However, it was with the piano, introduced by a friend for the first time in 1993 that Floriano recognized his talent and began to play professionally at the age of 14 in the nightlife of Santana – a neighborhood in the city of São Paulo.

It should be noted that Floriano’s “school” in 1994 was the old “Birus Bar” in São Paulo, where he spent many months taking part in its traditional “Jam-Session” every Wednesday.

From that point, his interest in jazz intensified through one of his mentors, the conductor Louis Alba. Teenage Floriano began to accompany a number of artists in São Paulo.

He was then invited to go on tour through Europe in 1999. His desire to improve himself led to a prolonged quest filled with determination, dedication and studies at the European Music Conservatories in Switzerland, specifically at the Conservatoire Populaíre de Musique in Geneva and at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Luzern.

Wherever he went, he carried a love for music and Brazilian Popular Music, Jazz and especially Samba-Jazz, the root trademark of his work. His compositions sprang from this love, born from the mixture of cultures and rhythms as well as his interpretations, arrangements and swing-filled improvisations teeming with so many influences and exchanges of all the musicians who played with him.

The body of works that this musician and composer has to offer presents us with a stage full of influences. Floriano Inácio Júnior (2011), Attitude (2014), Paulistano (2018) and most recently, Novas Raízes (2021).

Floriano also took part in a number of projects and musical formations alongside renowned musicians, including Jaques Morelenbaum, Matthieu Michel, Armandinho Macedo, Adrian Mears, David Linx, Raul de Souza, Celso de Almeida, Anne Florence Schneider, Nat Su, Ademir Candido, Nils Wogram, Lula Galvão, Daniel Schenker, Edu Ribeiro, Herbie Kopf, Rodrigo Botter Maio, Gabriel Grossi and Paula Morelenbaum among many others.

The albums Kaiapó (2005) and Deu Choro (2012) are also the product of groups which he was one of the directors, as well as his work as a musical director on the album Caminho by singer Mildred Aubry in 2015.

This journey allowed him to take part in various performances at festivals and renowned jazz clubs where he notably received the award for the best musical performance at Jazz in Olten (2008, Switzerland) and featured in the Montreux Jazz Festival, Blue Balls Festival, and Jazz Festival Ascona amongst others.

Floriano Inacio Junior can also be seen in a unique space for exchange and growth as a music teacher at the Musikschule Küsnacht and Musikschule Zürcher Unterland schools, both in Zurich, where he lives as a Swiss-Brazilian citizen. These have become his starting points for his international tours – true musical journeys.

Floriano Inacio Junior’s contagious piano reverberates cultures and intertwines roots. It is on his continued journey that this multifaceted instrumentalist continues to evolve and offer up his sweet sounds for our ears.