Eymard Furtado Group was founded in 2004 by Eymard Furtado along with other jazz musicians. Through the years the group had the opportunity to perform nationwide and at the best Jazz venues in Dallas.
Eymard Furtado was born and raised in Brazil where he started his music career, developing his foundation on Brazilian Music. In 1996, at the age of 17, Eymard moved to Miami Florida along with his family. In Miami, Eymard had the opportunity to study jazz at the South Miami School of the Arts, and take lessons from the great Cuban pianist Feliz Gomes. This afforded him the opportunity to perform with traditional Jazz groups, as well as Latin groups, which afforded him the opportunity to integrate the Jazz vocabulary and harmony with the rhythms and nuances of Latin music. In the pursuit of a better foundation in Jazz, moved to Dallas TX in 2001 in order to be able to study at North Texas University, a legendary school in Jazz, even to this day.
At UNT, Eymard worked together with many musicians and In 2004, his first Trio project was recorded with Ross Peterson and Michael League, though, aside from some Argentinean influence, the album was mostly restricted to traditional jazz. Later that year, he recorded his second project with musicians like Jonathan Gregory, Jose Aponte, Michael League, Jorge Ginorio. This was first project that had both jazz, Latin, and a strong Brazilian influence.
In 2006 Eymard met the Brazilian bassist Renilson Corrente ( Renny ), a musician who studied and traveled Brazil nationwide with various national artists, playing every Brazilian style from Bossa Nova to Axe Music, Samba,as well as a fusion of Afro-Cuban and American styles. This inspired Eymard and Renilson to start working on a more authentic Brazilian Music Project that would consist of writing books and material on Brazilian music for clinics, and in recording an album of authentic Brazilian rhythms, with a Jazz flavor.
In 2007 along with the collaboration of Brazilian Drummers and percussionists the group started working on its repertoire for the performances and for the new album. The idea of the album began to develop as the group performed and with Eymard arrangements written to explore the best that every musician had to offer. The repertoire is a blend of original, and well know classics from composers such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Edu Lobo,Chico Buarque De Olanda, Ivan Lins, among others. The result is a very organic sound, with a strong Brazilian rhythm section, and a Jazz influence on its harmonic structure, melodic approach, and improvised solos.
In January 2008 the group finished its recording at the Pandhandle House studio in Denton TX. The title of the album is Neither Here Nor There due to the mixture of Brazilian and American music and will be released in December 2008.
The group is performing and offering clinics to the Dallas/ Fort Worth area and Nationwide and is current formed by Eymard Furtado on Piano and Voice, Renilson Corrente (Renny) on Bass and Jose Aponte on Drums.
