Cyro Baptista

Podcast Features Cyro

2007-07-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

Cyro was interviewed for a podcast called "Jazz Instinct" hosted by Wills and Drew.

Take a listen to the podcast streaming online!

You can visit the site at:

Podcast

ENJOY!!

Cyro Awarded 2007 Percussionist of the Year!!

2007-07-09T14:13:00.000-04:00

Cyro was awarded the title of "2007 Percussionist of the Year" by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Voting members of the JJA, a non-profit professional organization, cited Cyro as 2007's top percussionists.

Cyro is very proud of this acknowledgement and extremely prestigious honor!

Congratulations are in order to all of this years winners!
Esspecially our good friend Anat Cohen - winner of 2 awards this year:
Up & Coming Musician of the Year and Clarinetist of the Year!

Also, thank you to Howard Mandel (president of the Jazz Journalists Association) as well as the entire organization.

To see the other winners or to obtain more information about the Jazz Journalists Association please visit:
http://www.jazzhouse.org/

THANKS AGAIN!!

"Jazz Around the World" - Summer School

2007-06-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

Cyro will be teaching at the "Jazz Around the World" Summer School this summer.

The program includes nine days of full immersion into the exciting city of Rotterdam: education, playing, concerts, and the largest Jazz festival in Europe...it’s all part of the package!

For more information on the program - please visit their website
July 7 through 15
Summer School: "Jazz Around The World"
Rotterdam, HOLLAND
in collaboration with the North Sea Jazz Festival
http://codartssummerschool.nl
http://web.mac.com/heinvandegeyn

Supergenerous at The Jazz Standard

2007-04-26T16:43:00.000-04:00

The Jazz Standard in NYC is about to become a little more generous this June.

Fresh off laying down tracks for their new album, Cyro and Kevin are playing a two night stint at one of Manhattan's premeir jazz venues - The Jazz Standard.

They will be joined by bassist Ian de Sousa.

This is a very special performance, so make your reservations early!!

They will be playing 2 sets each night: 7:30 and 9:30PM

Click Here For Ticket Information

Click Here to Listen to a Track from the First Supergenerous Album

Watch these two live:

CYRO AND BILLY'S EXOTIC RHYTHMS WORKSHOPS (round 2)

2007-04-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

photo by: Eleonora Alberto

Cyro and Billy just finished up a second round of workshops!

The workshops were a terrific success.

Everyone involved learned and grew immensly from the experience. An amazing time was had by everyone involved.

Look for more workshops with these two in the future!!
You can catch the 2 of them in Boulder, CO on June 2!!

Here are some photos from this round of workshops:

photo by: Eleonora Alberto

photo by: Justin Bias

photo by: Justin Bias

photo by: Justin Bias

photo by: Eleonora Alberto

Cyro, "In His Own Words"

2007-04-05T14:24:00.000-04:00

6 months back, Cyro sat down with David Schulman, the creator and producer of "Musicians in Their Own Words".

The “Musicians in their own words” project seeks to provide public radio listeners with engaging and informative programming on music and musicians. In choosing performers to feature, the project is guided by musicians’ artistic merit and integrity and by their expressiveness both as performers and as interview subjects. Editorial choices about which performers to include are made with the aim of presenting artists from a diversity of musical and cultural traditions, whose music and stories will engage, enlighten, and appeal to a range of public radio listeners. “Musicians in their own words” is an independent arts journalism undertaking, and care is taken in the production process to portray each feature subject fairly, and in a way that is true to the music and true to the stories the musicians have to tell.

Cyro's interview has been played on various NPR stations across the country in a show entitled "Keepers of the Groove".

"Master percussionist, Cyro Baptista, finds connections between the rhythmic languages of Brazil, Northern India, and New York City — and we listen in as he improvises music from a collection of plastic buckets, vacuum-cleaner hoses, and duck calls"
- Musicians in Their Own Words website

You can listen to the interview streaming on the internet or check your local NPR listings for showtimes near you!!
Streaming Audio

You can also hear Cyro on the program's homepage!!
In Their Own Words Homepage

CYRO AND BILLY'S EXOTIC RHYTHMS WORKSHOPS

2007-02-19T17:14:00.000-05:00

They're back!!!!!!

