BrazJaz European Connection

BRAZJAZ ENSEMBLE – European Connection 2023
Samba Jazz & MPB – Music from Brazil

Our annual concert featuring DANIEL GASSIN (Piano – France), with special guests DANY MAIA (Vocals – Brazil), JORGE ALBUQUERQUE (Bass – Brazil) and ADRIAN SHERRIFF (Trombone & Flute – Australia).

These exceptional artists join BRAZJAZ founder and Brazilian born percussionist CARLOS FERREIRA to interpret some of the great Brazilian composers such as J.T. Meirelles, Egberto Gismonti, Edu Lobo, Moacir Santos, João Donato along with Carlos’ own compositions. This is Samba Jazz at its best so don’t miss out.

** DANIEL GASSIN ( Piano) **
Daniel Gassin is an Australian pianist and composer of Franco-American descent based in Paris.
Before relocating to France in 2013, Daniel garnered both local and international acclaim in his hometown of Melbourne. He was a finalist in the Jazz Solo Piano Competition at the iconic Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007, reached the final three at the Australian National Jazz Awards in 2013, and was nominated for the prestigious Freedman Fellowship in 2016.
He recorded his second Trio album “Crossover” in 2008 for ABC Jazztrack, and in 2011 the Daniel Gassin Sextet’s debut album was released to critical acclaim and widespread national airplay. The self-titled album was nominated for “Best Jazz Album” at the Independent Music (AIR) Awards, and the track “Banff Song” earned a nomination at the 2012 Jazz Bell Awards for “Best Australian Jazz Song of the Year.”
Since his move to France, Daniel has added an international dimension to his career, as well as becoming an integral part of the Paris jazz scene. In 2016 he became the first pianist to perform at Quincy Jones’ new club in Dubaï – Q’s – inaugurating the venue as part of UK drummer Ollie Howell’s band and playing over 20 concerts there over five weeks.
The same year, he completed a five-concert tour of Sweden with his Trio.
In 2018 Daniel toured Burkina Faso, Angola, Mauritius and the Seychelles as part of US State Department tours conducted by its Africa Regional Services program.

In 2019, Daniel’s new Crossover Band recorded its debut EP, was selected to showcase at Jammin’ Juan, performed at the Sibiu International Jazz Festival in Romania, and took up a monthly residency at the Caveau des Oubliettes in Paris.
Daniel appears in the first episode of Damien Chazelle’s recently-released Netflix series The Eddy.
Daniel is also an in-demand sideman in numerous projects including Grammy Award-winning trumpeter/guitarist Josiah Woodson’s “Quintessential” (he also appears on the band’s debut album released in 2017) and “JWP”, trumpeter Rachel Therrien’s Quartet (appearing on her soon-to-be-released album “Vena”), and vocalist Alita Moses’ European ensemble, with which he performed at the 2018 and 2019 World Minds annual symposia in Zürich and Belgrade respectively.

In addition to playing and touring extensively with many of Australia’s – and now France’s – finest jazz musicians, Daniel has also performed and recorded with U.S. greats Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Leroy Jones, Rick Margitza, John Riley and Bob Sheppard.
The Daniel Gassin Crossover Band will release its debut album ‘Change of Heart’ in April 2021 on the Jazz Family label.
Daniel Gassin is a Yamaha artist.

** DANY MAIA (Vocals) **
There is a Brazilian expression that says: ‘A Baiana is not born, a Baiana debuts’, and a better one: ‘What is it this Baiana has got?’. Baiana is a person born in Bahia – Brazilian Northeast State. Dany Maia although, innate Baiana, yet at home, debuted very early in the music industry and now brings to Australia what she’s got.

Dany Maia started off her career at the age of 15 and performed alongside important artists of her homeland, such as Margareth Menezes and Timbalada. Percussive rhythms like Samba, Samba-reggae, Axe, Pagode, Afro and Forró shook Dany’s leg and made her travel around Brazil, Portugal and Spain as a professional dancer. A few years later, her passion for this same music inspired her to remain on stage, but now as a singer.

Singer Dany Maia first started playing at friends’ gigs, then as a solo artist at bars and other venues in the nightlife of Salvador, Bahia’s capital. Her promising career managed her some invitations to lead a few bands, when she performed at the famous Carnivals of both Sao Paulo and Salvador. In 2004, she produced and released her first promo album, Danielle Maia Ao Vivo, where four out of the twelve tracks are originals.

After years of experience, Dany Maia merged all of those percussive rhythms with the classic (Bossa Nova) and the pop (Samba) of Brazil’s tunes, making of her music the same as the place where she comes from: a cultural melting pot.

** ADRIAN SHERRIFF (Trombone & Flute) **
Adrian Sherriff is a performer, composer, teacher and multi-instrumentalist. In his childhood amongst the Lani people in West Papua, Adrian regularly transitioned from the stone age to the information age. This flexibility of perspective has deeply shaped his life and music.
​Adrian’s musical foundations are drawn from his studies of European classical, Afro-American jazz, South Indian classical, Japanese shakuhachi, Afro-Cuban bata, Balinese gamelan and experimental music traditions. In each of these traditions, Adrian has studied and performed with master musicians of international calibre.

Amongst his many teachers, the late South Indian master drummer Guru Karaikudi Mani has been a particularly potent source of inspiration.
​As a touring artist, Adrian has been a frequent performer at the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Arts Festivals as well as regionally throughout Australia. Internationally, Adrian has performed across the Asian subcontinent, South East Asia, Australasia, North America and Europe.

Adrian’s current performance projects include: the Adrian Sherriff Trio performing transcultural original works, a duo with pianist Brett Williams exploring classics of the jazz canon and an improvising electroacoustic multimedia duo with clarinetist/artist Brigid Burke.
In his career, Adrian has been an integral member of the Australian Art Orchestra, The Wide Alley, Andrea Keller’s Bartok Project and the Bennett’s Lane Big Band amongst other ensembles. He is currently employed as a Lecturer in Music at Melbourne Polytechnic in performance, intercultural music and musicianship.

Adrian was awarded a Bachelor degree in trombone and flute from the Victorian College of the Arts and Honours from Monash University in South Indian classical percussion. His Masters degree from the Victorian College of the Arts including the study, performance and exploration of connections between shakuhachi, South Indian classical music (adapted to bass trombone), gender wayang and bata.
Adrian is currently enrolled in doctoral studies at Griffith University researching transcultural expressions of musical time.
In more recent years, Adrian has developed an interest in electro-acoustic music as a vehicle to connect his diverse musical interests. A focus of this has been the exploration of the Zendrum and Theremin as open ended electronic performance instruments.

** 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 .

** 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.