Born in Brazil in 1977, Nelson Veras developed a unique style based on a mix of classical guitar, contemporary jazz and his Brazilian roots.
Nelson Veras moved to France at the age of 14 and instantly drew the attention of a large audience after performing on a special TV show where he played with Pat Metheny. When he was 16 he formed his first band, a quartet with with Eric Barret, Michel Benita and Aldo Romano, with which he performed at renowned festivals such as Jazz in Marciac and the Nice Jazz Festival. At the same time he was part of Aldo Romano’s band with Palle Daniellson and Stefano Di Batista, and joined Michel Petrucciani’s sextet ‘Young Lions’.
In 1998, at the age of 20, he was one of the 3 winners of ‘Premio Visa of Brazilian Music’ alongside Hamilton de Hollanda and Andre Mehmari.
In 2001 he performed alongside Lee Konitz, Gary Peacock and Aldo Romano in a tribute concert to Michel Petrucciani.
2003 marked the recording of his first solo cd on Label Bleu with Magic Malik, Harmen Fraanje and Stéphane Galland.
In 2004 and 2005, he toured and recorded with Steve Coleman’s Five Elements.
In 2009 he recorded a solo guitar CD released on Beejazz. And in 2011 he recorded a trio CD on the same label with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Stéphane Galland. Each of these records has received an extremely positive response from both the professional press and the general audience.
Other collaborations include: Richard Galliano, Octurn, Manu Katché, Aka Moon, Tomasz Stanko, Eric Le Lann, Mark Turner, Gary Thomas, Greg Osby, Benoît Delbecq, Jozef Dumoulin, Marc Ducret, Airelle Besson, Jonathan Kreisberg, Rick Margitza, Miroslav Vitous, Dre Pallemaerts, Alain Jean-Marie, Billy Cobham, Jon Faddis, Johnny Griffin, David Linx, Eric Legnini ,Abraham Laboriel , Linley Marthe, Etienne m’Bappe, Moktar Samba, Toninho Horta ,U.Sivaraman, Marcia Maria, Rita Marcottulli, Aydin Essen, Furio di Castri, Adam Pieronczyk, Peter Bernstein, Frank Mobus, Jesse Van Ruller, Hein Van de Geyn, Andre Ceccarelli, Linda Oh, Ziv Ravitz, Curtis Fowler, Jonathan Finlayson, David Virelles, Gerald Cleaver, Marylin Mazur, Jen Shyu, Michel Grailler, Jean Francois Jenny Clark, Jean Jacques Avenel, Glenn Ferris, Jean Michel Pilc, Riccardo del Fra, Robertinho Silva, Marcio Montarroyos, Jeff Gardner, Martijn Vink, Fabian Fiorini, Gautier Capucon, Marcus Gilmore, Tyshawn Sorey, Dafnis Prieto, Vincent Segal, Minino Garay, Anga Diaz, Prabhu Edouard, Daniel Humair, Stephane Edouard, Jean Pierre Como, Michelle Hendricks, David Venitucci, Renaud Garcia Fons.
Nelson Veras gave countless workshops all over the world and has been a teacher at the ‘Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris’ (CNSMDP)
