Some years ago, on the way to a gig in VA, my teacher and friend, Jae Sinnett turned to me in the car and said, "I have something you HAVE to check out." He put in Chico Pinheiro’s 'There’s A Storm Inside' …. I was immediately blown away by the beauty, groove, sheer technical brilliance, and overall warmth and inviting vibe in every note.
Needless to say, I was an instant fan! Fast forward a few years and I receive a Facebook message out of the blue from a "Chico Pinheiro" letting me know he had recently checked out Keep On Keepin' On, and enjoyed my music. I had to have my buddy, Billy Williams Jr. take a look at Chico’s profile picture to ensure that it was actually him. I really couldn’t believe it was THIS musician, whose music I had been loving for the last few years. Billy said, "yeah man, it's him!"
After being blown away that this guy actually liked what I was doing, I responded and let him know the feeling was quite mutual. It was a very encouraging encounter and a testament to the positive kinds of interactions that are possible these days with the internet.
Fast forward to this past December, and I saw that Chico was performing in LA where I now live. After thoroughly enjoying the show, I went up and met Chico for the first time and had a blast chatting. I’m sure he was more excited to meet Candy, but that is completely understandable. During the gig, he mentioned that he was now residing in New York. I had a weekend booked at the Jazz Forum, and decided to go out on a limb and ask if he might be interested in joining my trio for a couple nights. Amazingly, he was down!
We just finished playing 2 incredible nights with Evan Gregor and Jimmy Macbride, and I’m still recovering from how surreal this whole experience has been. I can’t thank Chico, Evan, and Jimmy enough for making the music feel so comfortable and easy, despite its complexity and intricacy. Not to mention Chico’s graciousness in allowing us gringos to try our best to play his amazing and challenging music.
I also want to thank Mark, and everyone at the Jazz Forum for making this special weekend possible. Despite coming from totally different parts of the world, we were able to come together and make music that felt like a perfect fit from the first downbeat. This is why I love music so much!
And, by the way, if you haven’t had a chance to check out “There’s a Storm Inside”, do yourself a favor and do that now. You will be a better person for it!