Cyro Baptista

Brazilian composer, educator, and recording artist Cyro Baptista is among the world's best-known percussionists, appearing on hundreds of recordings that span the worlds of jazz, pop, rock, avant-garde, and standard classical performances. Along with this he also leads his own ensembles and creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. His debut, 1997's Vira Loucos: Cyro Baptista Plays the Music of Villa-Lobos, won global acclaim. 2005's Love the Donkey marked his Beat the Donkey band's debut. 2008's Banquet of the Spirits, titled for another of his ensembles, is widely regarded as a masterpiece. In 2011, Beat the Donkey issued Caym: Book of Angels, Vol. 17 from Zorn's second Masada composition book. He issued Bluefly, a quartet date in 2016, and was a co-billed guest on New Zion Trio's Sunshine Seas. In 2023, he issued the Brazilian-flavored Chama on Ropeadope. Born in Sao Paulo, Baptista was strongly influenced by the rhythms of bossa nova as a young child. He began to reproduce the rhythms he heard, using a coconut shell as his first instrument. Classically trained as a drummer and composer, Baptista learned to make percussion instruments as well as play them; it was the only way to get the precise sounds he sought. In 1980, Baptista left Brazil for Woodstock, New York after receiving a scholarship to the Creative Music Studio. The artist has made N.Y. his home ever since. After moving to N.Y.C. in 1981, he began working live and in studios. He was introduced to English guitarist/improviser and author Derek Bailey, and the duo recorded together in October 1982. The ensuing duo album, Cyro, appeared on the guitarist's own Ictus label in 1987. In 1983, Baptista joined trumpeter/trombonist Claudio Roditi, drummer Duduka Fonseca, and others in the Latin jazz group Guanabara for their second album, 1984's On the Move, on Japan's Baystate label. He spent the remainder of the decade doing session and touring work with Randy Brecker and Eliane Elias, Manfredo Fest, Paquito D'Rivera, and Rubén Blades. Most notably, however, Baptista played on The Big Gundown, Zorn's landmark tribute to composer Ennio Morricone. The collaborative relationship, though intermittent, continues in the 21st century. In 1989 alone, Baptista played on recordings by percussionist and countryman Nana Vasconcelos (Rain Dance), Bill Frisell (Before We Were Born), Laurie Anderson (Strange Angels), and David Byrne (Rei Momo). During the '90s, Baptista was intensely busy working on the New York jazz and pop scenes. He played on albums by Herbie Mann, Herbie Hancock (including Gershwin's World), Brian Eno, Robert Palmer, and Grover Washington, Jr., Kathleen Battle, and Wynton Marsalis, to name a few. In 1990, the percussionist played on Zorn's FilmWorks: 1986-1990. Baptista has appeared on many more volumes as part of his Bar Kokhba Sextet on The Circle Maker, the vanguard classical experiments on Music Romance, Vols. 1 and 2 and more. Baptista also works with contemporary Brazilian artists. Across the 1990s, he made appearances on albums by Marisa Monte, Tom Zé, Milton Nascimento, Arto Lindsay, Badi Assad, Caetano Veloso, and others. One of his best-known pop/rock collaborations was with Paul Simon on 1990's Rhythm of the Saints Tour, and on Concert in Central Park. As Baptista's music evolved, he added elements from traditions born in South and Central America, southern Africa, India, and Indonesia. In 1997, the album Vira Loucos: Cyro Baptista Plays the Music of Villa-Lobos was issued on Avant, Zorn's curated Japanese label (it reappeared on his American Tzadik imprint). That year Baptista almost lived in the studio. In addition to his own album, he played on 24 recordings; among them were Gato Barbieri's smash Que Pasa, Jeb Loy Nichols' breakthrough Lover's Knot, and jazzman Javon Jackson's Good People. During the decade's final three years, Baptista worked on music by Phoebe Snow, Hancock, Arto Lindsay, and Zorn. Between 2000 and 2001, he played on albums by classical conductor Daniel Barenboim, saxophonist James Carter, and Brazilian singer/songwriter Susana Baca. Baptista also formed Beat the Donkey, a percussion and dance ensemble in 2002. Their eponymous debut was released by Tzadik, and widely celebrated in the music press. The New York Times chose it as one of the ten best alternative albums of 2002. Jazziz and Drum magazine's readers voted it "Best Brazilian CD of the Year," and named