Cyro and Billy will be hosting another series of workshops in Tenafly, NJ.

There will be 2 workshops this time - a Morning Session and an Afternoon Session

MORNING WORKSHOP group of four classes (2 hours each) held on :
March 31, April 1, April 7, April 8
PRICE : $400
10 am - 12:00 pm

AFTERNOON WORKSHOP group of four classes (2 hours each) held on :
March 31, April 1, April 7, April 8
PRICE : $400
2:30pm - 4:30 pm

Cyro will discuss Brazilian culture, music and being a percussionist. This
is a hands on type of workshop, starting with basic rhythms and getting
into more complex patterns, the students develop their perception and
musical intuition.

Billy will conduct a creative music workshop using various 'exotic'
percussion instruments on-hand. We will improvise as a group and encourage
individuals to solo within each piece of music we create together.

Instruments will be provided by Cyro and Billy.

SIGN UP EARLY!!
Space is extremely limited - 10 students per workshop!!

A $200 deposit holds your spot - the remainder is due at the first class.

Click Here To Give Your Deposit

If you are interested and would like more information, please email either:
riddim@billymartin.net or cyro@cyrobaptista.com

Beat The Donkey Back on the Road this Spring!!

2007-02-19T15:36:00.000-05:00

Cyro and the crew will be back on the road this Spring!!

On the tour page - you can see the beginings of our spring/summer itinerary!!

Check back often - we will be filling our summer tour dates in the coming weeks!
Come check out BEAT THE DONKEY in a town near you!!!

Here's a little video to hold you over in the meantime:

Video Shot By
Eleonora Alberto

Music By
Cyro Baptista and Beat The Donkey

Movie Created By
Justin Bias

Back by Popular Demand: SUPERGENEROUS!!

2007-02-15T12:24:00.000-05:00

On a recent trip to Toronto, Cyro met up with his good friend - guitarist Kevin Breit.

For those of you who are not familiar with Kevin... Kevin Breit is one of North America’s finest musicians and one of the most talented multi-instrumentalists around. He plays well over 30 different stringed instruments. He has recorded with a virtual who’s who of music. Breit's discography includes many popular names in the Canadian music scene, including artists like Cassandra Wilson, Janis Ian, Celine Dion, The Guess Who, Marc Jordan, k.d. lang and many many more. Kevin has also supported Norah Jones on her two albums and has toured extensively with her. He appeared with Norah at the Grammies in 2004, where she thanked him 3 times. His song 'Humble Me' is featured on her album 'Feels Like Home'. In 2004, Kevin was honoured with the prestigious Musician of the Year Award from the Toronto Musician's Union!!

Cyro and Kevin got to playing and pretty soon they were in the studio recording their second album together as SUPERGENEROUS.

The recording session was a fantastic success and the finishing touches are being put on the new album right now.

In case you missed the last album - - this is what the critics had to say:

(click for a larger version)

Here is a montage from the recording of the newest album:

On the new album Cyro and Kevin invited some guests into the studio. Ian De Souza supplied the Bass and Sue Patrick Breit lended her vocals to the recordings

Cartagena Festival Internacional de Música

2007-02-14T12:52:00.000-05:00

The Robison, Lubambo & Baptista Trio played in Cartagena, Columbia to a very appreciative audience.

This was the first Cartagena Festival Internacional de Música and it was an unbelievable success!!!

We hope to be back next year and we hope to see you all there!

For those of you who don't know Paula Robison.. here's what the critics have to say:

“A rare artist who can make the flute sound both sensuous and classically pure…An absolute wonder.”

The New York Times

“....the music of Paula Robison's flute spun like gold among the trees on a starry night.”

Los Angeles Times

Rumero Lubambo, guitar, is equally as accomplished:

"Guitarist Romero Lubambo may be the best practitioner of his craft in the world today... the guitarist's facility, creativity and energy are in a class all their own."
Jazziz

Look for The Robison, Lubambo, Baptista Trio on the road over the next few months.

