Born in Rio de Janeiro, guitarist, composer and arranger Ricardo Peixoto came to the U.S. by way of a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and later settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. His fluid melodic sense and original harmonic approach place him among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the U.S. today.

An inspired improviser with a keen compositional sense, Ricardo’s unique and eloquent style evokes images far beyond his Brazilian territory.

As a composer grounded both in the jazz and Brazilian music traditions Ricardo has continued to explore Brazil’s rich melodies, sophisticated harmonies and rhythms, while integrating them with the freedom and improvisational approach of jazz.

Ricardo has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Claudia Villela, Flora Purim and Airto, saxophonist Bud Shank, percussionist Dom Um Romão, Sivuca, Claudio Roditi, Raul de Souza, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, Arturo Sandoval, Spok, Jovino Santos Neto, Marcos Silv, Terra Sul, and the Berkeley Choro Ensemble. His compositions have been featured on “Inverse Universe” with vocalist Claudia Villela, “Kindness of Strangers” with Terra Sul, on Bud Shank’s “Tomorrow’s Rainbow,” and on the Berkeley Choro Ensemble’s ‘The View From Here’ among others.

He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil.

Ricardo teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory and has also been on faculty at Jazz Camp West and California Brazil Camp.