1940

Castro Neves was born in Rio de Janeiro, having taken up the acoustic guitar in his childhood. By the late 50s, he joined the bossa nova trendsetters and played the Bossa Nova Festival at the Carnegie Hall in New York City, in 1962. Oscar settled in the Unites states in 1966. The guitarist performed in important albums, like O Ritmo e o Som da Bossa Nova, with Milton Banana. His greatest hits in the 60s were Onde Está Você?, Não Faz Assim, Bossa Nova Blues and Menina Feia. In the U.S., he worked as an instrumentalist, arranger and songwriter with the likes of Sergio Mendes, Flora Purim, Quincy Jones and Paulo Winter. Castro Neves has written music scores for Brazilian and American movies. In the 80s, he restarted recording as a solo artist on the label Winter’s Living. Currently based in California, Oscar adds Brazilian elements to his smooth jazz, and has released albums in the 90s, such as Tropical Heat (1993).