Pablo Regis

About the Artist

Pablo Regis de Oliveira grew up in Los Angeles and BrasÍlia, absorbed in Brazilian music and culture. His study of Brazilian music started as young child, observing and participating in Brazilian carnival events and music concerts produced by his father, Floriano Regis, former Cultural Attaché of the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles. Floriano co-founded LA's first samba school Embrasamba, created the first Brazilian radio program in the US (The Brazilian Hour), and produced shows by such Brazilian music legends as Gilberto Gil and João Bosco. As a teen in Brasflia, Pablo studied guitar, exploring bossa nova, rock, and blues. Pablo was also a performing member of Brazilian percussion troupe SambaLá while living in Germany. When he later moved back to Los Angeles, he studied the cavaquinho, delving into samba and choro. He co-founded the LA Choro ensemble and, later, DC Choro in Washington, DC. Through his music, Pablo explores the varied cultural manifestations of some of Brazil's most popular genres, such as choro, samba, bossa nova, and forró. He plays the cavaco, or cavaquinho, a 4-string ukulele brought to Brazil by Portuguese explorers. This enchanting small, steel-stringed guitar embodies the swing of Brazilian music, in which African-derived rhythms blend with European forms and American jazz tonal chord structures. Pablo also performs and teaches Brazilian percussion and guitar. He has performed widely in the Mid-Atlantic region at various prestigious stages and festivals, including: the fohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Strathmore Center; NextNOW Festival at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park; Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles; Maryland Guitar Night and Viva Brasil! at Creative Alliance in Baltimore; and the Washington Folk Festival. Over the years, Pablo has also dedicated himself to organizing concerts and workshops that bring performers from Brazil to the US. He is a co-founder of Samba Jig Productions (www.sambajig.com), an entertainment group that produces and promotes Brazilian popular music, dance, and cultural events in Maryland and the Washington, DC metropolitan area.