Ricardo Grilli

JazzB - Sao Paulo

1 Sep

Written By Oh! Jazz

Since arriving in 2012, guitarist Ricardo Grilli has been rising through the ranks and making quite an impression in New York’s Jazz scene. In this short time he has played with world renowned artists such as Chris Potter, Chris Cheek, Mark Turner, Aaron Parks, Joe Martin, Eric Harland, Kendrick Scott, Kevin Hays, Jon Cowherd, Orlando Le Fleming and Taylor Eigsti among others.
He’s also headlined in many major clubs in New York and abroad including The Blue Note, The Iridium, Smalls Jazz Club, Scullers Jazz Club (Boston), The Rex (Toronto), Cornelia St. Café, The Sidedoor, JazzB (São Paulo).
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008 Ricardo was chosen to represent his country at Dave Liebman’s IASJ (International Association of Schools of Jazz) meeting in Riga, Latvia. In 2013, Ricardo released his debut album, “If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler”, it received rave reviews from the press qualifying as one of the best debut records of 2013 on the NPR Francis Davis Critic’s Poll and on Arnaldo DeSouteiro’s Jazz Station Best of 2013 with Ricardo qualifying in the Best Electric Guitarist and Best Composer categories.
2016 saw the release of Ricardo’s second album, 1954 (Tone Rogue Records), featuring Aaron Parks on piano, Joe Martin on bass and Eric Harland on drums. Recorded and engineered by Michael Perez- Cisneros it received critical acclaim, including features on The New York Times, Downbeat, Jazz Podium (Germany), Jazz Life (Japan), All About Jazz and many others. Drawing influence from the past, the present and the cosmos, 1954 features 9 original compositions highlighting Ricardo’s modern guitar playing and nuanced compositional style. Ricardo was also signed to the Japanese label, Core Port along with artists such as Ben Wendel, Rebecca Martin, Joyce Moreno to have his new record widely distributed and publicized in Japan.
His follow up record 1962 was recorded on August 8th and 9th of 2018 and will be released in early 2019. It features, saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Kevin Hays and the returning rhythm section of Joe Martin and Eric Harland.
Born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1985, Ricardo Grilli comes from a musical family, he attended Berklee College Of Music for guitar performance where he graduated Summa Cum Laude among the schools finest guitarists. He relocated to NY where he completed a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies at the New York University. Ricardo is a Westville Guitars artist, and endorses Tyler Amps.