| Latin Jazz |
Summary: Brazilian guitarist and composer Sergio Pereira blends bossa nova, jazz and smooth Latin rhythms into a refined and atmospheric album that captures the elegance of contemporary Brazilian jazz.
Sergio Pereira’s Colors of Time Brings New Warmth to Contemporary Bossa Jazz
A heavy summer heat hangs over the city as the first notes of Colors of Time begin to unfold. Somewhere between the restless rhythm of New York and the warmth of Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian guitarist and composer Sergio Pereira has crafted an album that feels suspended between memory, travel and quiet sophistication. The record does not seek immediate impact. Instead, it settles gradually into the listener’s imagination, revealing layer after layer of detail with remarkable patience.
Pereira arrived in New York in the 1980s carrying the foundations of Brazilian music with him, but he quickly understood that jazz could open entirely new dimensions in his work. Visionary and endlessly curious, he embraced jazz textures early on, weaving them naturally into his compositions without ever losing the warmth and rhythmic sophistication of his Brazilian roots.
His artistic identity today is also shaped by decades of live collaborations with an impressively wide circle of musicians, among them Gil Goldstein, Mark Egan, Matt King, Kim Nazarian, Claudia Villela, Hélio Alves, Nilson Matta, Mauricio Zottarelli, Lonnie Plaxico, Duduka da Fonseca and Romero Lubambo. Those encounters seem to echo throughout Colors of Time, an album released independently as part of Pereira’s continuing exploration of contemporary Brazilian jazz.
That may explain why traces of smooth jazz drift so naturally through the record. Its richness comes from the way familiar musical worlds overlap without ever colliding. Bossa nova, once introduced to the world in a highly traditional form, has gradually evolved through artists willing to stretch its possibilities with care rather than force. Pereira belongs to that lineage.
On a track such as “Dreams,” the listener hears a fully realized jazz sensibility intertwined with Latin rhythms and smooth jazz atmospheres. The result feels immersive, warm and sunlit. It is the kind of album that works equally well during a quiet late evening or in a room where people suddenly feel like dancing. Either way, Colors of Time stands as a remarkably elegant jazz and bossa record for the summer season.
The instrumental passages are especially rich and revealing. They allow listeners to understand how meticulously Pereira constructs his compositions. A jazz-driven drum approach often guides the transitions into Latin and smooth jazz territory, while certain passages unexpectedly carry traces of soul music. At moments, the shadow of Pat Metheny seems to hover nearby, not as imitation but as atmosphere.
By the end of the album, one begins to wonder whether Colors of Time also functions as a quiet tribute to the musicians Pereira has encountered throughout his career. That idea would make sense for an artist who created the group Malandros, a project blending jazz, Brazilian music and funk, and who has spent years performing across the United States and Spain in respected venues from New York jazz clubs to major Spanish festivals.
“I have always tried to let Brazilian music breathe naturally alongside jazz,” Pereira once explained in an interview discussing his approach to composition. “The important thing is to respect the feeling of the song.” That philosophy seems to guide every moment of Colors of Time, an album more interested in atmosphere and emotional precision than demonstration.
What makes Pereira especially compelling is the sense that he approaches every album with the concentration and ambition of a debut record. There is a clear pursuit of perfection, not only in the compositions themselves but also in the arrangements. Songs unfold with patience and elegance, sometimes introducing gentle folk touches, as heard in “Up The Hill.”
Listeners expecting dramatic effects or technical showmanship may initially miss the point. Pereira works in nuance, detail and atmosphere. His music asks to be heard carefully. It reveals itself gradually, often becoming richer with each listen.
For audiences more familiar with American or European jazz traditions, bossa nova can feel similar to flamenco: a musical language shaped by deep traditions, strict structures and unspoken rules. Pereira’s achievement lies in his ability to remain faithful to the architecture of bossa nova while opening it toward other musical forms. He never dilutes its essence. Instead, he expands its emotional and sonic possibilities with remarkable restraint and sophistication.
In today’s contemporary Brazilian jazz landscape, Pereira occupies a fascinating space between preservation and reinvention. Rather than modernizing bossa nova through excess or experimentation for its own sake, he chooses subtle evolution. Colors of Time ultimately feels less like a statement album than a long conversation between cultures, decades and musical traditions, carried by an artist still refining his language after all these years.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 9th, 2026
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Musicians:
Sergio Pereira: Guitars, vocals, compositions
Oriente Lopez: Co-producer, arrangements, flutes, piano
Mauricio Zottarelli: Drums/Co-producer
Ariel Ramirez: Electric bass
Chipi Chacón: Trumpet
Rafael Rocha: Trombone
Felipe Lamoglia: Saxophone
Rafinha Barros: Cavaquinho
Sebastian Laverde: Vibes
Alberto Palau: Piano
Ales Cesarini: Acoustic bass
Mark Egan: Bass
Marcelo Martins: Saxophone
Juanito Ruiz: clarinet
Frederika Krier: Violin
Zachary Brown: Cello
Yeisy Rojas: Violin
Kim Nazarian: Vocals
Dan Pugach: drums
Luis Guerra: Piano
Abel Sanabria: Acoustic Bass
Track Listing:
So They Sleep
Dreams
Colors Of Time
Brightness Of You
Up The Hill
The Clock Is Ticking
Keep Shinning
Rain Fall