Fabiano do Nascimento: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.

Abby O'Neill | July 2, 2020
The seraphic sounds by Brazil-born, L.A.-based guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento are hypnotic and transcendent, an amalgamation of Afro-Brazilian jazz, folklore, bossanova and samba. The combination of his overdubbed rhythmic and melodic guitar lines, coupled with the delicate hands of piano player David Bergaud and drummer Julien Cantelm, just seem to hit differently. It's a wandering journey that put me into what feels like the Samadhi state in meditation, where the brain frequency surrenders and the soul completely takes over. Fabiano and his band flow into the first number, "Nanã," a folkloric composition that "is the spirit that comes from African lineage and represents the forest ... and is the primordial mother of earth." On "Etude," a composition by Fabiano inspired by Cuban classical guitar virtuoso Leo Brouwer, he is joined by new accompaniment: Adam Ratner on guitar and Leo Costa on drums and chocalho. His love for his motherland Brazil — an "endless foundation of inspiration" — is threaded deeply into the tapestry of his sound and ethos. If you're looking for a musical moment of zen, this set comes highly recommended.

SET LIST
"Nanã"
"Etude"
"Tributo"

MUSICIANS
Fabiano do Nascimento: guitar, vocals; Julien Cantelm: drums; Leo Costa: drums; Adam Ratner: guitar; David Bergaud: piano