I met Nana Vasconcelos when I lived in NYC in '82-83, and I'd seen him with the Pat Metheny Group in June '82 at a memorable show in Toronto. He was such a kind and gentle soul, I wrote this track SAMBA DEL MAR for him.
The song is a Samba inspiration mixed with the theme in E minor that is a bit Allman Brothers-ish.
I submitted the song to the Billboard Songwriting Contest and won second prize in the Jazz category in 1989... I won a Cherry Burst Epiphone Les Paul!