Carlos Almeida is originally from Rio de Janeiro, where he began playing accordion, then acoustic guitar, at age 10. He received a university degree in economics, but the call of music was powerful and he abandoned that career for a life of samba and other styles of Brazilian music. During his career, he has played with major Brazilian stars, including Beth Carvalho, Jorje Aragão, Alcione, Martinho da Vila, Jair Rodrigues, Jorje Ben Jor — in fact there’s hardly an important musician in Brazil that Carlinhos hasn’t performed with. His repertoire is enormous, ranging from all styles of samba and pagode, to bossa