Almir Côrtes


Almir Côrtes was born in Santo Antonio de Jesus, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. He is a musician, as well as an academic researcher in the field of Brazilian instrumental music. He plays genres that are considered "traditional" or "regional" (choro, frevo, baião, etc), but with a contemporary approach that includes experimentation and improvisation.

Almir is a multi-instrumentalist (mandolin, guitar, electric guitar, cavaquinho and viola caipira). He has an undergraduate degree in classical guitar from UFBA (Federal University of Bahia). He also has a Master's degree in music and presently working on a Ph.D. in popular music performance at UNICAMP (State University of Campinas).

In 2005, his composition Freveando was awarded the Best Instrumental Music prize at the III Festival de Música Educadora FM in Bahia. He has played professionally and given workshops all over Brazil, United States and in Europe. He has recorded two CDs, "Almir Côrtes" (Fábrica Discos, 2006) and "Choro da Voz" (Gravina Música, 2008, in partnership with the singer Bel Dias).

Almir Côrtes's Web Site