Celso Fonseca

Celso Fonseca is part of the current generation of Brazilian songwriters, and with Natural, his stunning international solo debut, he shows himself ready to join the ranks of his countrymen Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Bebel Gilberto. That's pretty heady company, but Celso (pronounced SELL-so) has already collaborated with all three of these world famous musicians; and as a guitarist, an arranger, and producer, he's worked with most of Brazil's top artists, as well as Americans Carlos Santana, Charles Lloyd, and others.

Instrumentalist, composer, producer, and arranger Celso Fonseca has played a significant part in contemporary Brazilian music. At age 19, he decided to seriously study music. It was only a matter of time before he joined Gilberto Gil as his guitar player. Celso has played and recorded with the greatest of the Brazilian artists such as: Chico Buarque, Djavan, Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Elza Soares, just to name a few.

In addition to the recognition of work developed with other artists, Celso has had five successful solo albums. His latest, Natural, is the first international release. Fonseca makes it abundantly clear that he is just as adept in the lead role as singer and star. Here he chooses to create modern but elegant bossa novas that sound hip but are mostly done using traditional acoustic instruments. —Courtesy Calabash Music