New published interview, and CD press

Hello friends!

I want to share with you this interview that was published on the magazine Jazz Inside NY - october 2009. They misspelled my first name, though, but it's close enough..... the JPG of the interview is below. Enjoy!

If you want, you can also download the whole magazine - oct edition - on their website.
Jazz Inside NY - October 2009

here it is -

page 38

continued... 1


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7 lives CD

My recent released CD "7 Lives" has been receiving some great press worldwide - here are the latest quotes:

" The album shows all the musicality and refined taste from this great drummer, who has all the requirements to grow even more on the Jazz and Fusion scenes worldwide, but always keeping the Brazilian touch in his music. (...) A beautiful example of how a solo CD from a great musician should be done, on which the creativity, tasteful playing and musicality are always valued." (V. Rocha, Modern Drummer Magazine Brazil)

"A convincing debut album from a drummer you certainly should know.” (from www.jazzdrummerworld.com)

Zottarelli, who wrote seven out of the eleven songs, is not only a gifted composer but also a great producer. '7 Lives' is a hit! (Silvano Gerosa, Jazz'n'More Magazine - Switzerland)

“(…) Featuring Zottarelli’s many different rhythmic and compositional skills, this album is high-quality Brazilian jazz”.
(H.Sugita - Swing Journal – JAPAN)

New CD from guitarist Prasanna

On this past September I recorded some tracks for the new CD release by guitarist Prasanna.
Prasanna hails from India, but he is based on the US. His music is a mix of Carnatic South Indian music, Jazz, Fusion, Rock, and everything in-between.
Really amazing writing, challenging, and fun music to play and listen to!
The line-up of this upcoming release includes:
Prasanna (guitars); MZ and Rodney Holmes (drums); Mike Pope and Bill Urmson (bass); Shalini (vocals); Dave Douglas (trumpet); Vijay Iyer (piano); Rudresh Mahanthappa and David Binney (saxes); and more guests to come. The CD is still in production/recording phase, but it should be done soon. I will keep you all posted here and on my website. Do check out Prasanna's website in the meantime, and get acquainted with this amazing artist!!

Prasanna's website

following are some photos of the sessions:


MZ in the studio


Mauricio and Prasanna


Bill Urmson



Dave Douglas and Prasanna


MZ, Prasanna and Dave Douglas

Cool music!

hey all!
I have been listening to a couple of great brazilian drummers, and I want to share their wonderful talent and music with you all.

One of them is Cuca Teixeira,a prolific drummer/percussionist who has performed with A LOT of great names, both in the pop, jazz, fusion and latin/brazilian scenes. His new project is a trio called Neural Code with Thiago do Espírito Santo and Kiko Loureiro. The CD is great, and showcases the trio very well, with their unique and interesting mixture of rock, jazz, fusion - creating a contemporary brazilian sound. Check it out!
Neural Code's myspace page

The next guy is another incredible musician and educator: Christiano Rocha, a highly creative and proficient drummer and percussionist. His new release "Ritmismo" is a super cool record, done with the help of some of the best musicians around. Christiano plays very fluently through many different styles, time signatures and intricate passages - all of that with tremendous musicality and some very tasteful drumming. Christiano also has a book out, "Bateria Brasileira" (Brazilian Drums), which is the most comprehensive (and perhaps the most complete!) drum book on Brazilian music I have seen. Check him out at:
Christiano's myspace page

Besides this two amazing guys, I have been checking out some other cool stuff - another killer record is Brian Blade Fellowship's "Perceptual". Beautiful music, and beautiful playing from everyone! Check it out ASAP!

happy listening!!
mz

Lesson on Modern Drummer Brazil - July 2009

Hello friends!

On the past month of July the Brazilian edition of Modern Drummer magazine published an article of mine, a warm up exercise for drumset involving hands and feet. This is something I have been using to some extent before gigs, recording sessions, and/or to get the body and limbs going before practice sessions.
The article is in portuguese, but here is the basic idea for all of you English speakers out there!

"D" means right hand - "E" means left hand.
Lines 1 through 5 go over the exercise, which covers 16th notes, quintuplets, 16th triplets, septuplets, and 32nd notes. Do use a metronome to make sure that all the groupings are being played correctly, specially the 5's and 7's. Be careful no to rush, and start slow and increase your speed gradually.

Lines 6 and 7 are examples of other ideas that can be used to practice the exercise. Using the left foot in the place of the right foot is certainly an option. Another idea is to use the left foot to play quarter notes, eight notes and or different ostinatos while playing the exercise as written. Lastly, you can alternate where the bass drum starts - play BD-RH-BD-RH, instead of RH-BD-RH-BD. (line 6)

Enjoy!

for any questions, please contact me through www.mzdrums.com

Article on Modern Drummer Brazil - June 2009

The Modern Drummer Magazine - Brazilian Edition interviewed me for their June 2009 edition. It was amazing to be featured along great other drummers/musicians, including one of the most important Brazilian musicians ever, the incredible Rubinho Barsotti, from the Zimbo Trio. Rubinho was and still is, a huge inspiration for myself, and pretty much everybody else!
Here is the cover, and following is my interview, if you can read portuguese and/or are curious to check it out.
A big thank you goes to all my friends at MD Brazil, most importantly Vlad Rocha, Christiano Rocha and Dudu Portes. Thanks for the support guys!

Zottarelli's new book

Hello friends!

