Cyro Baptista News

"I think the idea of what jazz is, quote-unquote, is what has always attracted us to each other," guitarist and composer Clay Ross says of the guys from Gradual Lean.

In the last four years, Ross has submerged himself in Brazilian music as a member of Cyro Baptista's renowned percussion ensemble Beat the Donkey.

Sonic adventurer Cyro Baptista admits to a tricky domestic problem. The 58-year-old Brazilian master percussionist collects or creates so many instruments that they're filling up his house.

Yesterday's post already mentioned the percussion wiz Cyro Baptista's upcoming album with his Banquet of the Spirits troupe.

Percussionist/composer Cyro Baptista. Jazz master Wynton Marsalis, Brazilian hip-hop ensemble Grupo de Rua, satirist David Sedaris and "Foovies" are all part of the 2009-2010 season presented by UCSD's ArtPower! The lineup is so exuberantly eclectic that there's nothing else like it in the area.

Good news! There's a new Zorn CD out on Tzadik called " O'o " which is named after an extinct Hawaiian bird and is the follow up to The Dreamers.

Guitarist, Vocalist, and Composer Clay Ross Celebrates the Release of His Forthcoming Album Matuto With an Evening of Brazilian Carnival Meets Appalachia at Joe's Pub on August 25 'Clay Ross thinks like a poet, writes like a novelist, and plays the guitar like a master." - Jambase Matuto is Brazilian slang for country bumpkin.

Often music composed for film - or any mixed media - has a tendency to feel incomplete or unnaturally malformed by the bullying exigencies of visual momentum.