News
2/4/2024 New gig dates now up, including the first performance of a new Panorama Brasil project. We're very excited to have Yael Zamir as guest musical director for our show dedicated to the music of Brazilian jazz legends Hermeto Pascoal and Airto Moreira. May 2 at Jazz Lab and June 14 at Wesley Anne!
30/1/2024 Thanks to all the wonderful drum and percussion teachers who attended our PD Day in Melbourne last week. And thanks to our wonderful presenters - Darryn Farrugia, Anna & Mohamed Camara, Danny Fischer, Ryan Menezes and Thom Mann. If you want to join the committee for next year's event, get in touch with me.
17/10/2023 New shows going up in my gig guide, including lots of great shows with Panorama Brasil and Dany Maia.
2/2/2023 Tickets for Clube da Esquina at the Melbourne Recital Centre are now on sale. Tickets and details here.
25/03/2022 Very excited to announce that tickets for Brazil's Modern Poets, Vol 2, are now on sale! Primrose Potter Salon at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Saturday July 30. Panorama Brasil with Dany Maia and Jacqueline Gawler. Tickets and details here.
10/2/2022 Thanks to everyone who made the premiere of Oxossi: The Hunter such a wonderful night. If you missed out, keep your eye out on social media for some videos from the performance.
30/11/2021 Registrations now open for the Victorian Drum & Percussion Teacher PD Day, Jan 25 at Northcote High School. Register here. Early-bird rates until Dec 13.
29/11/2021 Save the date - the Victorian Drum & Percussion Teacher PD Day will be held on Tues January 25 at Northcote High School. Tickets on sale soon.
21/11/2021 Another video up in the Panorama Brasil Vimeo channel - Corcovado, featuring Doug de Vries and Diana Clark. www.vimeo.com/panoramabrasil
20/10/2021 A year ago we were scheduled to present the music of Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) at the Melbourne Recital Centre, but a lockdown got in the way. Hopefully we'll be able to bring that show to the stage in 2022. Until then, here's a little taster - Jacq Gawler singing A Felicidade with Panorama Brasil.
18/10/2021 New video up on my YouTube channel here.
14/10/2021 You can now find me on Vimeo.
13/10/2021 Following the cancellation of our Oct 1 performance due to the current lockdown in Melbourne, our Melbourne Recital Centre performance of Oxossi: The Hunter has been rescheduled to Jan 27. Existing ticket holders can transfer their ticket to this new date. Details and tickets here.
13/9/2021 With the current lockdown in Melbourne set to continue, there is a good chance that our Oct 1 performance at the Melbourne Recital Centre will be cancelled. Tickets are still on sale, and we will be making an announcement as soon as we know whether or not it will go ahead. If it is cancelled, we will be putting this show on as soon as we can. We're really excited about this work, and about performing alongside dancer Fabiana Grimaldi. Tickets and info here.
6/5/2021 Tickets now on sale for our Melbourne Recital Centre concert (Oct 1). Panorama Brasil present a new suite: Oxossi - The Hunter. Featuring a couple of very special guests! Tix here.
14/1/2021 Very excited about the debut of the Australian Brazilian Ensemble at Jazz Lab on Jan 22. Guest MD will be the brilliant guitarist/composer Ken Murray. Tix here.
4/12/2020 New video up from the Melbourne Choro Club!
19/11/2020 The new Trio Agogo album, A Week of Colour, is now available! On Bandcamp and iTunes.
10/8/2020 Phrasing & Freedom with Brushes is now available. It was a pleasure editing this for Anthony, and I learned more than a couple of new tricks along the way! Great videos and play along tracks too. Check it out here.
10/7/2020 My PhD thesis is now available online - you can read it and listen to the recordings here.
9/7/2020 Had a great time talking to David on "Bent Notes" on Sunday night. The discussion covered the new album - Chant/Call - as well as how I got drawn into Brazilian music in the first place. If you missed it, catch it here.
