The 21st Annual IASJ Jazz Meeting 2011 took place at Souza Lima Conservatory of Music, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was the very first time that a music institution from South America hosted the Annual IASJ Jazz. About 40 international music institutions attended the IASJ meeting.

There is a great video about the meeting at The 21st IASJ Meeting – Video

For more information, check it out at:

International Associational of School of Jazz | The 21st IASJ – Brazil

Marcelo Coelho (Bra) | Gary Keller (USA) | Jari Perkiomaki (Fin) | Manu Faleiros (Bra)

Jam Session

Jam Session

Jam session

The famous photo

In july, 2010, a dream came true! I had the opportunity to play with two great masters and really important musicians in my career: Guinga and David Liebman. However, what I didn’t expected was to play with both of them at the same concert and being introduced by them as the new member of the group.

This collaboration started during the 21st. IASJ international meeting, hosted by Souza Lima Conservatory in July, 2011. David Liebman, the artistic director of the association, was introduced to Guinga’s music in 2008. On the other hand, Guinga knew Liebman from Miles Davis’ concert that happened in Rio de Janeiro in the 70′s. The expectation for this concert was huge and both musicians were emotionally involved. Sharing the stage with them was a special moment in my carrer. At the end of the concert, Carlos Malta, a great flute and saxophonist player, sat in on the concert with the trio.

Guinga

David Liebman

Marcelo Coelho

The concert

Liebman & Guinga

Marcelo Coelho and Liebman

Coelho – Liebman – Carlos Malta

Brazil & France is a group that came up from the agreement between Souza Lima Conservatory and CMDL – Conservatoire Musicale Didier Lockwood.

The photos below was taken during the concert to celebrate the agreement between both institutions. The French embassador and other local autohorities attended the concert at Souza Lima Music Hall in Sao Paulo, in 2011. The musicians are: Didier Lockwood (Fr) Рviolin | Marcelo Coelho (Br) Рsoprano sax | Bennoit Sourisse (Fr) Рpiano | Lupa Santiago (Br) РGuitar | Andr̩ Charlier (Fr) РDrums | Siẓo Machado (Br) РBass.

It was a great concert!

The group is going to put a record together in 2012. I’ll post it when it’s finished.

Didier Lockwood

Marcelo Coelho

front line…

Bennoit Sourisse

Lupa Santiago

Andre Charlier (dr) – Sizao Machado (bs)

In the middle of the state of Sao Paulo is located a small and quiet city called Tatui. It became well-known because of an excellent conservatory of music a.k.a. Conservatório Dramático e Musical de Tatuí ‘Dr. Carlos de Campos’, funded founded on August 11, 1954.   The 4th International Saxophone Meeting of Tatui happened in September, 2010. Great saxophone players from Brazil and abroad, from classical to jazz, were invited to play and give masterclasses for students from all around the South America.

I had a chance to play as a guest with the Tatui Big Band, a great band that is already considered one of the best big bands in the state of Sao Paulo. The next day I gave a workshop called How to Improvise on Odd Meters for all students and teachers.

I had a chance to talk about the Saxophones Borgani, my sponsor in Brazil.

It was a great experience!

Great Argentina tour with my fellows and incredible musicians Sizao Machado (Bra), Daniel Dalcantara (Bra), Ale Demogli (Arg) e Oscar Giunta (Arg).

The recording session was great, incredible vibe! The pics say by themselves.

Un-x-pected Brazilian Project is an international sextet led by Mats Holtne (Sweden) and Anders Vestergård (Finland). The group combines Scandinavian jazz and Brazilian music tradition with open improvisations and compositions consisting of advanced rhythmic concepts.

In october, 2010, the group made a Scandinavia tour and put a record together. Wordless!!

Mats Holtne-guitar (Swe)
Anders Vestergård-drums (Swe/Fin)
Fredrik Kronkvist-alt sax (Swe)
Marcelo Coelho-ten sax (Bra)
Emilio Martins-percussion (Bra)
Johnny Ã…man-bass (Swe/Fin)

The project ‘Agora às Sete’ (Now at Seven), produced by the culture office of the Espirito Santo state, in Brazil, had three concerts that happened last june at the renewed Carlos Gomes Theather in Vitoria, the capital of the state. Bruno Venturin openned the night with a solo piano concert. The second concert was Fabiano Araujo Quartet with Fabiano Araújo on the piano, Célio Barros on the bass, Guilherme Marques on the drums, and myself on the saxophones. Hermeto Pascoal and Aline Morena played the third concert of the night. At the end of Hermeto’s concert, he invited all musicians to get together on the stage and play one of his most famous tune: ‘Bebe’ (little baby). It was a really intense moment of the night. The whole audience that attended the Theater Carlos Gomes, in Vitoria, Brazil, seemed to be really enjoying it.

