About
Saxophonist, composer, arranger and music producer, born in Botelhos, MG. He has released six solo albums, with the most recent ones being Ciano (2024), Espelho (2023) and Contorno (2022). Currently, he is developing his original work in the city of São Paulo with his group, Thomaz Souza Quartet. He has collaborated with artists such as Mônica Salmaso, Léa Freire, Leny Andrade, Bob Wyatt, Michel Leme, Cuca Teixeira, Weedie Braimah, among others. He has also worked with large ensembles like Brasil Jazz Sinfônica, Trilheiros project with the Campinas Symphony Orchestra, Speakin' Jazz Big Band, Campos Consenso Big Band, Lira Jazz de Diadema, Big Band of the Institute of Arts Unicamp, Orchestra of IA conducted by Nelson Ayres during the guest artist project at Unicamp, and the Big Band of Atibaia conducted by Roberto Sion. He is a member of groups such as Orquestra Laboratório Bastet, Ivan Castro Trio, Ijó, RP Project and Quimbará, in addition to various other projects in the São Paulo music scene. He has been part of groups from different branches of instrumental music, such as Igor Bollos Quintet, Re:bop, Höröyá, Grupo Mão de Onze, Coreto Brass Band, De Jazz a Z, Elthon Dias Group, Picadinho da Velha, and Telecoteco. He has contributed to the recording of albums and singles such as Eclipse (Caio Pamplona), Tumbuluku (Otis Selimane), Orquestra Laboratório Bastet Vol.1 and Vol.2 (Orquestra Laboratório Bastet), Ojos abiertos/Ojos Cerrados (Claudia Martinez Jazz Project), Big Easy (Re:bop), Milo (RP Project), Igor Bollos 5teto (Igor Bollos Quinteto), Dois Cantos (Iara Gomes), and Broovin 2 (Bruno Bruni). In April 2019, he held a series of workshops as a guest artist at the Universidad de Las Americas in Quito, Ecuador. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Popular Music - Saxophone from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), during which he participated in a one-semester exchange program in Louisville (KY, USA), through the CAPES/FIPSE program. He has a master’s degree in jazz performance from the University of Louisville (KY, USA). During his master's program, he attended lessons and master classes with artists such as Rufus Reid, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, Eric Alexander, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, John LaBarbera among others. He has performed at festivals such as JEN (The Jazz Education Network), La Plata Jazz Festival, Mostra Jazz Campinas, Virada Cultural, POA em Cena, SIM São Paulo, II Petit Festival de Janeiro, P-LUGAR, and FEIA - UNICAMP. In addition to his work as an instrumentalist, he has worked as a music producer on the albums Madrugada Chegou (Dadona), Blär (Bruna Lucchesi), and Este Lado Para Cima (Guto Leite), as well as creating original soundtracks for dance works such as Dellas 21 (Daniela Moraes and Layla Bucaretchi), Serpentina (Gabriel Tolgyesi), Dentro (Maria Basulto) and Melodia de um Idioleto (Maria Basulto).