January 3, 2012
The annual JEN (Jazz Education Network) Conference is being help in Louisville January 4 – 7. My friend Renato Vasconcellos and I will present a clinic on Thursday, January 5 at 1PM in the French Room at the Galt House. The clinic topic is Brazilian / American Styles and Approaches: A Comparison of Similarities and Differences. The Mike Tracy/Renato Vasconcellos Brazilian Ensemble will perform Saturday morning at 9AM at the Galt House Conservatory. Joining us will be Pat Lentz – guitar, Pablo Souza – bass, Bruno ‘gafanhoto’ Souza – percussion/drums and Lournenço Vasconcellos – drums/percussion. Visit the conference and check us out.
October 21, 2011
I am fortunate to have had many outstanding students who are helping to spread the work of jazz throughout the world. Anderson Pessoa is one of those incredible students, an excellent educator, performer, composer and arranger. Anderson recently accepted a position as director of Jazz and Popular Music at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and invited me to work with his students and to play with him and his faculty. My first and hopefully not last visit to Natal.
…view photos
…view workshop video
October 21, 2011
Many of my most memorable travel experiences have occurred when visiting Brazil. I have so many wonderful, talented Brazilian friends who love to show me what they love about their country – the sites, the food, the music and the people. Visiting Brasilia is like being a home and always fun being in this most unusual city. Traveling to Natal and Salvador were firsts. Each offered quite a change from my other visits. The beaches, dunes, markets, people and surrounding areas were amazing. I hope my photos help to share those experiences.
…view photos
Wingspan (SBJ 3092) 2010