Flávio Naves

FLÁVIO NAVES - Hammond Organ

Flávio was born in 1977 São José dos Campos, a city located about one hour from São Paulo. Although he has been playing the organ and the piano for only nine years, Flavio is considered one of the top Hammond experts in Brazil. Self-taught, as some of the best blues players are, Flávio developed his skills by listening to the music of his idols and learning from the CDs. He fell in love with the blues when he watched Jimmy Smith and Deacon Jones (the organist with John Lee Hooker for 18 years) performing live. Flávio had the opportunity to go on the road and lend his organ to Deacon Jones when he toured Brazil in 1997.

Flávio had played in Lancaster´s band for several years before they decided to join forces and have a joint career. They had always shared solos on the live shows, but now with Flávio´s new status as the co-star of the gig his role includes playing themes especially written for the Hammond. Flávio has also played with Nuno Mindelis for the last two years, with whom he recorded "Twelve Hours". Nuno was very impressed with Flávio´s stage performance when they first met at a concert at SESC Paulista in 2000.

Besides his blues background, Flavio has also worked with a Santana Cover band, some other funk bands and has accompanied harp players in electric-acoustic settings. Although he is only 25 years old, Flávio has performed all over the country and displays great musical maturity. He became known in the Brazilian blues world when he participated in a Blues'n'Jazz Magazine anniversary concert at the Bourbon Street Music Club in São Paulo, in 1998. The critics and musicians who attended the concert labeled him "the sensation of the new Blues generation".

Flávio´s stage performance is always communicative and good-humored. He has mastered the organ drawbars (the controls that shape the sound of the Hammond) and the wonders of the Leslie speaker (amplification system from the 50's that has rotary speakers), enabling him to express the all the subtleties or power that the blues require. He is notorious for taking him Hammond everywhere he goes, which is no small feat if one considers its size and weight.