For more inforamtion on the the trio, visit:
http://www.paularobison.com/trio.html

Cyro Visits The Corning Museum of Glass

2007-01-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

Cyro took a trip to visit the folks at The Corning Museum of Glass. While at The Museum, Cyro met George Kennard who blew him an Udu drum. Cyro was inspired to make a song and video in response to George's creation. This is the begining of an ongoing colaboration. Cyro and Beat The Donkey will be performing at the museum in the spring!!! Check back for more information!!

Filmed by: Eleonora Alberto
Sound Editing: Harry Jacovou
Video Created By: Justin Bias

I love this country...US and A

2006-12-19T15:19:00.000-05:00

Between Borat, Chapelle's Show, The Daily Show, Spinal Tap, and Chris Rock's "Bigger Blacker," there was more than enough comedy fodder for the Donkeys on this last tour. Nothing eases the brunt of a 12 hour drive like an in-depth reenactment of the "Wayne Brady's a Pimp" skit. Still, an even funnier scene is the Nude Wrestling Match between Borat and his producer, Aramat. Although no Donkey is interested in an actual dramatization, the mere thought is enough to induce laughing pains. Ok, call it an official endorsement, whatever you want, just run to the theater and see it today.

Not only laughing, we were also making some serious music. It was a real honor to debut a new original tune of mine with the band. We also included a super-technical break from a King Crimson tune. I was very inspired by the way everyone got on board to work up the new material. I love that the band continues to evolve and grow. I think it's a good sign for things to come.

Another unique highlight was the opportunity to include a local group of young musicians in our show at Alverno College. We worked with the students of Roosevelt Middle School for two days, teaching them rhythms and vocal parts for a BTD original tune.

I had a great feeling sharing the stage with our students and hope that this experience will inspire them to reach the heights of their talents. I know they gave us all great satisfaction by sharing their gifts with BTD.

Special Thanks to Ann, Jill, and Doug in Sheboygan, and David at Alverno for making this residency an amazing experience.

I Love This Country...US and A!!!

- Clay Ross

A Letter From the Kohler Arts Center

Anne Brusky with Eleonora Alberto

Cyro sits in with Wynton Marsalis

2006-08-03T13:12:00.000-04:00

On July 23rd, Beat The Donkey played The Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center. This is the location of the original Woodstock Festival. It is a beautiful piece of land where they've built a top of the line new amphitheater. The bill included Chris Botti, Diane Reeves, and Wynton Marsalis. The groups were all full of incredible musicians!

The festival closer was Wynton. On his second tune he announced a special guest, told a funny story about eating shrimp, and brought Cyro out with heartfelt praise. He said, "ladies and gentlemen, truely one of the greatest musicians in the world, Cyro Baptista."

Summer Tour!!

2006-08-03T12:22:00.000-04:00

(left to right - Tim, Steve, Eleonora, Cyro and Brian)

Here are some wonderful emails we received from our fans when we got home from our latest tour! We always love to hear from all of you!!

There are also some photos from the summer tour! Enjoy!!

I don't know what to say about Beat the Donkey except that I felt I was having a once-in-a-lifetime experience (unless they return next year). The festival was wonderful this year. I live on the road behind the fairgrounds and have been coming every year, this year was one of the best. Thank you for your perfect performance, you were the "find" this year. Come back again.

Geri - Grassroots Festival, Trumansburg , NY

I saw your show at the Grassroots Fest in Trumansburg, NY and you blew my mind! GREAT SHOW! I was surprised and delighted by the twists and turns, and by the many diverse influences present in your music. I was trying to describe it to a friend of mine later, and I explained "it's like Frank Zappa meets Sonic Youth and Santana, and they decide to compose psychedelic prog rock spanning every genre you've ever danced or nodded your head to". Very cool, guys. Please come to Grassroots again... I try to go every year (I've been going to it since 1997), and you were a breath of fresh air.

