Pianist Jon Gold taught in Rio, where he worked with A.C. Jobim. Guanabara Eyes pairs Ivan Lins' band members with Zach Brock on violin and Ukrainian strings, while Brazilian vocalist Marina Marchi colors select tracks.

Now working from New York, Gold swings from solo piano to full orchestra on pieces honed during his Rio years. The record follows his Downbeat-praised Bossa of Possibility and recent score with the Czech National Symphony.

Lawrence Peryer: What is your first memory of music?

Jon Gold: My grandfather from Belarus singing folk songs in Yiddish to put me to sleep. Dancing at age 2 with my mother to the sounds of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

Lawrence: You want someone to understand you. What song or album do you give them?

Jon: The Berceuse and Finale to Stravinski's "Firebird".

Lawrence: What instrument(s) can you play?

Jon: None well.

Lawrence: What is a skill you wish you possessed?

Jon: To stay in the present.

Lawrence:  What song, album, or artist never gets old for you?

Jon: Ivan Lins.

Lawrence: What music do you and your significant other disagree about?

Jon: '80s pop.

Lawrence: What creative work or artist do you love or admire outside music?

Jon: Putting a human on the moon requires more creativity than one can imagine.

Lawrence: What was your first concert?

Jon: Playing with tenor sax player Joe Henderson.

Lawrence: What instrument do you wish you could play?

Jon: Piano.

Lawrence: What person, dead or alive, would you like to share a meal with (and which meal of the day)?

Jon: Christopher Hitchens (at a six-seat sushi joint in Tokyo).

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Lawrence: Chess or checkers?

Jon: Checkers.

Lawrence: There's a band playing in Heaven tonight. Who is in it?

Jon: JS Bach and John Coltrane.

Lawrence: What is your theme song?

Jon: The roar of the ocean on the Big Sur coast.

Lawrence: Who is your musical hero?

Jon: JS Bach.

Lawrence: When you were 15, your favorite artist, song, or album was:

Jon: Coltrane, Mose Allison, Stevie Wonder.

Lawrence: Who is the biggest influence on your musical life?

Jon: My eldest brother, Jay.

Lawrence: What are some of the places you have saved on your phone's weather app?

Jon: Dublin, Ireland, Dijon, France, Faro, Portugal.

Lawrence: You are programming a music festival. What artists, dead or alive, headline Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night?

Jon: John Coltrane, Claude Debussy, and Prince.

Lawrence: What artist is the most underrated or misunderstood?

Jon: Sun Ra.

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