In the last few years I have been in touch with a journalist from Milan, Italy. His name is Maurizio Zottarelli. We were both very happy and excited to meet each other online, because we do have the same name! (Except that I have a "c" on my first name.)
I just got his new book in the mail this week, and I am thrilled. I want to share the link with you all, so you can check it out. It's very curious to have the book in my hands and look at the author's name(!).... also, this will be my first read in Italian. So it will take me a little while....but it's great! I'm looking forward to reading it.



Maurizio is a journalist based in Milan, and a prolific writer. He writes for the Italian newspaper "Libero", theater, and in 2001 he was a finalist with the Marlboro Lights NIAF Prize in New York, a competition for new plays in English.
"L' Undicesimo dito" is his first narrative.
here's the link to the book on the web.

Newport Jazz Festival

Last saturday, August 8th, I played at the 55th edition of the Newport Jazz Festival with Hiromi. It was a total blast! Getting there was another story though.... Traffic was crazy, and it took us a lot more than we had planned..... but we made it there safe and sound, and on time for the show! While we were getting settled, we heard the amazing Branford Marsalis quartet perform. And I got a chance to meet two of my idols, Christian McBride and Brian Blade! Below are some photos of the show. Also, our set was broadcasted live by WBGO, and it can be heard at the NPR (National Public Radio) address below:
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11165698

A few youtube videos!

Dear people!

thanks again for checking out my blog!!.... I wanted to share a couple of videos that are on-line, and feature some of the stuff I have been doing recently. My most recent work has been touring extensively with pianist Hiromi. Here are a couple of links to videos of the group, during this year's tours.

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you can find more videos from Hiromi's SonicBloom at my myspace page -
www.myspace.com/mauriciozottarelli

Here's one with the Gustavo Assis Brasil trio, from his 2008 live DVD/CD recorded in Brazil:


and, last but not least, a video from a show with the great Fabiana Masili, a fellow brazilian that totally rocks. This was at the "old" Zinc Bar - NYC, on Houston st, just before they moved to their new location on west 3rd.

New CD "7 Lives" is available!

Hello friends!
So, it's finally out, and available everywhere on-line!
Here is my new CD, "7 Lives". Check it out, and enjoy it!!!




This new project is an old dream of mine, and a great opportunity to show people my other side, both as a composer/arranger and band-leader. The band is comprised by some of my absolute favorite musicians, and the music is an unique (if I may say so!) mix of Brazilian Jazz, Fusion, Latin, and Jazz. The players:

GUSTAVO ASSIS-BRASIL ** ITAIGUARA BRANDAO ** MILENE CORSO ** BRANDI DISTERHEFT ** DOM SALVADOR ** ORIENTE LOPEZ ** ESPERANZA SPALDING ** CIDINHO TEIXEIRA ** RODRIGO URSAIA


The sessions for the album were done during the period of Oct/2008 and March/2009. The music was recorded by the great Michael Brorby in NYC and it was mixed by David Darlington, amazing engineer that won a Grammy award from his mix on Wayne Shorter's "Alegria" album.
I had my first real producing experience with this record, and I am really proud of how it came out!

So, now I should tell you, how can you get it???
The album is available on-line at:

CDBABY

iTUNES

DigStation

Amazon


Thanks for the support, and see you around!........... mz

Blue Note - NYC - july 2009

Hello friends!
It's been a while since I posted something here. I have been very busy touring and performing all over, and finishing my solo CD. The CD is finally out now - look for another post very soon with details! - and my touring continues this month with dates in Europe and US.
On the first week of July the group I have been working with this year - Hiromi's Sonicbloom - performed at the Blue Note in NYC to a full house. We played there from june 30th to July 5th, and it was a blast. It was great to see a lot of fans, music and jazz enthusiasts, and friends come over and enjoy themselves. We had an awesome time too. Here are a few photos of that week, courtesy of the great Chris Vaindirlis -








Hiromi SonicBloom is -
Hiromi (piano,keys)
Tony Grey (bass)
Dave Fiuczynski (guitar)
Mauricio Zottarelli (drums)

Manila, Phillippines

On March 1st I played at the Phillippines Jazz Festival with Hiromi’s Sonicbloom. Great time!.... And I got to meet Mike Stern, who played at the festival the following day.
Mike is one of my heros (of course!), and an incredible guy!

Jazz Alley, Seattle-WA

Last month I was furtunate enough to play with the Eliane Elias trio, featuring the amazing pianist/singer Eliane Elias and bassist Marc Johnson. We played in Washington State, and also in Idaho.
One of the gigs was a two-day run at the Jazz Alley in Seattle. What a cool place! It was my first time there, and I had a lot of fun. Everybody was really nice, and the audiences were so receptive and great to play for. Hope to be back soon!

Bern, Switzerland - Jan 2009

Performing in Bern, Switzerland with Hiromi's Sonicbloom- late January 09, at Marian's Jazz Room: Hiromi (piano & keys) David Fiuczynski (Guitar) Tony Grey (bass) and MZ (drums)

Music picks....

Happy new year!

Here are some CD's I have been listening to lately.

Dom Salvador trio (2007)
Eliane Elias - Cross Currents; Something for You (Bill Evans Tribute)
Antonio Sanchez - Migration
Hermeto Pascoal - Live at Montreux - 1979
Tony Grey - Chasing Shadows
Allan Holdsworth - Then!
Hiromi - Beyond Standard
Michael Brecker - Pilgrimage
Yellowjackets - Twenty Five
Edu Ribeiro- Já tô te esperando
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Laço Tayfa - Hicaz Dolap
Miles Davis Quintet - 1965-1968
Bill Bruford's Earthworks - Footloose and Fancy Free (Live)
James Taylor - One Man Band
Jeff Tain Watts - Megawatts

all are highly recommended!!