anonymous - Grassroots Festival, Trumansburg , NY

The Baptista Effect - Music and Spirit Reaching New Heights

2006-08-03T11:53:00.000-04:00

By the end of this last string of dates with BTD, all agreed that the band had reached a new musical level. Personally, I can measure my own growth through a deeper understanding of our leader and his concept. Cyro is a storyteller and a vehicle for sonic images. He doesn't want to complicate, impress, or confuse; he wants share, inspire, and connect. We all work diligently in specific formats, learning to play changes, read music, and feel swing. With such intense focus one can easily loose sight of original inspiration. For me, that inspiration has always been to communicate through music. Cyro is deeply connected to that inspiration and breaths conviction into every note he plays. In BTD we are digesting new cultures, embracing new influences, and nurturing our roots. This place where we first planted the dream of living with music. We come to you, humbly offering the fruits and seeds of loved labor, born in the spirit of collaborative creation, and channeled through voices, rhythms, and song. To Cyro, Eleonora, Chikako, Tim, Ze, Lisette, Brian, and Steve; Thanks for sharing your stories and for helping me stay inspired! You really brought your A game this time Bro-Dogs. Pau na Mula!!! Lets Go!!! Lets do it!!!

- Clay Ross

Cyro on Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio!

2006-07-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio - Hosted by Ed Bradley - will be broadcasting Cyro and Romero Lubambo's "Carnival on Broadway". You can listen in on your local radio station - Please check the listings for local times and stations! You will also be able to listen to the show on the Jazz at Lincoln Center website in the coming weeks. Click here and scroll down to "June 29, 2006"!

As it says on the Lincoln Center website:

Carnival On Broadway: Cyro Baptista / Romero Lubambo — Party to the parade music of Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans! Brazilian virtuosos - percussionist Cyro Baptista and guitarist Romero Lubambo lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on beautiful choros and bossa novas, including Milton Nascimento's "Ponta de Areia" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Aguas de Março."

Pictures from Exotic Rhythms Workshop with Cyro and Billy Martin

2006-07-11T13:40:00.000-04:00

A few months back Cyro and Billy hosted a workshop where they were able share their expertise about exotic percussion instruments and styles. This workshop was so successful that Cyro has asked the group of students to perform at the THE STONE in NYC in the fall. Stay tuned to the "Shows and Events" page for more information about that special show.

In addition, Cyro and Billy will be holding another round of workshops at the end of July!! Please check out the homepage for more information about these workshops.

Here are some photos from the previous workshop:

Antropo-fagia Plays JVC Jazz Festival in NYC

2006-06-28T16:52:00.000-04:00

The Anthropo-fagic Manifest

Anthropo-fagia united us socially economically and philosophically.

I'm just interested in what is not mine

Law of the Man - This is the law of the Anthropofago

In the country of the 'Cobra Grande'

- Oswald de Andrade

Antropo-fagia performed Thursday, June 22nd as part of the New York City JVC Jazz Festival. The band performed two sold out shows at The Jazz Standard. The performance was anything but standard - Special guests appeared with the group throughout the night. Chikako Iwahori (Beat the Donkey) and Max Pollak (Beat the Donkey, Rumba Tap) added their dancing and rhythms to the second set. Perhaps the most rewarding collaboration came in the form of guitarist Romero Lubambo. He sat in during both sets and lent his unique and wonderful sound to multiple numbers.

As this project navigates through its infancy - it just keeps picking up steam with each and every performance under its belt!

Thank you to everyone who came out to this show to support Antropo-fagia!!

Stay tuned for updates and check out Antropo-fagia page!!

ANTROPO-FAGIA PICTURES:

Brian Marsella eating Shanir Blumenkranz's brain - a true Antropo-fagia!

Chikako and Max joining in the Anthropo-groove-ia

Antropo-FANS-ia - Luisa Lubambo and Isabela Da Fonseca

Special Guests (left to right): Romero Lubambo & The Devil

Antropo-fagia in rehearsal (left to right): Brian Marsella, Cyro, Shanir Blumenkranz, Tim Keiper, Romero Lubambo

NOTES FROM THE ROAD - CYRO PERFORMS WITH HERBIE HANCOCK AT THE SONOMA JAZZ FESTIVAL

2006-06-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

Since I started playing with Herbie, I have never seen him work as hard as he did for this concert. Herbie was a true warrior and was very courageous to put together this stellar group of musicians from scratch. Many of us had never played together and some of the songs - especially the ones from the Possibilities CD - were played for the first time ever.

After 11 and a half hours of rehearsals in one day, and a 4-hour sound check we jumped on stage and the concert came out like a beautiful story.
I was so thrilled to play with Marcus Miller especially on Tutu, one of my favorite songs ever, and besides being one the best bass players, he is an amazing human being and a an incredible bass clarinetist!!!

