A legitimate carioca, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Pianist, flutist and composer, Marcos Ariel has over 25 years of career and 19 years of phonographic work. His compositions have since the beginning been crossing frontiers and his first LP, ‘Bambu’, was released in France in 1986 and was awarded earlier, in 1983, with the Chiquinha Gonzaga Trophy. After that, the LP ‘Terra do Indio’ was released in the U.S. and elected by JAZZIZ magazine as one of the best releases of the year. He performed in several concerts in Los Angeles and in the circuit of International Jazz Festivals.

“The career of the pianist Marcos Ariel is one of the most prolific and successful between our instrumentalists. This youthful veteran began in the Cantares group, in 1976, after intensive studies of piano, and then earned experience leading the group Usina, with which he recorded his early disks.
Following his path, he acted in numerous contexts, developing his style and his language in many areas, always with balance, inventivety and consistency. I have known Marcos Ariel for 20 years, since his first release ‘Bambu’, and realized I was facing a promising potency with a brilliant future. In the occasion, in a critique published in the ‘Jornal do Brasil’ newspaper, I affirmed that, beyond being a pianist and a flutist, Ariel was a composer and arranger with great future. Time has confirmed my predictions, and going beyond them, he was established definitely his international name.

Living for the past 10 years in the Rio-Los Angeles connection, a lot has happened in the path of this connection, and a series of records have sedimented even more his talent here in Brazil and in the United States.”, O Globo Newspaper, José Domingos Raffaelli.

10 CDs released in the U.S. since 1989
12 CDs released in Brazil since 1986

Elected by JAZZIZ magazine as one of the best releases in the U.S. (1989)
18* place in Billboard Magazine in 2001
16* place in Billboard Magazine in 2002

Director and communicator of “Nota Jazz”, “Rio-Los Angeles Connection” and “Open Studio” programs in Globo FM Radio Station (Rio de Janeiro) between 1996 and 1998. Director of Humaitá Record Label.