Born in Rio de Janeiro, Jonathan Ferr carries the wild energy of Brazilian music in his blood – samba, frevo or forró – yet his mission is to fuse it with genres such as jazz, neo-soul, hip hop and electronic music. He calls it Brazilian urban jazz, a hybrid that can evoke names like Ondřej Pivec in the Czech context, or, from the North American scene, Thundercat, Robert Glasper or Kamasi Washington. You can hear it for yourself across his five releases, the most recent being the album LAR, released in September 2025.
Jonathan Ferr does not express his vision solely through composition and piano playing. Film and fashion are equally important tools in his artistic language. At the core, however, remains his distinctive blend of symphonic African jazz with contemporary urban attitudes, ranging from lyrical to ritualistic. Ferr has already presented his futuristic take on jazz at numerous festivals in Brazil and abroad, including appearances in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. After a year’s delay, this outstanding pianist is now finally heading to Ostrava. And if anyone ever decided to remake Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Ferr would be the perfect choice for the soundtrack.