Sheila Escovedo, Terry Lyne, Greg Phillinganes, Terence Blanchard, Larry Carlton, Sonya Kitchell and the fantastic Keb Mo, Uau… A Vida e Bela

Photo (from left to right)
Keb Mo, Terence Blanchard, Sonya Kitchell, Greg Phillinganes, Herbie Hancock, Larry Carlton, Sheila E., Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Cyro

"LOVE THE DONKEY" ALBUM REVIEW!!

2006-06-14T16:50:00.001-04:00

"ALL ABOUT JAZZ" magazine has recently reviewed Beat The Donkey's latest album - "LOVE THE DONKEY".

Reviewer Sean Patrick Fitzell says, "A panoply of percussion erupts from "Love the Donkey" as Cyro Baptista and his merry troupe of percussionists and special guests unleash fourteen tracks of manic energy and irrepressible fun. It serves as an effective antidote to overly cerebral and self-consciously serious music."

When describing the new album, he goes on to say, "...The resulting concoction transcends static notions of rock, Brazilian, jazz, and pop forms and sounds - not for tongue-in-cheek irony, but as a personal reflection and compelling 'world music' in the best sense."

To read the rest of this review, please visit:
ALL ABOUT JAZZ MAGAINE

To purchase the album or listen to clips, please visit:
Our Shop

Keith Widyolar photographs BTD's performance at Coda in New York City

2006-04-25T11:53:00.000-04:00

Check out Keith's amazing photos at his ModaFoto web site.

ModaFoto covers some of the hottest Art, Fashion and Entertainment in New York City and around the world. We don't cover everything and you probably won't see what happened last night in ModaFoto, but we do get up close and personal with some of the amazing people creating art, fashion, and entertainment in our world today.

Editor in Chief Keith Widyolar is a writer and photographer whose work has appeared in many international media including Harper's Bazaar (America), Elle (America), Jalouse (France), Visionaire (New York), Fashionoffice (Austria), and Glamurama (Brazil). Keith is the house photographer for Geová, a Brazilian fashion designer based in New York and works with Voice of the Streets Brazil, a project to utilize performing arts to provide hope and empowerment to the youth of Brazil.

Grammy Award Nomination: Gelo Na Montanha

2006-03-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

Cyro's collaboration with Herbie Hancock and Trey Anastasio was nominated for a Grammy at this years awards.

The track is on Herbie's "Possibilities" album. Entitled Gelo Na Montanha and featuring Trey Anastasio on guitar, the song was nominated in the Best Pop Instrumental Performance category. This marks the first time the three musicians - Cyro, Herbie and Trey - have composed a piece together. "Gelo Na Montanha most exemplifies the creative possibilities of a collaborative project like Possibilities."

Tour Notes - Tel Aviv & East Jerusalem

2006-02-05T11:54:00.000-05:00

Back from Middle East after two weeks of high voltage emotions and too much work.

I went to Tel Aviv with Eleonora to participate in the Broza Five: David Broza - guitar/voice; Jay Beckenstein - Saxofone (Spyro Gyro); Julio Hernandes - Guitar (Spyro Gyro); Francisco Centeno - Bass (Aretha Franklin); and myself.

There is not one single person in all Israel that doesn't know David. He is a consummated pop star over there. We played 8 concerts for a sold out crowd. They recorded us and made a high production video etc...

During all that was happening, I kept coming back every night after the concerts and watch CNN explode in my hotel TV showing the result of the elections in Palestine between Hamas and Fatah. People with the masks and machine guns jumping and shouting on the streets... just like carnaval in Rio de Janeiro without the biquinis, obviously.

Then, after the last show, David told us that we had been invited to go to East Jerusalem to play and record with Palestinian musicians in a Palestinian recording studio. To tell you the truth, me Eleonora and the other musicians got really scared, especially knowing that all the confusion and disillusion was happening just a few blocks from the studio. Well, the production assured us that it would be cool to go there and next morning we showed up there and to our surprise we were received so well by our host Said Murad and family, that immediately I felt like home, drinking a lot of arab coffe, barbecue, laughs and more important the most incredible music. Didn't take long for me Jay, Francisco and Julio find out that they were very accomplished musicians (see their web site: www.sabreen.org). All of them besides playing amazing percussion also play the Oud.

