Manfredo Fest was of German descent: his father was a concert pianist from Germany who taught at University in Porto Alegre. Although he was blind, Fest learned to read music in
Braille. His initial musical training had been classical, but at 17 years old, he became interested in the jazz works of
George Shearing and
Bill Evans. At college he gained steady work playing bossa nova in
São Paulo. In 1961, Fest graduated in piano from the
University of Rio Grande do Sul. He also learned to play keyboards and saxophone. One year later, he started his musical career playing in bars, clubs and pubs. In 1963, he recorded his first LP, called
Bossa nova, nova bossa. In this album, he counted with
Humberto Clayber (bass),
Antonio Pinheiro (drums) and
Hector Costita (saxophone and flute). In the 1970s he traveled to the United States where he worked with
Sérgio Mendes. His American debut album
Manifestations was released in 1978. He was relatively obscure, but worked with noteworthy groups including
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fest was a semi-regular at Fandango's on
Siesta Key, near
Sarasota, Florida. Fest died of liver failure at the age of 63 in
Tampa, Florida, not far from his home in
Palm Harbor, where he had lived for 12 years. ==Discography==