BRAZJAZ ENSEMBLESamba Jazz & MPB - Music from Brazil
SATURDAY 6 JULY 2024
Doors Open 7:30 pm
Music Starts 8:00 pm
After their fantastic performance last April, BRAZJAZ ENSEMBLE returns to Jazzlab for another special night, featuring a very creative line-up with
YAEL ZAMIR (Flute)
VASHTI SIVELL (Piano)
JORGE ALBUQUERQUE (Bass)
These exceptional artists will be joined by BRAZJAZ founder and Brazilian-born percussionist CARLOS FERREIRA (Drums & Vocals) to interpret some of the great Brazilian composers, such as J.T. Meirelles, Egberto Gismonti, Edu Lobo, Moacir Santos, and João Donato, along with Carlos’ own compositions. This is Samba Jazz at its best, so don’t miss out!
Watch this short vocal improvisation by Carlos Ferreira on the Girl of Ipanema at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2023:
https://youtube.com/shorts/voj2mN-AYHQ
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
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** VASHTI SIVELL ( Piano) **
Vashti Sivell is an energetic keys player, music creator and educator. She has performed at some of Australia’s best music festivals; The Big Day Out, Sydney Bacardi Festival, The Bellingen Global Carnival, Woodford Folk festival, Melbourne Woman’s Jazz Festival, WOMADelaide, Brisbane Festival Spiegeltent and The Byron Bay Blues festival. She has also performed internationally at the Tokyo Hilton, Macau Venetian Casino, Hong Kong Disneyland and was based in New York City for seven years performing and producing music. Since 2017 she has lived in Melbourne performing with: The Chantoozies, Nina Ferro, Eugene Hamilton, Elvis Trilogy, Damien Leith, Claymore, Nicky Bomba, Debra Byrne, Mayito Rivera, Calle Luna, Cumbiamuffin and Gorgi Coghlan. She has produces music for emerging artists, podcasts and TV series and currently teaches at Monash University in Latin and Popular music.
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**YAEL ZAMIR (Flute) **
Yael Zamir is a musician and composer performing regularly in the Melbourne music scene. Following her study of classical flute, she shifted her interest in 2018 to more improvisatory genres, such as jazz and Brazilian choro. She has since had the pleasure of performing alongside esteemed Australian musicians such as Alastair Kerr, Paul Grabowsky, Tony Gould, James Sherlock, Rob Burke, Philip Rex, Craig Fermanis, Ben Hanlon, Simon Starr and Mark Fitzgibbon.
Since graduating from The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music in 2022, Yael has been exploring Melbourne's diverse music scene through a variety of projects, many with an emphasis on Brazilian music. In her own projects and compositions, Yael's love for Brazilian music is almost always detectable.
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** JORGE ALBUQUERQUE (Bass) **
Bass player, Guitarist, Composer and Arranger who lives in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Jorge was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started his career in the late 80’s playing in local clubs and Brazilian jazz bands as Orquestra Oficina and Orquestra de Sax.. In Brazil he studied music with Adriano Gifoni and Nelson Farias. He grew up listening to Brazilian music and Jazz. His main influences are Egberto Gismonte, Hermeto Pascoal, Toninho Horta, Nico Assumpcao, Bill Evans, Chick Corea and Weather Report. Then in 1992 started his career as music teacher , teaching bass in two of the most important schools in Rio, CIGAN and Centro Musical Antonio Adolfo. On that time did a work with Antonio Adolfo Trio, with Pascoal Meireles on Drums. In 1994, he released an album with a band Linha 176. He did his first work with Marcos Amorim recording the album Luz da Lua. He moved to Miami and played with artists as Nestor Torres, Nando Lauria, Leo Gandeman. In Miami recorded an album with Val Lupescu, Vloop trio. When in Miami he studied jazz with great teachers as Gary Campbell, Nike Horta and Denis Marks at Florida International University. From Miami he stated his passion for traveling, what it made a big impact in his music. Working in Hotels and Cruise ships he traveled around the world searching for inspirations and knowledge. Now he lives in Melbourne, Australia, and performing with his own band as well as with Panorama do Brasil, Agostina Bruno, Suingue Brazuca and Dany Maya .
