Songwriters:
Sting, Rik Emmett, Milton Nascimento, Flávio Venturini, Pat Metheny
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Acoustic Guitar Players:
Will Ackerman, Alex De Grassi, Earl Klugh, Max Cohen, Michael Hedges
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Electric Guitar Players:
Eric Johnson, Daryl Stuermer, Dominic Miller, Larry Carlton, Neal Schon
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Other Musicians:
Mark Isham, George Winston, Michael Jones, Chris Botti, Dave Koz, 14Bis, Lenine, Foreigner, Journey, Toto, The Police, Ulisses Rocha, Ricardo Silveira, Suzanne Vega, Sade, Vangelis, almost everything in Traditional Jazz and Classical Music.
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Born and raised in Santos/SP, Brazil on September 11th, 1971, Rodrigo Alves had his first music classes learning the flute and basic music theory when he was 11. Influenced mainly by rock bands, he started to play guitar at 12.
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Initially a self-taught musician, he spent his teenage days working with local heavy rock bands of both original and cover material, playing gigs around town. He never took the idea of having music as a job until he was 18, and decided to go to the Music University of his city, where he studied classical guitar for a year.
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The rock influences were still there, but other musical horizons were brewing. The acoustic guitar of Michael Hedges, Will Ackerman and Alex De Grassi took him to the world of New Age Music; Earl Klugh, George Benson and others were an invitation to the world of Smooth Jazz; Rik Emmett, Sting, Bruce Hornsby and Peter Gabriel also were and still are strong influences.
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Along with the classical training, he also studied Jazz and Improvisation with Alexandre Birkett. In 1991, he started to work as a guitar/music theory teacher at some local schools and also for a few private students. In addiction to all of that, he worked with a Progressive Rock band called “Merlin” during 3 years, until the band break up in 1995.
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In 1995, he made his first effort as a solo artist: a demo called “Souvenir”. The tape had 15 instrumental tracks showcasing Rodrigo’s style as a composer and guitarist through many different styles such as rock, pop, acoustic, jazz ad new age. The media acceptance was very positive; among other reviews, Rodrigo was featured in Guitar Player’s magazine Spotlight column (Brazil) in March of 1996. To support himself, Rodrigo kept working with Bar Bands for several years, gaining experience as a sideman for several local artists and bands in the most different styles. Along with the gigs, he also maintained a sustainable career as a teacher until 1997.
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In 1997, he moved to São Paulo to record his first solo album. An independent production, “Suddenly” was released in 1998. The album has 12 tracks – 11 instrumentals and the song “Another Night Gets Longer”, featuring singer Cristopher Clark. The album won raves from both local and international media. Dan McAvinchey, from Guitar9 Records in USA, says: “A Gifted player, Rodrigo can express moods and emotions with relative ease…”
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The year of 1999 brought several changes and new directions. He quitted his jobs both as a sideman and as a teacher to start his own recording studio, the R.A.Studio. Since then, Rodrigo has been working as a producer for several local artists and bands.
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It wasn’t until 2000 that Rodrigo would pay attention to the music of country. But in that year, he discovered the gems of Brazilian music: Milton Nascimento, Flávio Venturini, Lô Borges, Toninho Horta…mainly all the musician from “the corner club”, as they became known. Those influences played a major role in the making of his second CD. “Retratos”, released in 2001, shows a “new” Rodrigo Alves. Essentially a Smooth Jazz album with a strong Brazilian accent, the album has 11 instrumental tracks. The international press once described “Retratos” as “A mature and thoughtful collection of melodies that create utterly subtle variations of mood”.
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From 2003 to 2005, Rodrigo played a few gigs as a solo artist. Joined by Sérgio Lagarto on drums and Fábio Ferreira on bass, the trio has shared the stage with artists such as Arthur Maia.
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In 2007, Rodrigo is back with a new record, “Spiritua”. A New Age album, it has 10 original instrumental acoustic pieces and the song “These Lazy Days” featuring singer Renata Capellas.
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His perspectives are to keep working as an independent recording artist and continue with the work in his own studio.
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Please visit www.rodrigoalves.com for more detailed info.
E-mail: rodrigo@rodrigoalves.com
Mailing Address: Caixa Postal 411, 11001-970, Santos/SP, BRAZIL.
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