Romero Lubambo

Brazil's Romero Lubambo enjoys acclaim as a guitarist whose singular method fuses jazz and classical idioms with Brazilian and Latin folk and pop currents. That distinctive synthesis has rendered him a favored accompanist for vocalists such as Astrud Gilberto, Dianne Reeves, and Luciana Souza. His fingerpicking flows with rhythmic invention and harmonies whose wide palette arises from an idiosyncratic yet rich chromatic sensibility. After relocating to the United States in 1985, he quickly became a preferred sideman for Herbie Mann, Paquito D'Rivera, and Emily Remler. From 1990 to 1997 several co-led sessions appeared, among them 1993's Infinite Love with Gil Goldstein. The solo recital Lubambo emerged on Avant in 2000. Rio De Janeiro Underground, a 2002 collaboration, placed him alongside Mann and Ivan Lins. 2014's Só: Brazilian Essence presented another unaccompanied program of Brazilian standards. Dos Navegantes in 2017 and Quase Memória in 2019 placed him in a trio with singer/songwriter Edu Lobo and flutist/saxophonist Mauro Senise. Live at Dizzy's, issued in 2021, documented his partnership with the Rafael Piccolotto Chamber Orchestra.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1955, Lubambo first met jazz and classical music through his guitarist uncle. He began on piano before shifting his principal focus to guitar around age thirteen. During the 1970s he sharpened his technique at the Villa-Lobos School of Music while also completing an engineering degree. In 1985 he moved to the United States, where he worked with legendary vocalist Astrud Gilberto and forged an enduring alliance with flutist Herbie Mann. Since that relocation Lubambo has toured and recorded with an extensive roster that includes Claudia Acuña, Gato Barbieri, Michael Brecker, Regina Carter, Dave Douglas, Paquito D'Rivera, Diana Krall, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, and many others.

As a leader Lubambo has proved prolific, beginning in the 1990s with several joint projects such as 1990's Autonomia with harmonica player Rildo Hora, 1993's Face to Face with pianist Weber Drummond, and 1994's Coisa Fina with vocalist Leny Andrade. He also released multiple albums with Trio da Paz, whose members include bassist Nilson Matta and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, among them 1992's Brazil from the Inside and 1994's Black Orpheus. The decade closed with the live solo album 1999's Lubambo.

He remained active through the early 2000s, issuing well-received recordings such as 2002's Duo with César Camargo Mariano and 2003's Rio de Janeiro Underground. A return to Trio da Paz produced Somewhere in 2005. The following year he reunited with longtime associate flutist Mann for Softly. Love Dance appeared in 2007, followed by the Trio da Paz concert set Live at JazzBaltica in 2008. Bons Amigos, a 2011 collaboration with trumpeter Claudio Roditi, preceded his 2014 Sunnyside debut Só: Brazilian Essence, a collection of Brazilian standards and originals performed solo. Setembro: A Brazilian Under the Jazz Influence arrived on the same label a year later. Lubambo joined guitarist, composer, and singer Edú Lobo and saxophonist Mauro Senise for the Biscoito Fino trio albums Dos Navegantes in 2017 and Quase Memória in 2019, both of which received warm international reviews. In the interim he and Maucha Adnet served as co-featured guests with the Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto on Por Causa de Voce for Adventure Music.

In 2021 Lubambo realized a long-held wish to perform live with a jazz chamber ensemble. The resulting Sunnyside album Live at Dizzy's was captured across four nights in 2019 at the Jazz at Lincoln Center club. The ten-track program featured Lubambo and his Brazilian rhythm section—accordionist Victor Gonçalves, pianist Helio Alves, electric bassist Itaiguara Brandão, and drummer Mauricio Zottarelli—joined by the Rafael Piccolotto Chamber Orchestra of winds, reeds, brass, and string quartet. Nine Lubambo originals appeared alongside a samba reading of Bobby Troup's "Route 66" with vocalist Pamela Driggs.