the National School of Music in Rio de Janeiro. At this time, he attended a show by Victor Assis Brasil, who had studied at Berklee College of Music (Boston), and by Márcio Montarroyos, who also played at the same show and encouraged him to take a course at Berklee.
After a year, he returned to Brazil, where he spent two months doing shows with Márcio Montarroyos.
Back in Boston, on the recommendation of guitarist Bill Frisell, he started working with a salsa band, Latin Stars, one of his first professional jobs in the United States.
On weekends, Ricardo left Boston on his way to New York, where he played with the Brazilian group Astra Carnival.
Recommended by trumpeter Claudio Roditi, Silveira was invited to join the group of flutist Herbie Mann, with whom he toured the United States for two years.
At that time, living in New York, he also started working in studios participating in recordings alongside great musicians such as Steve Gadd, Richard Tee, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Jason Miles, Nana Vasconcelos, L. Shankar.
Despite four years working abroad, Ricardo maintained contact with Brazilian music. In fact, most of the invitations to play abroad came also because he is a Brazilian musician and is fluent in different languages and musical styles.
At the recommendation of producer and musician Liminha, when they met in the United States, he was invited to tour the album "Aquela Mulher" with the renowned singer Elis Regina.
In the same period he began to work intensively on recordings of jingles and records by various artists.
After touring with Elis Regina, Ricardo started playing with other big names in MPB such as Hermeto Pascoal, Maria Bethânia, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, João Bosco, Ivan Lins, Nana Caymmi and Ney Matogrosso, with whom he also made arrangements and musical direction .
Between participations in shows and recordings of great names in Brazilian music, Ricardo began to develop his authorial project.
His first album was "Bom de Tocar" (Polygram), released in 1984. The song was so successful that it became a vignette for Rádio Globo FM, remaining on the air for 10 years, and immortalizing his guitar solos in the song that gave his name to disco.
Due to the impact, the guitarist was invited to play at the first Free Jazz Festival in 1985. For the show, he invited talented friends: bassist Nico Assumpção, pianist Luiz Avellar, drummer Carlos Bala and New York saxophonist Steve Slagle.
The result was so good on stage that the quartet promoted the recording of the album "High Life", released in 1986 by the Elektra Musician label.
The second solo album, titled with the name of the guitarist himself, came in 1987. In the United States, it was named "Long Distance" by the Verve Forecast label, which launched in addition to this, the titles "Sky Light", "Amazon Secrets" and "Small World".
All were among the top five American jazz artists played on the radio, with Sky Light and Amazon Secrets first.
In the United States, in addition to touring with Herbie Mann, he played with names such as Sergio Mendes, Don Grusin, Dave Grusin, Oscar Castro Neves, Dori Caymmi, Nathan East, Vanessa Williams, El Debarge, Diana Ross, Brenda Russel, Justo Almario, Toots Tiellemans , Baby Face, John Pisano, Kevin Lethau, Ronnie Foster, Harvey Mason, Paty Austin, David Sanborn, Pat Metheny, Phil Perry, Earnie Watts, Gregg Karukas and Abe Laboriel.
With Matt Bianco, Silveira was in Europe and Japan twice, where he also made eight trips in concerts with Sadao Watanabe and Don Grusin.
In 1995 he recorded “Storyteller” I ask for the Kokopelli label, which was also among the five most played.
In 2001, the CD "Noite Clara" was released in Brazil by MP, B and in 2003 in the USA by Adventure Music. This work was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2004 in the Best Instrumental CD category.
In 2003, in partnership with pianist Luiz Avellar, both with experience touring alongside Milton Nascimento, they recorded the CD "Ricardo Silveira and Luiz Avelar live playing Milton Nascimento".
From 2006 to 2009, he was presenter of "Studio 66" at Canal Brasil, in more than 70 programs that received several artists for a chat and musical improvisations. Several names went through the program, such as Egberto Gismonti, João Donato, Paulo Moura, Carlos Malta, João Bosco, Yamandú Costa, Chico Pinheiro, Hélio Delmiro and Guinga.
In July 2007, “Outro Rio”, his tenth work, was released in the United States, and in February 2008 in Brazil, respectively, on the labels Adventure Music and MP, B.
In 2008 he produced the CD “In a different way” by singer Emilio Santiago, which won TIM as "Best MPB album of the year".
Ricardo participated in the CD "Randy in Brasil" by trumpeter Randy Brecker, who won a Grammy in 2009 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Also in 2009, he signed the musical direction of the work of singer and composer João Bosco "I don't go to heaven, but I don't live on the ground anymore", which in 2010 was nominated for the Brazilian Music Award and the Latin Grammy for Best MPB Album.
In 2010, he released the CD “Até Amanhã”. In this album, Ricardo brings together his best known songs with new arrangements signed by Ricardo himself, Vittor Santos, Jessé Sadoc and Marcelo Martins.
2013 was a year of intense music production. In addition to concerts and recordings, Ricardo has released two works, for the time being only in the USA: “RSVC”, a duo album with Vinicius Cantuária and “Atlânticos”, a duo with guitarist Roberto Tauffic. Not to mention the re-release of “Storyteller” by Adventure Music in the North American market.
With this same accelerated rhythm, in 2014 it was the turn of the double CD “Ricardo Silveira Organ Trio”, released in the USA, an old dream of Ricardo’s to explore the sounds of a jazz trio based on the sound of a Hammond B3 Organ.
In 2016 two works were released: CD “Cosmos” Ricardo Silveira & John Leftwich, inviting Hubert Laws and Kiko Freitas and the CD/DVD Ricardo Silveira Quarteto “ Live in Jericoacoara”, recorded during the Choro Jazz Festival.
In 2017, he launched the trio work on digital platforms: “Simbora”.
The years 2018 and 2019 were permeated by concerts and international tours alongside João Bosco, Banda Zil, concerts of his authorial work and didactic events such as seminars and workshops in Brazil and abroad.
In 2020 he produced the album "Solo" Ricardo Silveira, that was released in 2021,
as well as 2 online courses.
In 2021, he continued the Solo project by recording a Live Video presented on social networks in partnership with the Blue Note concert hall.
In 2022, he toured the US where he also taught a masterclass at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston.
That same year, he participated in several recordings, arrangements, productions and shows alongside great artists, in addition to performing with his quartet.