Novo Mundo Novo feat Luanda Jones
February 11, 12, 13, 14 @ 8:00 PM

Luanda Jones - Vocals
Luis Deniz - Alto Saxophone
Mark Kelso - Drums
Paco Luviano - Bass
Gordon Sheard - Piano

Novo Mundo Novo comprises five musicians who hail from different points on the Globe – Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Ireland, and Mexico – and who all now call Canada home. The group’s focus is on the music of Brazil, from classics of Brazilian popular song to newly composed works that honour that tradition and colour it with the unique musical voices of its members.

The scion of a well-known musical Rio de Janeiro family, vocalist, composer, and guitarist Luanda Jones has performed in numerous concerts and festivals throughout Brazil, and has made an indelible mark on the Canadian musical scene since her arrival here in 2005. Luanda has shared the stage with such luminaries as Guido Basso, Guinga, Benjamim Taubkin, and Fred Martins, among numerous others. She also leads her own trio, and is the vocalist and co-composer of Gordon Sheard & Sinal Aberto. Grammy-nominated and Juno Award-winning saxophonist Luis Gonzalez Deniz was born in Camagüey, Cuba. Already a celebrated musician in that spectacularly musical country, since relocating to Canada over twenty years ago he has performed with an impressive array of top-rank Canadian and international musicians; a short list of these includes Mark Turner, Hilario Duran, Paquito D Rivera, Reg Schwager, Cubanismo, Rich Brown, Mark Kelso, Jane Bunnett, Ingrid Jensen, Gary Versace and Hermeto Pascoal. Mark Kelso is one of Canada’s most in-demand drummers for both live performances and recording. A very small sampling of the very many high-profile musicians he has performed with includes Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Gino Vannelli, Michael Bublé, and Holly Cole. Also from a musical family Paco Luviano, originally from Acapulco, México, has recorded and/or toured with acclaimed artists such as Liona Boyd, Njacko Backo, Hilario Durán, Jane Bunnett, Amanda Martinez, Patricia Cano, the Shuffle Demons, and harmonica player Hendrik Meurkens. Pianist and composer Gordon Sheard has been a stalwart of the Canadian music scene for five decades. He has been a member of Manteca, Rick Shadrach Lazar and the Montuno Police, and the bands of Chuck Mangione, Alain Caron, Liona Boyd, and Eliana Cuevas, among many others. Gord holds a PhD in ethnomusicology and has done extensive fieldwork in Brazil.