Chico Pinheiro

PORTO ALEGRE, RS! 🇧🇷
Estamos chegando no dia 30 de Abril, dia Internacional do Jazz. Trio com os caros Edu Ribeiro Baterista e Bruno Migotto.
Também haverá MASTERCLASS, no próprio dia 30. Todos convidados. Venham!
Masterclass ou Masterclass + Show:
https://www.sympla.com.br/evento/masterclass-de-guitarra-estrutura-completa-com-chico-pinheiro/3382214

Show CP Trio com Edu Ribeiro e Bruno Migotto:
https://www.sympla.com.br/evento/chico-pinheiro-trio/3382189

Kurt! ✨

Chico!

Navegar é preciso.. como dizia Fernando Pessoa! Nourishing the soul at Lunàtico. With homies Rafael, Hamish, and Hélio.. Helio’s quartet. 🎶 ♥️ ✨ 🙏🏽

Friends in NYC!
On March 10 (next Tuesday), I’ll be back with a special quartet— this time at Smalls Jazz Club.
Helio Alves (piano), Or Bareket (bass) and Edu Ribeiro (drums). I hope to see you all there!
To purchase tickets in advance, visit the link below. See you there! 🎶

https://www.smallslive.com/events/31986-chico-pinheiro-quartet/

So incredibly grateful to everyone who came out and supported my solo guitar concert at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University 🎸🎸♥️ Huge thanks to the amazing Miller T. team and the Columbia University staff — you were incredible. Big hugs, and see you next time! 🙏✨

I’m very happy and honored to be featured on the cover and by the amazing in-depth interview that Vittorio conducted. Grazie Mille! For Italian speakers, the full article follows below:
https://www.jazzit.it/la-nuova-generazione-dei-grandi-musicisti-brasiliani-intervista-a-chico-pinheiro/
For English speakers, the translation is below.
Grazie Mille, Jazzit!

13 February 2026

Among the densely packed schedule of the ever-stimulating EFG London Jazz Festival, one event that did not escape the attention of fans and connoisseurs was the set featuring Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiroat Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club—a powerful, sensitive, intelligent artist now in his definitive breakthrough. Just after rehearsal at this exclusive city salon dedicated to the genre and consecrated by history, he granted us this interview.

Interview by Vittorio Pio

At what age did you start playing guitar? Were you interested in jazz from the beginning, or did you explore other musical genres first?

I started playing guitar when I was about six years old. My mother used to play at home all the time, along with the piano—not professionally, but music was a constant presence in our lives. Whether it was my parents’ record player or the jam sessions my mother would occasionally organize, there was always music around us. In our living room we had a piano, an acoustic guitar, percussion instruments, and a few others.

I began playing guitar thanks to The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, who were among my mother’s musical heroes. I was also fascinated by Brazilian music—Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Pixinguinha, Cartola, Garoto, Os Mutantes, Baden Powell, Luiz Gonzaga and many others—as well as progressive rock bands such as Yes and Rush.

What is your educational background in music? Were you self-taught or did you refine your skills at an academic institution?

I started out self-taught and only later, as a teenager, learned to read music and understand harmony. I had some important private teachers along the way, but at first I played entirely by ear, which helped me tremendously.

I began working early—at twelve—in recording studios in São Paulo, playing on jingles, and later started performing with other artists. I attended university in São Paulo, majoring in physics at University of São Paulo, and at twenty I went to Berklee College of Music, where I completed my degree in one year.

Do you consider yourself a jazz guitarist, or does that definition somehow limit you?

It’s a question I’ve asked myself for years and haven’t fully answered. Still, yes—I believe that deep down I am a jazz guitarist, because I am profoundly drawn to improvisation and to the repertoire of the great composers of this tradition.

In my playing I use many elements intrinsic to jazz, but I inevitably bring in other influences that have shaped and nourished me—Brazilian music in its many forms, classical music (especially certain periods that deeply resonate with me), progressive rock, and everything I’ve listened to and absorbed throughout my life.

Have you been influenced only by guitarists? Have those influences changed over time? Who do you listen to today regardless of instrument?

