Biography

Engels Espíritos is a very versatile and expressive artist, who develops, through his musicality through the harmonicas and his voice, compositions that permeate different styles of the music universe.

The artist is recognized for his creativity, technique and personality expressed in his compositions and harmonica solos. The musician, who has performed in several Brazilian states, has also represented his country in important festivals and circuits in Canada, the USA and Europe.

Engels Espíritos is a self-taught and pioneer in working with harmonica in Brasília-DF, developing a course responsible for training the first generation of harmonica players in the capital of Brazil. Always attentive to innovations and mixing sounds and rhythms, Engels broke the paradigm that many had about the harmonica being an exclusive instrument for Blues, Folk and Rock, introducing the instrument in an impressive way into Brazilian regional rhythms and other languages of world music.

As a singer and composer, Engels develops an authorial work in which he inserts different sounds extracted from his harmonica, changing it into guitar, accordion, violin, didgerido and other instruments present in his second CD, “Faces da Gaita”.

Accompanied by his band, the harmonica player performs with a repertoire bringing the fusion between Brazilian, European and American music styles through the traditional Rock/Funk and Blues characteristic of his first CD, “Harps Invasion”.

Engels Espíritos’ music is a mix of influences, rhythms and experimental possibilities, which allows him to define his show as a sensorial journey that instigates the eyes, ears and hips.

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His international projection began in 1997, when, through the French photographer Olivier Böels, Engels Espíritos met one of the greatest virtuosos of the Blues/Jazz harmonica, the Canadian Cuban Carlos Del Junco, who invited him to Canada, with the intention of producing a study exchange between Brazilian music and jazz.

During the two-year period, he toured Canada and the USA, with shows in nightclubs and festivals, where he had the opportunity to live and share the stage with great names in North American music, such as: Brian Cober, Carlos Del Junco, John Mayall , the virtuoso Chicago harmonica player, Sugar Blue, Bob Margolin (ex-guitarist of Muddy Walters), the great Canadian guitarist Philip Sayce and one of the greatest exponents of the guitar world Jeff Healey.

In 1999, Engels Espíritos participated in concerts in North America in winter Blues/Rock circuits, in addition to participating in concerts by guitarist Philip Sayce and harmonica player Sugar Blue. During the shows he met the Brazilian/Canadian actor and musician Felipe Aukai, leader of the world music band KAHANA, who invited him to play on the tour to launch the CD “Out on a limbo” in Canada and the USA.

Later, Engels Espíritos returns to Brazil bringing Banda Kahana to shows in the Midwest and Southeast of the country.

Among the main events and venues in which he performed in North America, the following stand out in Canada:

  • Beaches Jazz Festival (July 2007);
  • Jeff Healey’s Road House (October/December 2007);
  • Black Bull (January 1999);
  • El Mocambo (March 1999);
  • Opera House (March 1997);
  • Grossman’s Club (April-August 1997);
  • Silver Dollar (April-May 1997);
  • El mocambo (June 1997);
  • Festival Du Maurier Downtown Jazz (July 1997);
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In 2013, the harmonica player and singer Engels Espíritos toured in the USA, and this time he toured three of the most important states in the US music market: California, Florida and the state of New York.

The Brazilian musician spent 6 months performing in several cities, in nightclub circuits such as Loaded Club on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – Los Angeles. He shared the stage with former Ronnie James Dio guitarist, Rowan Robert and Brazilian guitarist Conrado Pesinato.

He performed at some events in the Brazilian community where he was one of the main attractions of the great event of Brazilian culture in the USA – Brazilian Day Los Angeles, which took place at Park Hancock in Los Angeles.