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** CARLOS FERREIRA (Drums) **
Carlos Ferreira comes from Vila Isabel, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) which is to samba what old New Orleans is to jazz. He is (as they say in Rio) a "Carioca da Gema" - a genuine Carioca.. (Only people born in Vila Isabel are considered to be "Carioca da Gema").
Carlos is self-taught and started playing the "drums" (old tins he and his childhood friends used to collect from the streets of Vila Isabel and Grajau in the 50's) at the age of six. Later he developed his style playing samba drums in some of Rio's most important Samba Schools.
His great passions are his beloved G.R.E.S. Estácio de Sá and G.R.E.S. Estação Primeira de Mangueira. Carlos is a "ritmista" (drummer) with G.R.E.S. Estácio de Sá (RJ) - O Berço do Samba - Brazil's first Samba School (and very proud to be part of this fantastic family). He travels constantly to Rio to rehearse and parades at Sambodrome during the Carnival season.
Since arriving in Australia in 1985, Carlos has been a keen promoter of Brazilian music (especially Samba Jazz & Traditional Samba). His bands have included Brazjaz Ensemble (Australia's first genuine Samba Jazz band, founded in 1991), Suingue Brazuca, Carioca da Gema and MelSamba . Most of Brazjaz's repertoire has been composed by himself . In 1988, Carlos founded Australia's oldest Samba School: The Melbourne Samba School aka MelSamba (G.R.E.S. Unidos de Melbourne), an exciting samba percussion ensemble which is based on genuine Rio's street carnival music while creating its own rhythm patterns.
He has performed with his bands in many festivals around Australia and all major jazz venues in Melbourne including the Melbourne International Festival, Melbourne Spoleto Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Montsalvat International Jazz Festival, St. Kilda Festival, Brunswick St. Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Stir Fry Jazz Festival (Hobart), All Ears World Music Festival (Hobart), Melbourne Concert Hall, Limerick Arms Hotel, OZCAT, Dr. Jazz, Victorian Arts Centre, Miettas (Creative Music Series - recorded by ABC radio), Paris Cat Jazz Club, The Malthouse, Jazz Lane, The Ritz, Vineyard, Dizzy's and Bennetts Lane, Jambalaya Festival New Zealand), The Cave 2 (Edinburgh), The Rag Jazz Club (Kyoto, Japan), Papa Blues (Bonn, Germany), Munich Town Hall (Germany), Tsuen Wan Town Hall (Hong Kong), Yuen Long Theatre (Hong Kong), Guanabara (London) and Wellington International Jazz Festival (New Zealand) just to name a few.
Carlos has established Australia's first smoke-free jazz club (OZCAT - April 1999). His initiative was very successful and as a consequence, other jazz clubs in Melbourne adopted the same healthy policy. His push for smoke-free clubs was backed by Vic Health and QUIT.
He has been producing Brazilian events in Australia and overseas for over 30 years., including the Rio, Red & Black Carnival Party, an annual Brazilian club carnival party he started in 1993 and which attracts hundreds of guests every year since then.
Carlos specializes in training large Samba School "baterias" in creative arrangements with the authentic Rio de Janeiro feel. In 2004 he conducted several "baterias" around the world, including 400 UK percussionists in Cornwall, England, 100-plus percussionists at the Cuba Street Festival Grand Finale in Wellington, New Zealand, 150-plus UK percussionists at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.
Carlos has extensively traveled overseas where he both performed and organised workshops. Countries visited include Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, England, Scotland, Sweden, Slovenia, Iceland, Japan, USA, Germany and Switzerland. He has taught at major music institutions/events such as National Conference Of Kodaly Musical Education Institute Of Australia, School of Creative and Performing Arts (University of Auckland (NZ), Hong Kong Academy For Performing Arts, Hong Kong Culural Centre and the Birmingham Music Conservatoire (UK) to name a few.
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Event Venue
The Jazzlab, 27 Leslie St, Brunswick VIC 3056, Australia,Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Brunswick
Tickets
