A composer and woodwind stylist, he has been a professional with decades of experience featured on hundreds of recordings. Leading saxophonist in Brazil in the 1980s, Zé Luis has performed and recorded with—and arranged and composed for—many of the biggest names in Brazilian music, such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Tania Maria and Cazuza to name a few.

A NYC resident since 1990, when he moved from his native Rio de Janeiro, Zé Luis originally got a foothold in the city working as a freelance composer. Although he specializes in flutes and saxophones, he also has a high comfort level with guitar, percussion, bass and keys. For 18 years as the owner of The Atelier Music Studio, he has been composing, producing and recording music for albums, film/TV and converging media.

It’s a remarkably diverse skill set that helped Zé Luis to earn credits that include work with Bebel Gilberto, Sabina Sciubba, Brazilian Girls, Ivy, Pull, Verve, Cannes Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Independent Lens, Rio (directed by Carlos Saldanha), Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (directed by Mark Waters), Monster-in-Law (directed by Robert Luketic), A Raisin in the Sun (directed by Kenny Leon), Burn Notice (TV Series-creator: Matt Nix, directed by Jace Alexander), sessions for original music house Tomandandy and collaborations with the oft-synch-licensed Orba Squara. Some of those works received accolades including nominations for the Golden Globe, Grammy and the Oscar.

As a solo artist, produced the self-titled Zé Luis EP and two albums of his original compositions, Guarani Banana and Caiapó. Acclaimed in the American press, Zé Luis and his work have garnering enthusiastic coverage in DownBeat, Saxophone Journal, Rhythm and Jazziz, among many other publications.

Since 2013 Zé Luis has been in the helm of producing, engineering and playing for the web series “Trade Winds” a Musical Iconography of Africa and the Americas. This journey has began in New York and brought him to New Orleans, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Next destinations will be Recife, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.

Endorsements: D'Addario Woodwinds and JLV Sound

Current Projects:

http://www.mgp21.com

http://www.sambismo.com

https://m.facebook.com/TheAtelierMusicStudio/

http://www.zeluis.com