From Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Fernando Holz was a soughtafter
performer in bars and clubs before moving to Boston in
1990. Upon his arrival he made a big splash on the New England
music scene as the lead vocalist with the popular quintet Gandaya,
which created “Brazilian music with a great deal of heart and soul,
and not afraid to take a chance or two,” — Jeff Turton, WFNXRadio.
He appeared at the Boston-area’s premier jazz rooms,
Scullers and Regattabar, as well as at the Hartford Jazz Festival.
On his new release Minh’ Alma Nua (My Nude Soul), Fernando
Holz sings and orchestrates original Brazilian pop-jazz music that
makes the listener feel that he or she is being spoken to personally.
Fernando melds happiness and sadness in superior material with
an uncommon ease. Poetry is achieved through his sensitive and
careful employment of mood, tempo, melody, and harmony. Never
stilted or weak in sentiment, the music makes connections with that
of the master, Tom Jobim.