Nelson Riveros

Nelson Riveros entered the world in New York City as the son of Colombian parents, establishing himself early as a jazz guitarist who also works as a composer and arranger. Beyond deep command of the jazz guitar lineage, he commands unusually broad familiarity with Latin and Brazilian song forms, folk dances, popular music, and classical composition, drawing on all of them when he plays or writes.

The guitarist’s first recording, Camino al Barrio, appeared in 2010 and reached both the world music and jazz charts while earning multiple award nominations. For ten years he led his ensemble through engagements at premier New York venues such as The Iridium, Zinc Bar, 55 Bar, La Lanterna/Bar Next Door, and Minton’s, as well as at festivals across the region, before joining the Zoho Records roster in 2019.

That year Riveros formed a quintet featuring Grammy-nominated pianist Hector Martignon, bassist Andy McKee, drummer Mark Walker, and percussionist Jonathan Gomez for the project The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery. Issued in February 2021, the album revisits the legendary guitarist’s compositions, at times transforming them substantially, by filtering them through Latin and Brazilian rhythmic and harmonic perspectives.