John Patitucci

" b. 22 December 1959, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Patitucci is a technically gifted bassist best known for his work on both the electric and acoustic instruments for fusion keyboard legend Chick Corea. After playing some pop and rock in his brother's band in New York, he moved with his family to America's west coast, the home of a fearsome tradition for jazz/rock fusion virtuosi, in 1972, and was introduced to the jazz tradition by bass teacher Chris Poehler. Studying the acoustic work of Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden and Eddie Gomez, and the electric bass techniques of Larry Graham, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke and, particularly, bass hero Jaco Pastorius, he developed quickly, working with pianist Gap Mangione (brother of Chuck Mangione ), and veteran British-born vibesman Victor Feldman. It was with Feldman that Chick Corea came across him, and asked him to join the newly formed Elektric Band. Patitucci stayed with the Elektric Band throughout its life, recording five albums, and played an important part in the Akoustic Band trio. Since the late 80s he has also been working as a leader on GRP Records and Stretch - Corea's own subsidiary of the GRP label. An incredible technician on both acoustic and six-string electric basses, Patitucci has unfortunately allowed his output to be dominated by material that works primarily as a means to demonstrate his technique. His best record so far is probably Sketchbook, featuring drummer Peter Erskine, tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker and guitarist John Scofield. "
(source http://music.yahoo.com/)

Joao Bosco

" Since no others leap to mind, I would have to say that Joao Bosco is the greatest civil engineer turned singer/songwriter in the history of Brazilian popular music. He graduated with his degree in 1972 but since then has been concentrating on becoming one of Brazil's most formidable songwriters. For most of his early career he supplied Elis Regina with some of her best material, indeed it could be said that each one made the other's career, but since her death, Bosco has stepped into the performance limelight with a great degree of authority and has been one of the more compelling figures in Brazilian music for the last 25 years. Born in Ponte Nova in 1946, Bosco cut his musical teeth in family in which music was as important as eating and sleeping. His mother is an accomplished violinist, his father a singer of samba, his sister a concert pianist, and his brother a composer. While attending Ouro Preto University he became steeped in American jazz (Miles Davis in particular), and the bossa nova sound of Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, it was also at university that he met lyricist Vinicius de Morais who contributed his elegant, poetic lyrics to Bosco's music. It was not long after that record companies began offering Bosco and de Morais their services. Later in the 70s Bosco became involved musically with Aldir Blanc a psychiatrist who decided to give up his practice to become a lyricist. Witty, surreal, at times pretentious, but more often than not extremely clever, Blanc became the perfect foil for Bosco and the two would work together, quite successfully, until the mid-1980s. Bosco's career rise coincided roughly with Brazil's military dictatorship which lasted from 1964-1985 and his work, even the most innocuous love song, was frequently censored. As he noted in an interview in the early 90s, "Anything you composed or sang was censored. And there were no guidelines as to what you could or couldn't do. Every piece of music I wrote meant spending hours in the censorship bureau, debating with them, sometimes over one word." In 1977 Bosco wrote what was (and is) his most personal protest song, "O Bebaido e a Equilibrista" (The Drunkard and the Tightrope Walker), which became the theme song of Amnesty International. Despite his fame in Brazil, Bosco wasn't known to Americans until he made a guest appearance with jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour on the latter's 1988 record Festival. The guest spot wasn't enough to make Bosco an international superstar, but he did begin attracting more interest in the US. It wasn't until the early 90s that Bosco mounted a major tour of the US, but since then he has become increasingly popular internationally regularly performing at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival which over its history has frequently featured Brazilian performers. Despite his growing popularity outside of his homeland, Bosco remains rooted in Brazil to the point of never leaving it for extended periods. So, while he remains somewhat obscure to American audiences, his music, rooted in Brazil's classic samba and bossa nova traditions, combines rock and roll, jazz and other ethnic styles in an eclectic brew that is a inventive and challenging as is he.
-- John Dougan, All Music Guide "
(source http://music.yahoo.com/)