However, something went wrong regarded to the tickets. Lots of people, including my family, that had their tickets on their hands, couldn’t get into the theather. The concert was free, but the audience was suppose to get their tickets with two hours in advance. The number of people willing to attend the concert was bigger than the available tickets, and for those that couldn’t get a ticket tried to get into the theather anyway. The police was called, but it didn’t work. In order to disturb the concert that was already happening inside, the crowd outside start yelling really loud. Some people inside of the theather joined them and for a few minutes I thought that something would happen. Fortunately, they calmed down and the concert continued without any other surprises.

Fabiano Araujo Quarteto

Blowing…

The crowd outside

Getting together

With the sorcerer Hermeto Pascoal

O Festival Internacional de Jazz de La Plata tornou-se um dos princiapais eventos do gênero na Argentina, e também um dos principais na America do Sul. Durante três dias, o Teatro Coliseo, situado na bela cidade de La Plata, capital do estado de Buenos Aires, recebe mais de vinte atrações que se dividem entre grupos de jazz  argentinos e internacionais. Participei do festival com diferentes grupos: Michael ‘Jefry’ Stevens Sextet, Katie Bull Group e com o MC&RD 4teto, projeto em parceria com o saxofonista Argentino Rodrigo Dominguez. Desde então, a Argentina faz parte da minha agenda de concertos e workshops. Sobre a Argentina, posso dizer que aprecio o vinho, o jeito como se vestem, os cortes de cabelo e as ‘padocas’. Tenho grandes amigos ‘hermanos’ e aprecio a alta cultura musical portenha. Tudo vai sempre muito bem assim, desde que não tenhamos que falar de futebol…

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The La Plata International Jazz Festival became one of the most important jazz festivals in Argentina and in South America. I’ve played with different groups in this festival since 2007: Michael ‘Jefry’ Stevens Sextet, Katie Bull Group and MC&RD 4teto, a project with the argentinian saxplayer Rodrigo Dominguez. I really enjoy the Argentinian culture, food, language and people, and everything goes fine when there is no conversation about soccer…

Michael ‘Jefry’ Stevens Sextet

Com o guitarrista Ale Demogli

Claudio Rossi e Hill Greene

Katie Bull Group

Katie Bull

Michael Stevens e Katie Bull

Katie Bull e Bruce Becker

David Becker e Hill Greene

Em 2006, participei com mais seis outros músicos (dois americanos e três europeus) e alguns convidados do curso ‘Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody’, ministrado pelo saxofonista, compositor e educador David Liebman. Ficamos literalmente isolados por uma semana na East Stroudsburg University, em Stroudsburg, EUA, ha 1 hora e meia de NYC. Passávamos o dia estudando, analisando e experimentando sonoridades cromáticas em diversos contextos musicais. Durante a noite saíamos para tocar, beber e contar piadas traduzidas para o ingles (nonsense)… O curso foi determinante para definição de alguns procedimentos no meu processo composicional. Liebman teve uma forte influencia na minha formação desde o período em que eu era aluno no curso de musica da Unicamp. Tornei-me seu aluno no periodo em que morei nos EUA e posteriormente nos tornamos parceiros em varios projetos. O mundo da voltas!

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I attended the David Liebman‘s Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody Masterclass at East Stroudsburg University, Stroudsburg, PA, USA, in 2006. With a small number of students (two from the States, three from Europe and some invitated students), the masterclass was very intense and elucidated. It helped me to developed some concepts and compositional procedures that I use on my compositional process nowadays. Liebman had a huge influence on me during my bachelor’s degree in Brasil. Later on, I became his student during my master’s degree at University of Miami, FL, USA. Some years later we worked together in some educational projects. What a small world!

David Liebman

Foto de encerramento do curso ‘Chromatic Approach Masterclass’,

em Stroudsburg – PA – EUA

O meu encontro com o saxofonista argentino Rodrigo Dominguez aconteceu durante o 9º. Festival Internacional de Jazz de La Plata, em 2007 na Argentina. Percebemos de imediato a sincronicidade na predileção por determinados gêneros musicais e uma similaridade no processo de criação musical. Desde então, surgiu a idéia de se criar uma parceria musical, o que resultou em um  quarteto de jazz de vanguarda sul-americano, chamado MC&RD 4teto.

A partir da exploração de texturas harmônicas modais de sonoridade densa e dissonante, o quarteto conseguiu encontrar um timbre ‘escuro’ nas composições. A instrumentação do quarteto (2 sax tenores, baixo acústico e bateria) colaborou para desenvolvimento composicional e sonoro do grupo.

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The musical sincronicity between me and the argentinian saxplayer Rodrigo Dominguez was released since our first meeting, at the 9o. La Plata International Jazz Festival, in 2007. Since then, we have been working together on this project called MC&RD 4teto, exploring and mixing our musical influences that we like to call as ‘the dark side of our musical background’.