Many guitarists have influenced me, and as you suggested, those influences have evolved and continue to evolve. Jimi Hendrix and Steve Howe had a strong early impact. Soon after, I began listening to, transcribing, and incorporating into my musical universe artists such as Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny, Django Reinhardt, Bill Frisell, George Benson, Jim Hall, John Scofield, Joe Pass, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Peter Bernstein, and many more.

How do you approach composition?

I compose both on guitar and piano. Sometimes I start at the piano and move to the guitar, and sometimes the reverse. They are very different instruments, and each leads me to approach composition differently.

Usually I begin with an idea—a bass line, a harmonic progression, or a small melodic cell. From that initial spark—what people call “inspiration”—the real work begins. I explore countless paths until the theme feels complete. It’s meticulous work, like that of a goldsmith in tireless search of gold.

When improvising, do you focus on the traditional chord-scale relationship, or do you approach it differently?

Early on, I approached improvisation vertically, breaking down each chord and progression in a bebop-oriented way, following the chord/scale/arpeggio model associated with Charlie Parker.

Over time, I moved toward a more horizontal and lyrical language—closer, in some ways, to pre-bebop approaches—while fully embracing bebop as essential to modern improvisation. What Parker did was fundamental in systematizing an approach we still use today.

It was necessary to absorb bebop, hard bop, blues, the modal approaches of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner, as well as the free jazz of Ornette Coleman.

Today, I prefer to think in terms of poetic discourse—as a storyteller—using harmonic changes as a canvas on which to paint.

Do you have any particular memories related to giants of Brazilian music such as Jobim, Gismonti, or Pascoal?

Unfortunately, Antônio Carlos Jobim passed away when I was still very young, so I never had the chance to meet him. But I have been fortunate to collaborate with Edu Lobo, Donato, Johnny Alf, and share the stage with Hermeto Pascoal, as well as work with Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, Kenny Werner, Bob Mintzer, Plácido Domingo, Kathleen Battle, and many others.
Each experience taught me not only about music, but about art—and life itself.

You live in New York. What do you love most about performing there?

What I love most about New York City is the constant exchange it offers and the 24/7access to everything. One day you might perform at Smalls Jazz Club, another at the Metropolitan Opera, the next hear the New York Philharmonic play Stravinsky. The city vibrates constantly, reshaping and reinventing itself.

I’ve traveled across almost all the United States, and I don’t think I would feel at home anywhere else quite like I do in New York.

What are your upcoming projects?

In 2026 I will perform a series of concerts in the United States and Europe with my quartet and other projects. I will also record a solo guitar album in New York for a New Yorker label. I’m truly excited about this new project.
Correct in English only if necessaryi

Tomorrow at 6PM! 🎶 Join us for a musical happy hour featuring guitarist Chico Pinheiro performing Brazilian classics, jazz standards, and his own striking original compositions. Doors open at 5:30PM. Free to all.

Pop-Up Concerts: Chico Pinheiro, guitar - 2/17 at 6PM (NYC) Brazilian-born guitarist and composer Chico Pinheiro returns with an intimate set that blends Brazilian classics, jazz standards, and more.

Hello, friends from Michigan!
We’re coming your way! Check the dates on the website. Hope to see you there!

Friends from NY!

I’ll be playing a SOLO guitar set tomorrow at Columbia University’s as part of the Pop-Up Concerts series!
If you’re in the city, come hang at 6:30PM — would love to see you there!
Free admission!

So wonderful catching up and hanging out with these wonderful gents at Dizzy’s last night. Catch their concert tonighScott Colleyc. Beautiful people 🎶🎶 Quartet.
📸 Scott! 🎻 ✨

This is the interview I did with Steve Roby for Backstage Bay Area — hope you enjoy it!
SF, we’re coming your way! Get your tickets at:
https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/vinicius-cantuaria-chico-pinheiro/

https://www.backstagebayarea.com/interviews/chico-pinheiro-vinicius-cantuaria-sfjazz

Chico Pinheiro & Vinicius Cantuária at SFJAZZ | Brazilian Guitar Duo Feature - Backstage Bay Area Brazilian guitarists Chico Pinheiro and Vinicius Cantuária bring an intimate duo performance to SFJAZZ, blending Brazilian song, jazz improvisation, and originals.