CMC Presents : Guitar Night

with Rodrigo Simões and Dipo Adeola

Presenting two very different but no less innovative approaches to jazz guitar. Emerging Toronto-based guitarist and composer Dipo Adeola extends a classic jazz approach into new and unexpected territory. Montreal-based Rodrigo Simões blends Brazillian music with jazz to acheive something greater than the sum of its parts.

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Rodrigo Simões is a composer with a distinctive style that oscillates between Brazilian music and jazz improvisation. His international career has taken him to China, Australia, South Korea, Paraguay, and the United States, in addition to his native Brazil and his adopted country, Canada. The guitarist has collaborated with major artists in Brazil (Elza Soares, Carlos Malta, Paulinho da Viola, Dominguinhos, Zeca Baleiro, and Paulo Moska) and in Canada (Bill McBirnie, Joel Miller, Sienna Dahlen, Alex Lefaivre, Sonia Johnson, Mark Nelson, Carl Mayotte, Daniel Bellegarde, Rémi Bolduc, and Jean-Pierre Zanella). In 2013, his first album ‘Aos Velhos Amigos’ was released in Brazil. In 2018, he completed a master’s degree in jazz composition at the University of Montreal under the supervision of bassist Alain Caron (UZEB). That same year, he released his second album ‘Jazz Brésilien’, which won the bronze medal at the Global Music Awards and was ranked among the top five jazz albums of 2018 in Quebec by Sorties Jazz Nights. In 2019, he became an instructor of the Afro-Cuban Brazilian Jazz Ensemble at McGill University. In 2023, he released his third album under the theme of the number 3. TRE is Rodrigo Simões’ new concept album, produced by the Toronto jazz label Three Pines Records, which received the bronze medal at the Global Music Awards for Best Latin Album. Rodrigo’s group won the ‘Band of the Year’ award at the 2024 TUJazz Festival for their performance of TRE.

Dipo Adeola is a Toronto-based guitarist and composer and a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Jazz Performance program. Influenced by swing and bebop, his playing combines rich harmony with a modern creative approach. He has performed at venues including The Rex, Jazz Bistro, and Tapestry.