In Florida, he performed at events for the Brazilian community in Miami, at the invitation of the production company Fantastic Brasil Miami, and in New York, in the famous American culture district, West Village, at the venues Red Lion, Groove NY, and participated in the show from the great Soul Jazz singer Tony Manage (video above):
  • Brazilian Day Los Angeles (July – 2013);
  • Loaded Club – Los Angeles (August – 2013);
  • Red Lions – New York (October – 2013);
  • Groove NY – New York (October – 2013);
  • Peros Club- Los Angeles (January 2008);
  • Rosa’s – Chicago (June 1997 to January 1998);
  • Checkerboard (January 1998);
  • Chicago Blues Festival (July 1997);
My God! He has a lot of energy, I’m going to have to leave a space in the show for him to play alone and spend a little. Need to control this boy, he looks like he’s possessed when he plays!
JJ Jackson

Jimi Hendrix's band and songwriting partner in the 1960s

Listening to Engels Espíritos play bothers you, it disturbs you, you wonder: how does he manage to extract thousands of notes from such a small instrument?
Jornal Now Magazine

Toronto, Canadá

A harmonica player with crazy phrases, he’s scary, a monster.
Philip Sayce

Canadian virtuoso guitarist

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In November 2002, Engels Espíritos participated in a tour in Northern Europe, performing in more than 20 shows in the cities of Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin.
In addition to small towns in northern Germany showing the fusion between Brazilian regional music and American music.
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In 2003 the musician released his first CD entitled “Harps Invasion” to an audience of 4,000,000 people with the special participation of the American singer JJ Jackson (band partner and composer of Jimi Hendrix in the 60’s). In March 2004 Engels Espíritos was invited to open the show for Rei do Blues B.B.King, in the capital of Brazil. In October 2011 Engels Espíritos and Banda released their first live DVD entitled “As Faces da Gaita”, presenting in each video a different musical style, which permeates several styles: Blues, Celtic music, Hard Rock to Baião, Jazz, Salsa and Maracatu. Engels Espíritos has performed on the circuit of the most important Blues/Rock events and festivals in Brasilia and Brazil.
Among the most important, highlighting the following events:
  • Brasília Blues Festival (November 1996);
  • Maceió Jazz Festival (November 1997);
  • Popular Seasons (February 1998);
  • Porão do Rock Festival (August 1998 and 1999);
  • II Brasilia Fest-Rock (July 2000);
  • PIER 21 Blues Festival (September 2001);
  • Brazilian Poetry Congress Bento Gonçalves-RS (October 2002 and 2005);
  • Medical Congress of Fortaleza (October 2004);
  • Latin American Arts Congress (Proyecto Sur) (May 2005 and June 2006);
  • Festival Gaitistas do Cerrado (October 2010);
  • Barreirinhas Blues/Jazz Festival in Maranhão (August 2012).
  • Capital Moto Weak Festival (July 2016)
He is an artist who is ready, has a strong voice, plays the harmonica that is absurd and has an explosive stage presence! The problem is that his music is outside the standards of the Brazilian phonographic market.
Carlos Eduardo Miranda

SBT Ídolos Juror

What is this my son! What you play is not a harmonica, it’s a guitar! You are a harmonica player!
Eduardo Chauvet

Journalist for the program Alternativo e transamérica

I hate this little show-off, playing the harmonica like he’s the Yngwie Malmsteen of the savannah.
guitarist from Brasília

In an interview about music and bands from the city on Rádio Cultura FM 100.9

With the Brazilian Harmonica Orchestra, in Curitiba, under the guidance of master Ulysses Cazallas, he learned luthiery, harmonica maintenance techniques such as tuning, optimization, restoration, technical adjustment and replacement of parts. In Toronto, Canada, at the invitation of the renowned Cuban-Canadian harmonica player, Carlos Del Junco, he perfected his technique in the use of chromatization in diatonic harmonicas.
In Detroit, USA, he participated in the SPAH (The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica – World Harmonica Convention) for the historical and technical study aimed at the conservation and development of the harmonica. Working professionally with harmonicas, Engels Espíritos has already produced performances and workshops at various events, worked on radio and TV programs, presenting shows and composing soundtracks, in addition to working with his Band at shows in Brazil and abroad.