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Zé
Luis the Composer
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Zé Luis (José Luis Oliveira) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer with broad experience. Playing flute, saxophone, guitar and percussion, Zé Luis—who has toured the world with leading Brazilian and pop artists—is credited on hundreds of recordings including albums, film soundtracks and commercials.
Starting his career very early, in Brazil, Zé became a steady member of Caetano Veloso’s band for seven years in the 1980s, and appears on several of his recordings. During this period, Zé played and recorded widely with top Brazilian artists, and worked with icon Gilberto Gil on the original score of director Carlos Diegues’ film Subway to the Stars; the film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was the Brazilian entry at the Academy Awards in 1987. Since his move to New York City in 1990, Zé Luis has studied composition and contemporary music with Stanley Wolfe at the Juilliard School, and has worked with many international artists whose diverse styles continue to expand his range as a sax and flute player—as well as a composer, arranger and producer. Zé served as Musical Director of Bebel Gilberto’s band on her first album, Tanto Tempo (Ziriguiboom/Six Degrees)—the most successful Brazilian release in the U.S. since the Sergio Mendes era. Zé and Bebel continue to collaborate and play together, right up to her current album, All In One (Verve), nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album, on which Zé is credited as a flautist and arranger. A musical leader in his own right, Zé Luis has produced the self-titled Zé Luis EP and two albums of his compositions, Guarani Banana and Caiapó and he contributed four songs to the ecology-themed Green Heart compilation. Highly acclaimed in the American press, garnering enthusiastic coverage in DownBeat, Saxophone Journal, Rhythm and Jazziz, among many other publications. The much-anticipated album The Birth of… Sambismo, a 21st-century blend of Brazilian idioms and modern genres that features many of his compositions sung by a new generation of Brazilian stars, is set to be unveiled soon. In demand as an on-demand composer and producer on the New York scene, Zé has freelanced for music production houses including Tomandandy, Music For Pictures, Pull and Q Department. He won both a TUSCULUM video award (Greeneville, TN) and a Telly award for his work on the documentary It’s Not Easy, directed by Frank Melli. He was also awarded for his work on the dance performance Big Judy (under a grant from Meet the Composer), created by Patricia Hoffbauer and produced by David White at New York’s Dance Theater Workshop in 1993. Credits as an arranger/producer include releases such as “Christmastime Is Here” by the band Ivy, from the compilation Maybe This Christmas Tree (Nettwerk), and Ivy’s album In The Clear (Nettwerk)—licensed for the Monster-in-Law soundtrack; Psychosamba (Tratore), with Johann Heyss; Don’t Whisper Lies (Wax Divine), with Astaire/Blondfire; Find the Love, with Aisha Mike; and Sunshine After Midnight with noted guitarist JJ Sansaverino. In 2005 Zé composed and produced the soundtrack for the documentary En Route to Baghdad directed by Simone Duarte, honored with a silver medal by the United Nations Correspondents Association in 2004. In 2008, Zé licensed music for the TV movie A Raisin in the Sun, produced by and featuring P. Diddy, which was nominated for a Golden Globe award, and that year The Bossa Project (Blue Infinity) by Robert Lamm (of the band Chicago) featured Zé Luis as an instrumentalist. In 2009, he performed with his quartet in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and with a ten-piece band he arranged and directed at Copa Fest I (2009) & II (2010) at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. In 2011 Zé Luis worked as co-producer and arranger with Bebel Gilberto on the song “Samba de Orly” for the movie Rio and its soundtrack album, and in early 2012 he composed, arranged, produced and performed the original soundtrack of the short movie Os Lados da Rua (Beyond the Streets) directed by Diego Zon, selected by the Cannes Film Festival.
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Read a review of Zé’s CD |
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What
the press is saying about Zé Luis |
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For more information, email: atoz@earthlink.net |
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- 1975 Graduated at Pro-Art Conservatoire, Rio de Janeiro in flute and traditional harmony. - 1977 Graduated at Villa-Lobos Institute, Rio de Janeiro. Performance-Major.- 1979-1981 Had private classes with Paulo Moura, well-known sax and clarinet player born in Brazil. Had private classes with Joe Lovano 1991-1992 and with Ted Nash @ NYU 1992-1994.- 2001-2004 Studied Contemporary Music and Composition with Mr. Stanley Wolfe at Juilliard School.
- 2005 Bebel Gilberto (album) - Best Contemporary World Music Album - Instrumentalist
- 2008 Momento - Best Contemporary World Music Album - Instrumentalist
- 2010 All In One - Best Contemporary World Music Album - Instrumentalist and Arranger
- 2004 Honored with a silver medal from the United Nations Correspondents Association (Original Soundtrack of the documentary En Route to Baghdad) directed by Simone Duarte. - 2000 Crossroads
Music Awards
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BACKGROUND
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® 2002
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