Dan Costa (musician)

Costa was born in London, England, to Italian and Portuguese parents, with roots in Sorrento and Porto.[5] He studied classical piano at the Académie de Musique Rainier III prior to taking a diploma at Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He studied jazz piano at the Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espetáculo in Portugal, graduating with distinction and a Rotary Club Award for outstanding achievement. During his course, he was also awarded a grant to study Brazilian music at UNICAMP in São Paulo, Brazil as an international exchange student.[6]

Costa's career took off when he recorded his debut album Suite Três Rios in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, considered one of the best albums of 2016 by DownBeat.[7][8][9] Dubbed "a finely crafted album" by critic Carlo Wolff, it was amongst the best-selling albums on the iTunes Portugal Chart and peaked at number 5 on the Roots Music Report Jazz Chart in the United States.[10][11][12] The track "Bossa Nova (feat. Leila Pinheiro)" was Top 10 on the Jazz Song Chart.[13] He worked with Jaques Morelenbaum, Leila Pinheiro, Marcos Suzano, Ricardo Silveira, Rafael Barata and Jan Erik Kongshaug, amongst others.[14][15]

He recorded his new album Skyness, at Arte Suono, Italy, in 2018, with Nelson Faria, Roberto Menescal, Romero Lubambo, Seamus Blake, Custodio Castelo, Jorge Helder and Teco Cardoso. Described as "rare and luxurious" by All About Jazz,[16] it was released at the Blue Note in Rio de Janeiro[17] and featured in a documentary by Radio Monte-Carlo in Milan, Italy.[18] The track "Compelling" was featured by Jazziz magazine in their Summer Breezin' 2019 compilation.[19]

Costa has performed in Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Egypt, Brazil, Malta, Spain, Greece, Armenia, Lebanon and India, where he was featured and interviewed by Rolling Stone,[20] as well as India Today in view of his tour of the country in 2019.[21] In 2020 he recorded with Ivan Lins[22] and was interviewed by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal with Bossa Nova pioneer Roberto Menescal, where they talked about their collaboration and the origins of the Brazilian style.[23] He released his first solo piano album, which came in second on Roots Music Report's Top Latin Jazz Album for the year of 2020 Chart[24] and was praised for "profound expression" by Jazziz Magazine.[25]

In 2022, he released Iremia with Randy Brecker, as a message of peace.[26][27]

• Suite Três Rios – 2016
• Skyness – 2018
• Love Dance with Ivan Lins - 2020
• Live in California - 2020
• Iremia with Randy Brecker - 2022