Costa was born in Westminster, London, to Italian and Portuguese parents from Sorrento and Porto respectively.[3][4][5] He studied classical piano as well as jazz piano at the Académie de Musique Rainier III in Monaco for six years prior to taking a diploma at Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts back in England. He then focused on jazz at the Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espetáculo in Portugal, graduating with distinction and a Rotary Club Award for outstanding achievement. During his course, he was also awarded an Ibero-American grant to study Brazilian music at UNICAMP in São Paulo, Brazil as an international exchange student, focusing on both popular and classical composers.[6] He pursued further studies at Berklee College of Music with a merit scholarship.[7]
Costa also has university degrees in philosophy, applied linguistics and history, having worked extensively as an educator in related fields.[8] He has also written about music and other fields for several publications. In the article on tempo for Encyclopaedia Britannica, he covered classical, popular and world music genres, and referred to it as "the heartbeat of expression".[9][10]
Musical career
Costa's career took off when he recorded his successful debut album Suite Três Rios in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,[11][12] whose name and concept were inspired by the confluence of rivers in the Amazon as well as the country's rhythmic diversity.[13] It won a Global Music Award and was considered one of the best albums of 2016 by DownBeat.[14][15][16] Critic Carlo Wolff praised the music for melodic sensibility and referred to the album as an "entrancing homage to Brazil", concluding that "the thoroughly cosmopolitan, classically trained Costa has delivered a finely crafted album".[17]All About Jazz underlined the historical dimension of the album, stating that "Brazilian jazz, like its American counterpart, has fondly remembered its roots as it unabashedly moves forward."[18] The release was also among the best-selling albums on the iTunesPortugal Chart and peaked at number 5 on the Roots Music Report Jazz Chart in the United States[19][20] while the track "Bossa Nova (feat. Leila Pinheiro)" was Top 10 on the Jazz Song Chart.[21] He collaborated with Jaques Morelenbaum, Leila Pinheiro, Marcos Suzano, Ricardo Silveira, Rafael Barata and Jan Erik Kongshaug, amongst others.[22][23]
He recorded his second album Skyness at Arte Suono, Italy, in 2018 featuring Nelson Faria, Roberto Menescal, Romero Lubambo, Seamus Blake, Custodio Castelo, Jorge Helder and Teco Cardoso. Former editor of the journal of the British Music Society Jonathan Woolf wrote that the album offered further evidence of Costa's "highly accomplished pianism and of the fruitful musical associations he has made", adding that it was "an enjoyable, life-affirming and finely recorded album."[24] Deemed "rare and luxurious" by All About Jazz,[2] it was released at the Blue Note in Rio de Janeiro[25] and featured in a documentary by Radio Monte-Carlo in Milan, Italy.[26]World Music Report's Raul da Gama considered him "deeply gifted" as the album displayed "some of the finest piano music you might ever hear."[27] Costa took the album on a tour which included Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Brazil, Malta, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Lebanon and Egypt, where he was featured by Al-Arab, which considered his music a message of love and intercultural communication.[28] He also toured Northern India, where he was featured and interviewed by Rolling Stone,[29] while India Today in Delhi wrote that he "took the packed venue by storm."[30] During the tour, he did masterclasses at schools such as Berklee partner Global Music Institute.[31]
In 2020 Costa recorded Love Dance in Lisbon with one of the song's creators, Ivan Lins.[32]Jazziz Magazine wrote that the recording was "rich with feeling and understated virtuosity", adding that "the song is something of a modern standard, with definitive versions recorded by George Benson and Sarah Vaughan; this take surely belongs beside them".[1] Costa was also interviewed by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal with Bossa Nova legend Roberto Menescal, where they talked about their collaboration and the origins of the Brazilian style.[33] He released his first live and solo piano album, Live in California,[34][35] which was praised for "profound expression" by Jazziz Magazine[36] and came in second on Roots Music Report's Top Latin Jazz Album for the year of 2020 Chart.[37] Jonathan Woolf commended Costa for playing "in great style with just the right kind of clarity of articulation allied to sensitivity of purpose" and highlighted his lyricism, enveloping warmth and colour.[38]
In 2022, Costa rereleased his track Iremia as a message of peace, featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker.[39][40] According to Jazziz Magazine, "although they're separated by 44 years and thousands of miles, Costa and Brecker share a rapport that truly elicits the song's warmth and humanity".[41]
He also recorded his new album Beams in New York City with John Patitucci, Mike Stern, Dave Douglas, Hermeto Pascoal, Dave Liebman and other musicians.[42][43][44] In an interview for Musica Jazz, Costa talked about Beams as a celebration of light in physical and metaphysical forms, nature as a major source of inspiration and the use of harmonic colour to express life experiences.[45] In the liner notes, Randy Brecker praised the interactions between the musicians and the intricacy of the compositions, concluding that the album consists of "lovely, heartfelt emotional music".[43]Something Else Reviews writer Sammy Stein considered the album "a wonder, and a beautiful, peaceful listen"[42] while Culture Jazz writer Yves Dorison underlined its "extreme finesse."[46]All About Jazz stated that Beams displayed "some of the best atmospheric jazz you are likely to hear in 2023. Or any year".[47] His music was among the best of the year for Süddeutsche Zeitung as well.[48] Costa toured Europe, Southeast Asia and Australasia, where he was featured by Otago Daily Times. He did masterclasses as a guest lecturer at institutions such as Mahidol University, Monash University, Australian National University, University of Auckland, and Victoria University of Wellington.[49]
In 2024, he toured Europe and took his music to Mexico, interacting with indigenous forms of expression. In an interview for Otago Daily Times, he spoke of music as a message and underlined its ability to raise awareness of animal welfare, peace and human rights. He recalled his collaborations on tour with world music instruments such as Indian sarod, Syrian vocals and Kazakh dombra, underlining his respect for tradition and uniting cultures through music.[50] During his tour of Australasia and Southeast Asia, he did masterclasses at institutions such as Canadian International School (Singapore), University of New South Wales and Elizabeth College (Hobart), which was featured by Seven News. The track Paw Prints has been used by global organisation Four Paws in support of animal welfare.[51][52] His music has also been included in instructional material.[53]
Personal life
Costa has lived in eight countries and speaks eight languages.[54]
