Instrumental Jazz CD of the Month - "Carlos Ezequiel: Circular"

Instrumental Jazz CD of the Month
Carlos Ezequiel: "Circular" (Tratore)
Rating:
***** (musical performance)
**** (sonic quality)

Produced by Carlos Ezequiel for Engrenagens Prod. Artísticas
Recorded by Carlos KK Akamine @ Estúdio Cachuera (São Paulo, SP, Brazil) on August 18 & September 09, 2014
Assistant Engineer: Helio Pisca
Mixed by Carlos Ezequiel @ Luca Studios (Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil)
Mastered by Dave Darlington @ Bass Hit Studios (New York, NY) in May 2017
Cover Photo: Carlos Ezequiel
Liner Photos: Victor Kobayashi
Graphics: Luciano Murino

Arranged by Carlos Ezequiel & Gustavo Bugni
Featuring: Carlos Ezequiel (drums), David Binney (alto sax), Lage Lund (guitar), Gustavo Bugni (acoustic piano), Gui Duvignau (acoustic bass)

Bio:
São Paulo-based drummer, composer, arranger and producer Carlos Ezequiel works with Brazilian music and jazz since 1992. Born in Alagoas, in the northeast of Brazil, Carlos performed there actively in the early 90's. In 1996 he won a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, where he got his Bachelor's degree in 1999. In 2014, he got his Master's degree from Universidade Federal da Bahia, presenting a research on Polyrhythms and Odd-Meters applied to Brazilian Rhythms.

His first CD, “Images” (with guitarist Lupa Santiago), was nominated for the Latin Grammy 2002 as “Best Latin Jazz Album”. With group Sinequanon, Carlos recorded four albums: “Sinequanon” (2004), “Telescópio” (2006), “Horizonte Artificial” (2008) and “Ao Vivo no Jazz nos Fundos” (2017). Carlos also plays with renowned Brazilian bassist Sizão Machado, and in the new group of legendary artist Airto Moreira.

As a performer, Carlos has played in Europe, Asia, South America, U.S.A., and all over Brazil. He's been a featured player at the Hong Kong Jazz Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Atina Jazz Festival (Italy), Schelde Jazz Festival (Holland), Festival de Jazz de La Plata (Argentina), Cascavel Jazz Festival (Brazil), among many others. He was a member of Finnish sax player Pekka Pylkkanen`s Global Unit group, Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle`s group, and the Thomas Walbum & Thomas Maintz Brazilian Quintet in Denmark.

In 2001, Carlos was nominated for the Visa Music Award in Brazil as Best Instrumentalist. He has been a sideman for such jazz artists as Lage Lund, Kurt Rosenwinkel, David Binney, David Liebman, besides many Brazilian jazz artists like Fernando Correa, Nelson Faria, Marcelo Coelho, and Daniel D'Alcântara.

As a producer, Carlos worked on “A Saga da Travessia” (Letieres Leite & Orkestra Rumpilezz), which won 3 awards at the Premio da Musica Brasileira 2017, including Best Album. He also produced Airto Moreira's new album, “Aluê” (2017), on which he also played drums.

Carlos is a faculty member at Faculdade Souza Lima in São Paulo, and is the author of “Melodic Interpretation for the Drumset”, “Baiao and Northeastern Rhythms”, and “Brazilian Music in Odd-Meters”, all released worldwide by Advance Music.