MC&RD 4teto @ 10. Festival Internacional de Jazz de La Plata – Argentina

Marcelo Coelho

Rodrigo Dominguez

Jero Carmona

Carto Brandan

Em algum lugar do universo…

Sincronicidade

A associação foi idealizada com o objetivo de se criar um canal de comunicação entre músicos e pesquisadores interessados em diferentes processos de aplicação da polirritmia em composição e improvisacao. Assim, durante o 17. encontro internacional da IASJ em Siena, Italia, eu e o baixista irlandês Ronan Guilfoyle combinamos de nos encontrar no Brasil para realizar um encontro sem grandes pretensões onde iriamos discutir e praticar diversas formas de aplicacoes ritmicas. Assim surgiu a associação IRSA, em 2007. Desde então, a associação vem realizando encontros internacionais com presença de músicos, pesquisadores e estudantes da varias partes do mundo. Nestes encontros são realizadas praticas instrumentais, workshops, lectures e apresentações.

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IRSA is an organisation dedicated to the sharing and dissemination of information and knowledge regarding the study of rhythm, particularly in regard to jazz, improvised, and other creative musics. The aim of the organisation is to facilitate the sharing of this information by providing a resource which musicians can use to gain access to the latest work, study and research in this field. The information contained on this site should be of interest to performers, educators and composers in the field of creative music.

IRSA headquarters is situated in the Souza Lima Conservatory of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Each year the organisation organises a meeting in which invited participants get together to discuss recent developments in the world of rhythm, attend rhythm workshops, play together, and share information. Please look around the site IRSA

2009: ‘Practicing Class” durante o 2o. Encontro Internacional IRSA @ Souza Lima Conservatorio – Sao Paulo – Brasil

Com Matts Holtne

Matts Holtne, Ronan Guilfoyle e Carlos Ezequiel

Masterclass com Rick Peckham

Masterclass com Ronan Guilfoyle

Concerto final com Mats Holtne e Lupa Santiago

Ronan Guilfoyle e Rick Peckham

Desde 2006 eu venho participando dos encontros internacionais da IASJ, representando o Brasil atraves da Faculdade Internacional Souza Lima. A oportunidade de conhecer e tocar com músicos de todas as partes do mundo tem sido um grande aprendizado.

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I’ve been attending the International IASJ Meeting since 2006. It has been a great opportunity to meet, exchange and play with musicians from all around the world.

2006: Com Gary Keller e Marc Halbheer @ University of Louisville – EUA

2007: Com Phil DeGreg, Lupa Santiago, Rony Holan @ Fondazione Siena Jazz – Siena – Italia

2007: Dando um masterclass sobre Linhas Ritmicas @ Fondazione Siena Jazz

2008: Com Matts Holtne, Gene Perla, Michael Kuttner @ Great Guild – Riga – Letonia

2008: FANI-LIGO – Festa de celebracao do dia mais longo do ano @ 23:00hs – Countryside da Letonia

2009: Com John Gunther @ KKL – Luzern – Suica

O saxofone soprano da marca Borgani foi uma grata e inesperada surpresa. Desde então, o soprano passou a fazer parte da rotina de estudos e gradualmente tem assumido o lugar do sax tenor. O futuro ha de responder!

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The Borgani soprano saxophone was a nice and inexpected surprise for me. Since then, The soprano has become a new choice in my practicings, gigs and recordings. The future will give the answer.

Foto divulgacao do sax soprano Borgani no Brasil

Com Orfeo, presidente da Borgani, durante uma visita a fabrica em Macerata, Italia

O concerto do lendário saxofonista Sonny Rollins no parque Ibirapuera, em São Paulo, ficara na memória de todos que assistiram. O pulso ainda pulsa!

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The legend jazz saxophone player Sonny Rollins and his concert at Ibirapuera Square, in Sao Paulo, are still in everybody’s memory. The show must go on!

A intensidade de sempre

O aceno inesperado para minha camera

Sem palavras…

O saxofonista, compositor e pesquisador Steve Coleman me apresentou os seus processos composicionais a partir da astrologia e do I Ching, alem das suas considerações sobre a musica de John Coltrane. Os encontros, sempre durante as ferias, ja fazem parte da agenda.

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The saxophonist, composer and researcher  Steve Coleman showed me some of his composicional processes based on astrology and I Ching. It had a huge impact on my way of thinking music.

Com Steve Coleman, em Salvador – Brasil

Show de lançamento do cd ‘Colagens’ no Ao Vivo Jazz Club, em São Paulo, 2007

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The ‘Collages’ cd releasing concert at Ao Vivo Jazz Club, in Sao Paulo, 2007

MC4+

Marcelo Coelho – Saxofone

Paulinho Malheiros – Trombone

Lupa Santiago – Guitarra

Guto Brambilla – Baixo acustico

Carlos Ezequiel – Bateria

O publico…

Quase todos os anos, em agosto, eu faço um tributo ao saxofonista e compositor Wayne Shorter. A musica dele me influenciou profundamente.

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Almost every year, in August, I pay a tribute to the saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. His music had a huge impact on me.

2004: All of Jazz – SP – Brasil

2005: Esta̤̣o Santa Fe РCampinas РBrasil

2006: All of Jazz – SP – Brasil

2007: All of Jazz – SP – Brasil