João Menezes
João Menezes is a Portuguese musician and teacher based in London that specialises in Brazilian Music.
He started playing guitar at the age of 16 as a self-taught player. In 2014 he started studying at the JB Jazz school in Lisbon where he met his first teacher Alcides Miranda. After a year studying he was admitted to the acclaimed Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2016.
Since his arrival in London, João has studied with musicians such as: John Parricelli, Colin Oxley, Mike Outram, Ife Tolentino, Barak Schmool and Gareth Lockrane. He also attended masterclasses with Jonathan Kreisberg, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Elliot Mason, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Peter Bernstein. João also performed with the Guildhall Big Band playing at the famous venue, The Vortex.
João has always had a passion for Brazilian music, and since 2019 he has been active in the London’s music scene, exploring the sounds of jazz, bossa nova, samba, mpb, choro, partido-alto and baião. His style is greatly influenced by João Bosco, João Gilberto, Guinga, Tom Jobim, Alessandro Penezzi, between many others.
