Nelson Veras begins the classical guitar by taking lessons for two years with his neighbor Antonio Benitez Isturian. At the age of 14, he left Brazil to study six months at the ARPEJ music school in Paris. He took harmony lessons with the American pianist and composer Jeff Gardner. He regularly attends jazz clubs and master classes. In 1992, he was noticed by Frank Cassenti during the filming of the film Just a Dream where he met Pat Metheny. He formed his first quartet at the age of 16 with Éric Barret, Michel Benita and Aldo Romano with whom he played in the first part of Herbie Hancock at the Jazz in Marciac festival in 1994, then at the Nice Jazz Festival or at the Vannes Jazz Festival. . He records his first discographic appearance on the disc Second Home by Jeff Gardner and Rick Margitza with Riccardo Del Fra and Simon Goubert.
In 1996, Nelson Veras participated in the sextet "Michel Petrucciani and his young lions" with Detlev Beier (b), Flavio Boltro (tp), Olivier Ker Ourio (hca) and Manhu Roche (d). He entered the jazz class of the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris in 1997 for a short time.
In 1998, he returned to Brazil where he married and finished his school studies. That same year, he was one of the finalists of the first edition of the Prêmio Visa de Música Popular Brasileira competition alongside Hamilton Hollanda and André Mehmari. He finally decides to return to Paris at the end of 1999.
He records with Aldo Romano along with Palle Danielsson and Stefano Di Battista. He also plays with Brad Mehldau, Gary Peacock, Lee Konitz, Daniel Humair, Michel Graillier, Malik Mezzadri, Alexandra Grimal, Jozef Dumoulin, Gildas Boclé, Sylvain Barou and Jacques Pellen (Celtic Tales), Dominique Di Piazza, Jean-Louis Matinier, Steve Coleman, Mark Turner.
Since 2017, he teaches at the American School of Modern Music.
Nelson Veras develops a singular style combining a thorough mastery of the different divisions of the beat as well as a particular chromatic style. Following his collaborations with the Belgian group Octurn, he occasionally makes use of modes with limited transposition in his improvisations.