OSCAR CASTRO-NEVES

1940 - 2013

Oscar was born May 15, 1940, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one of triplets in a highly musical family.

Oscar emerged in the early 1960s as one of the founding figures of the musical movement that became known worldwide as Bossa Nova, along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and a handful of other young composers.

Following his U.S. debut, Oscar and his quartet toured in the illustrious company of the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, the Stan Getz Quartet, the Lalo Schifrin Trio and the Laurindo de Almeida Quartet before he returned to Brazil to resume a busy schedule as an arranger and producer.

In 1971 he made Los Angeles his permanent home, joining Sergio Mendes' Brazil '66 group as the featured guitarist, music director and vocal coach. When he left the group in 1981, he had recorded more than 15 albums with Mendes, had co-producer many, and had appeared in concert in dozens of the world's major cities. Oscar has served as a governor of the Los Angeles chapter of NARAS, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which presents the Grammy Awards. Although a permanent resident of the U.S. for over three decades, he remains well known and widely respected in his native land.