CYRO BAPTISTA

São Paulo, Brazil. Baptista has emerged as one of the foremost percussionists in contemporary music. His playing on a range of percussion instruments from Brazil and around the world, as well as those of his own invention, has gained him international recognition. Baptista’s talent and originality have led to musical associations with renowned artists such as Paul Simon, John Zorn, Cassandra Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Ryûichi Sakamoto, Sting, James Taylor, Herbie Hancock, and Melissa Etheridge. He has also collaborated with outstanding Brazilian artists Milton Nascimento, Ivan Lins, Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte and Nana Vasconcelos. Since moving to New York, USA in 1980, Baptista has experienced a varied career. He began performing in public parks and squares and later formed a percussion group with several other Brazilian expatriates. During the 80s, he ran a samba school in New York’s Lower East Side, staging huge parades with costumes and floats and stopping traffic wherever they went. It was also at this time that Baptista encountered the music of Brazilian-born Arto Lindsay, becoming fascinated with the wilder fringes of contemporary music. He then began his lengthy career of experimental percussion music, first teaming up with Zorn on some of the saxophonist’s earlier pieces. In his own percussion ensemble, Beat The Donkey, Baptista uses Brazilian rhythms and instruments as a foundation from which to explore contemporary and experimental sounds. In addition to Brazilian percussion and other components, the 10-member ensemble performs on instruments created by Baptista, such as pitched rows of PVC tubing played with rubber sandals. Baptista also enjoyed acclaim for his 1997 solo debut Vira Loucos: Cyro Baptista Plays The Music Of Villa Lobos, a deconstruction of a number of themes by the early twentieth-century classical Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. He also plays with Canadian guitarist Kevin Breit in the duo Supergenerous.