Salomão Soares grew up in Cruz do Espírito Santo, a small town in Paraíba, in Brazil’s Northeast, in a house full of music — his father on percussion, his mother on guitar — and started out as a child on keyboard, playing at local dances, long before any formal piano lessons. At 15, in João Pessoa, he began studying piano with Helinho Medeiros, who introduced him to Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Hermeto Pascoal; between 2008 and 2011, he worked as a pianist on cruise ships around South America. He moved to São Paulo in 2011 to study with André Marques, Hermeto Pascoal’s pianist, at the Tatuí Conservatory.
He has shared the stage with names such as Toninho Horta, João Bosco, Leny Andrade and Hermeto Pascoal, his greatest influence. He won the MIMO Instrumental Award and was a finalist at the Montreux Jazz Piano Competition (2017). Since 2021 he has been a member of the Hamilton de Holanda Trio, with whom he won the 2025 Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album for Live in NYC, featuring saxophonist Chris Potter, recorded live at Jazz at Lincoln Center — where, in 2026, he made a special guest appearance with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, alongside Hamilton de Holanda. He also made a special guest appearance with Snarky Puppy in Alberobello, Italy.
His discography brings together Alegria de Matuto, Colorido Urbano, Baião de Dois (with Guegué Medeiros), Interior (solo piano, toured across Europe), Espirais and the duo album with Toninho Ferragutti, alongside Chão de Flutuar, Yatra-Tá and Outros Ventos, in duo with Vanessa Moreno. His tours have taken him to four continents — from Japan to South Africa, from Europe to the United States and South America.
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