Manfredo Fest

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Manfredo Fest(born 1936 in Porto Alegre, died October 08, 1999 in Tampa, Florida) was a legally blind bossa nova and jazz pianist and keyboardist from Brazil. He was also a bandleader.

His initial training had been classical and his father was a concert pianist from Germany who taught at University in Porto Alegre. That stated at 17 Manfredo became interested in the works of George Shearing and Bill Evans. At college he gained steady work playing bossa nova in São Paulo. Active since the late 1950s, Fest made several recordings in Brazil with his trio in the early sixties. His American debut album Jungle Cat was released in 1978. He was relatively obscure, but worked with noteworthy groups including Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.