7/7/2020 Spoke too soon... no gigs for now. Fingers crossed you will be able to catch Panorama Brasil at the Paris Cat in October!
19/06/2020 Gigs are back! For the first gig in more than 4 months, I'll be at the Paris Cat with Panorama Brasil on July 31. See my "Gigs" tab for more details. More dates coming soon...
14/06/2020 The editing on Anthony Stanislavski's new book - Phrasing and Freedom with Brushes - is complete. It has been a pleasure working on this with Anthony. All drummers with an interest in the dark art of brushes playing should buy it! Pre-order the book here.
28/5/2020 Maximillian Rudd's new album Salvador is now available.
25/5/2020 I have the pleasure of editing Anthony Stanislavski's new book on brushes - Phrasing and Freedom with Brushes. Pre-ordering now open here. His first book - Beginner's Guide to Big Band Drumming - is also a cracker.
12/5/2020 The Alastair Kerr Quartet album The Ultimate Fate of... is now on Bandcamp.
11/5/2020 Flor de Pedra is now available on Bandcamp. We plan to put some of the unreleased and live material up soon too.
1/5/2020 Bandcamp are waiving their revenue share on the first Friday of every month. That means more money goes to the music makers! The Archer & the Dancer is now availble here.
8/4/2020 Download Chant/Call: Stories of the Gods at Bandcamp.
8/4/2020 The new album is being uploaded to CDBaby and Bandcamp as I write this! Download links coming soon. A little preview on youtube here.
1/4/2020 I am now available for online lessons. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details. I'll also be uploading short tutorials to youtube over the coming weeks, subscribe to my youtube channel to keep up to date.
25/3/2020 It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of all our upcoming tour dates with Alda Rezende as a result of covid-19. This will be a tough time for many artists, please keep supporting them through this time. Buy a book, download someone's album, subscribe to their youtube channel. It all helps them, and it will make self-isolation better for you too! Stay safe everyone.
11/3/2020 Full tour details for the Afro Sambas are now up. First up, March 28 in Castlemaine.
13/2/2020 Tickets now on sale for the Afro Sambas at the Paris Cat Jazz Club. Panorama Brasil with Alda Rezende. 7pm show tickets here. 9:30pm show tickets here.
16/12/19 Earlybird registrations have closed for the Melbourne drum & percussion teachers' day on Jan 23, but registrations will be open through to January. Register here.
25/11/19 New video up on YouTube. Dany Maia Band recording Ladeira da Preguiça at Leo Dale's WeFo Studios.
13/11/19 Tickets on sale for the drum & percussion teachers professional development day. Book online here.
24/10/19 Tickets will be on sale soon for the drum & percussion teachers professional development day. Northcote High School will be hosting us in their new Performing Arts Centre on Thursday January 23. Join the facebook group here.
15/10/19 Very excited to announce that we will be holding a professional development day for drum and percussion teachers in Melbourne on Jan 23. Lots of great sessions with amazing presenters, covering topics such as big band drumming, VCE preparation, technique development, and, yoga for drummers! More details coming soon.
5/9/19 We can't yet tell you about all of our amazing concerts for 2020, but we can tell you that Alda Rezende is coming back to Australia! We're currently booking a couple of weeks of concerts and masterclasses in Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and the ACT.
1/8/19 Ok, so I've been a bit slack with the news updates... Well, here's some news - the PhD is submitted! Lots of good stuff now happening on the website and concert fronts now that the thesis is written! Hooray! Sign up to my enews to get my latest offering - Seven for Saturday - highlights from the world of music that have crossed my desk each week. I'll also be hitting the blog hard now - weekly insights into my unguided dilletante-ism. What a treat.
5/7/18 New video up on youtube - Panorama Brasil featuring Alda Rezende. We mananged to sneak in some time at the studio when Alda visited, and had Andrew from Semiconductor Media come along to capture it on film. More to come!
