Toninho Horta Quartet

Every year some of Brazil’s greatest musicians gather in the redwoods of Cazadero for California Brazil Camp, and every year several faculty members venture down to the Gardens to share their mesmerizing music. This season features a bona fide legend, guitarist and composer Toninho Horta, who first gained international attention in the early 1970s with the rise of Milton Nascimento and his Minas Gerais homies via the classic 1972 album Clube da Esquina. Among the most brilliant in this talent-laden crew, Horta went on to a prolific career as a solo artist and as a collaborator sought out by era-defining Brazilian artists such as Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Bosco, Nana Caymmi, Gal Costa and Elis Regina. His influence spread far beyond Brazil during the 1980s sojourn in New York City, when he inspired American artists such as Pat Metheny, who hailed his “chord progressions that defy gravity,” in the liner notes to Diamond Land, Horta’s 1988 album featuring saxophone great Wayne Shorter. “His melodies stay with you for days,” Metheny noted. “You’re sure you’ve heard them before, but they’re brand new.” Joined by a world class quartet, Horta continues to embody state-of-the-art Brazilian jazz.

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