For me it was a very deep experience and renewed my belief that music is a very powerful tool for the process of peace in the world. At the same time that we were making music, knowing each other and exchanging our cultures, Israelis and Palestinians around us just get together to hate and kill witch other.

After that and visiting Masada the next day, me and Eleonora separated from group and kept traveling to the south to Eilat and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

News From The Road

2006-01-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

I ran past coconuts, biquinis and the smell of salt, jumped into the transparent waters of Arpoador in Ipanema , in and out of the water, quickly to the Rio de Janeiro Airport. I was so tired that I felt asleep right away when I got inside the plane.

Buummm.... woke up with the impact of the landing, opened the little window of the plane and everything was white, "snowing heavy in NY". I went straight to the Apollo Theater in Harlem to rehearse with Herbie Hancock and Sting for the ABC's Good Morning America. The band is amazing with Steve Jordan on drums, John Patituchi on bass and Lionel Loueke on guitar.(vide photo) Life is Beautifully!

Next was an incredible night with Makigami (throat singer from Japan) at the Stone in the East-Village. First as a duo, then we were joined by Ikue Mori (computer samples) and John Zorn (neuro-romantic sax). See video of Cyro and Makigami in Tokyo 2005

I am learning, or better, I am trying to learn how to use ProTools. It has been so hard and I hope I am not too much of a 3rd world person, so I can learn and work with it in my next record that is starting to take shape.

Christmas, and is time for the Broza Five at 92nd Street Y. It is the tenth anniversary of this show on Christmas night. David Broza, our beloved leader, played guitar and sang better than ever, Francisco Centeno on bass, Julio on guitar and Jay Beckestein on soprano. It was a sold out crowd and was a preparation for our trip to Israel by January.

New Years was very intense.
Playing the New Year's Eve concert at Tonic with Electric Masada on 31st, then Mike Patton, Bill Laswell and Zorn on the 1st. I survived!!!

I finished my participation acting on the feature film "Across the Universe" directed by Julie Taymor. I did Mr.Kite's scene. With this stupid costume (a cymbal on my head, a bass drum on my back and a snare) I look more like a Brazilian old monkey. I am sure nobody will recognize me. Hours and hours of waiting, but is going to be an incredible movie about Beatles songs.

Happy New Year for you all with a lot of the things that you like the most.

Cyro

Blue Note Re-releases Supergenerous!

2005-12-17T14:21:00.000-05:00

Kevin Breit and Cyro Baptista were responsible for a lot of the sound and feel of Cassandra Wilson's breakthrough recordings for Blue Note, Blue Light 'Til Dawn and New Moon Daughter. Blue Note signed them to record a CD where they would improvise and find their mutual language. The result is a meeting of two like-minded souls, from two opposite hemispheres, who reinvent North America's country, jazz, folk and funk in their own wild and adventurous image.

Their roots are in Cyro's Sao Paulo, Brazil and Kevin's small town Canada, but their style is too global to be local and too intimate to be strictly urban. This music isn't world, pop, or rock, or folk, or jazz. It's just music: fun, creative and absolutely fascinating!

Kevin Breit (pronounced: Bright) is last year's winner of the "Toronto Musician Of The Year" award. Kevin's tremendous ability on all things stringed, combined with his knowledge of harmony, give him a unique compositional voice. Kevin was one of Norah Jones' "Handsome Band" member and his song "Humble Me" is featured on her newest album "Feels Like Home". Among the varied artists that seek his innovative guitar style are Bill Frisell, k.d. lang and Holly Cole. With the Sisters Euclid, one of his projects, he has recorded six CDs, and maintains a weekly residency at the Orbit Room, one of Toronto Canada's most prestigious jazz clubs. Kevin plays acoustic guitar, tenor guitars, electric slide guitar, hashville steel guitar, guitorgan, mandolin, mandolo, mandicello.

Cyro and Kevin worked from the concept that they would make music for a film that didn't exist. Not that it would be a soundtrack, but the music would dictate a scene. The listener creates their own individual movie while listening to the music.

Purchase Supergenerous