Biography Oscar Castro‐Neves

Oscar Castro-Neves (May 15, 1940 - September 27, 2013), was a Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer who is considered a founding figure in the bossa nova music style.

Oscar was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one of triplets in a highly musical family. Along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and a handful of other young composers, he emerged in the early 1960s as one of the founding figures of the musical movement that became known worldwide as bossa nova. His first instrument was the cavaquinho, the small Brazilian guitar used in such traditional styles as choro. He soon added the piano and classical guitar to his repertoire and began performing with his three brothers -- pianist Mário, bassist Iko and drummer Léo. At the tender age of just sixteen, Oscar's first recorded song, "Chora Tua Tristeza," became a national hit in Brazil and generated over fifty covers recorded by various artists. In the studio, he recorded historic albums with the music's biggest names, including Vinicius de Moraes, the poet laureate of the bossa movement; Dorival Caymmi, the godfather of Bahian-rooted Afro-Brazilian sounds; and the soon to be famous female vocal group Quarteto em Cy. In 1962, a year before "The Girl From Ipanema" became a Top 10 hit, he helped lead the Bossa Nova invasion of the U.S., playing a central role as a performer and accompanist for other noted Brazilian musicians at the historic presentation of Brazil's new music at Carnegie Hall.

Following his U.S. debut, Oscar and his quartet toured in the illustrious company of the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, the Stan Getz Quartet, the Lalo Schifrin Trio and the Laurindo de Almeida Quartet before he returned to Brazil to resume a busy schedule as an arranger and producer. In 1971 he made Los Angeles his permanent home, joining Sergio Mendes' Brazil '66 group as the featured guitarist, music director and vocal coach. When he left the group in 1981, he had recorded more than 15 albums with Mendes, had co-producer many, and had appeared in concert in dozens of the world's major cities.

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