31/10/17 New video up in my YouTube channel. In the studio with Tamandua, recording Bole Bole. Recorded and filmed by Leo Dale at his WeFo Studios.
15/10/17 Panorama Brasil announce their first major show for 2018 - Brazil's Modern Poets. Melbourne Recital Centre, Jan 31.
1/10/17 Next Alastair Kerr Quartet gig coming up soon - Oct 19 at Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy.
23/7/17 Launching the new edition of the Alastair Kerr Quartet at Lebowski's on Sun Aug 20. 5pm set, featuring some young guns - Stephen Byth on sax, Daniel Mougerman on piano, and Jordan Tarento on bass. Moreland City Band Rooms, Cross St, Brunswick East.
21/3/17 Jobim's Masterpieces - part of this year's Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Vince Jones teams up with Doug de Vries, Matt McMahon and members of Panorama Brasil for an extraordinary night of music from one of Brazil's greatest composers - Tom Jobim. Details here
11/1/17 New tour dates announced for Jan/Feb 2017. Concerts with Alda Rezende in NSW, Vic, Tas and now Canberra. Details here.
8/12/16 Just announced, Panorama Brasil and the Melbourne Recital Centre present Baden Powell's Os Afro Sambas. Tickets on sale now.
3/11/16 Tamandua have a brand new video up on youtube. Filmed at Leo Dale's WeFo Studios. This one is the classic choro/samba Bole Bole.
2/11/16 The wonderful Alda Rezende returns to Australia in Jan/Feb 2017 for shows with Panorama Brasil. Concerts in Vic, Tas, NSW & ACT. Dates announced soon!
10/10/16 New shows added to our gigs page, including Oct 20 - Panorama Brasil at Vamos.
4/9/16 Panorama Brasil will be performing the premiere of my new suite, Chant/Call: Songs of the Gods at the Kew Courthouse on Nov 25. Details here.
23/8/16 I'll be at Monash University on Saturday running the drum kit portion of their Audition Preparation Course. More details here.
22/8/16 We were on ABC774 again on Thursday night. Panorama Brasil and Trio Agogo joined forces to play some Brazilian music live on Libbi Gorr's show. You can catch up online in their archive (until the 25th)
13/8/16 If you missed me chatting to Libbi Gore on ABC774, you can catch it online here (until the 17th). Tune in from the 1hr mark.
8/8/16 I'll be on the ABC774 Evenings show this Wednesday (10/8), talking about Brazilian music with Libbi Gore. I'll be playing some great music from around Brazil, but with a special focus on Rio de Janeiro. Tune in straight after the 8pm news.
1/8/16 Catch Trio Agogo on ABC774 this Friday morning (5/8). We'll be playing some early-morning choro for Red Symon's show, live at the Copacabana in Smith St, Fitzroy.
3/9/15 My media has been updated, with links to reviews of Panorama Brasil's shows with Vince Jones and Alda Rezende.
10/8/15 Flor de Pedra is now available on CDBaby and iTunes.
1/8/15 Panorama Brasil are pleased to announce that we'll be launching our new album, Flor de Pedra, at the wonderful Memo Music Hall in St Kilda on Saturday August 29.
16/5/15 The next Panorama Brasil album, Flor de Pedra, is almost ready. Due for release in June 2015.
14/4/14 (Great date btw) I've been writing some guest blog posts for Thin White Line magazine. An irreverant look at music from the World Cup host cities of Brazil. Read about Curitiba here.
21/10/13 EastsideFM have made The Archer & the Dancer their album of the week!
Congratulations to the two wonderful pianists who have played with Panorama do Brasil over the past couple of years - Daniel Gassin and Matt Boden have both made it to the finals of the National Jazz Awards! Good luck to both of them!
The new Panorama do Brasil album, The Archer & the Dancer, is now available through my online store, and at iTunes. Our first iTunes purchaser described the album as: "Like Thelonious Monk and Fred Wesley went on holiday in Rio during the 60's." Thanks Trav!