Baptista "Best Percussionist of 2002." Down Beat's annual critics' poll selected him as a "Rising Star" in percussion. Baptista began his working relationship with guitarist Trey Anastasio (Phish) on 2002's Alive Again, and has remained in his studio and road bands. He also worked on recordings by Wilson, Barienbom, Bobby McFerrin, and Joseph Arthur. Over the next couple of years, Baptista never stopped as he worked with Bar Kokhba Sextet and Electric Masada, and guested with Spyro Gyra, Gipsy Kings, and Yo-Yo Ma. Beat the Donkey released Love the Donkey, its second album on Tzadik, in 2005 and toured the U.S. In 2006, he joined Billy Martin's (Medeski Martin & Wood) band to release Socket. Further, he resumed working with Zorn on the composer's resurrected soundtrack projects. In 2008, following appearances on FilmWorks XXI: Belle De Nature/New Rijksmuseum and FilmWorks XXII: The Last Supper, Baptista released Banquet of the Spirits, the eponymous debut by a bracing new ensemble that included bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, cellist Erik Friedlander, and keyboardist Brian Marsella, a three-voice backing chorus, and a host of invited guests. That year, Baptista formally joined the Dreamers on their self-titled debut. The septet included Frisell, Zorn, Joey Barron, Kenny Wollesen, Marc Ribot, and Trevor Dunn. Collectively, they wove together surf, exotica, jazz, and rock, extending the work that Zorn began on 2001's The Gift (the unofficial third volume of Music Romance series). In 2009, Baptista played on Zorn's O´o, another exercise in loungey surf and easy listening. Its roster showcased the Dreamers as a sextet with Jamie Saft on keyboards and Zorn only as producer. Banquet of the Spirits issued a sophomore offering, Infinito, which won global acclaim. During the remainder of the year, the percussionist played on albums by Sting, Luciana Souza, and Cassandra Wilson. In 2010, the Dreamers released a pair of albums: Ipos: Book of Angels, Vol. 14, and the compilation The Gentle Side. Baptista also released the teaching DVD Solos: The Jazz Sessions for MVD. In 2011, Banquet of the Spirits released their third album, Caym: Book of Angels, Vol. 17, and the Dreamers' A Dreamers Christmas also appeared. Over the next four years, Baptista worked with Zorn often, and played on recordings by guitarist/composer Todd Clouser, and singers including Holly Cole, Sloan Wainwright, and Amy London. In 2016, Saft's jazzy dub outfit, New Zion Trio, recruited him as a co-billed guest on their Sunshine Seas album. That year Baptista played on trombonist Steve Turre's Colors for the Masters and Shunzo Ohno's ReNew. Most important was the release of his own ambitious BlueFly. Its origins surfaced in an impromptu recording session with cellist Vincent Segal, bassist Ira Coleman, and fellow percussionist Tim Keiper. These netted a number of unfinished songs composed by the various members. Over time, Baptista sought out contributions from a diverse array of guests who included keyboardist Marsella, Brazilian guitarists Romero Lubambo and Cadu Costa, Ikue Mori on laptop, and an army of bass drummers and samplers. Following its release, Baptista threw himself into session work for several years. In 2017 he played on Azul by the Knights (a contemporary American classical orchestra) under the direction of conductor Erik Jacobsen. With Yo-Yo Ma as the other soloist, the date offered interpretations of works by Osvado Golijov, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sufjan Stevens, and Anton Dvorak. Further, Baptista contributed to important albums by electronicist Gaudi (Magnetic), jazz pianist Harold Mabern (To Love and Be Loved), guitarist Lionel Loueke (The Journey), Nels Cline Singers (Share the Wealth) Zorn (the 11-disc The Book Beri’ah box set), and Anastasio (Burn It Down). In 2019, Damon Albarn's Honest Jon's label reissued 1987's Cyro with Bailey. In 2023, Baptista released Chama for Ropeadope. The 14-track set was recorded in seven studios in four countries over several years; the percussionist composed all the selections. Given the geographical distances and time spans, the set included appearances by a range of players including longtime collaborators Marsella, Clouser, and Saft, as well as first call Brazilian musicians and singers including Carlos Eduardo Costa, Jorge Continentino, Lubambo, and Gil Oliveira.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo