Marcelo Salazar

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Marcelo Salazar has devoted a lifetime to the art of music. Besides playing the traditional percussion instruments he has always been innovative in the search for new sounds, creating instruments from various objects that he encounters in his journeys. His musical expertise covers the realms of samba, jazz, pop, rock, electronic music.Salazar has issued four recordings which received high critical acclaim. His first two, "União" and "Muxima" ( Visom/GRP ) were duets with bassist Jorge Degas; the third, "Primitive Messanger"( Visom ) was nominated in the Sharp Brazilian Music Awards in 1996 and his latest release issued in 2005, " TheTropical Lounge Project" ( Jazz Station Records ) features singer Ithamara Koorax on the song "Smoke in the City" a composition by Salazar and Roberto Menescal. At present Salazar has 38 original compositions recorded. He also appears as a solo artist on 11 differents copillations around the world ( Asia, Europe, USA, Brasil )His solo show at the legendary Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark received high praises, as well as the concerts he did with guitarist Sebastião Tapajós and singer/flutist Danilo Caymmi, in Europe and Los Angeles.As a musical producer, some of his notable works are: the CD "Lake of Perseverance" (in association with producer Arnaldo DeSouteiro) for the legendary drummer/percussionist Dom Um Romão with invited guest Eumir Deodato; the CD "A Música da CPLP" is a compilation of music from the Portuguese speaking countries, sponsered by the Brazilian Foreign Relations Departament and CD "Street Angels" (three cuts) that was on Downbeat magazine´s top 10 for the year 2000 (Mr. Bongo label).On his educational side, Salazar has written two percussion method books: "Batucadas de Samba" (Lumiar Publishing), which was published in 6 languages and "Samba for All" (Vitalle Publishing).Lately, Marcelo has been performing with various musicians and running percussion workshops for international corporations such as Nókia, IBM, Petrobrás etc..., using music as a tool to encourage interaction between employees.Salazar has also worked both in recording studios and live shows with many renowned artists such as: the americans Al Di Meola (four concerts in Rio), Odissey (tour England), Onaje Allan Gumbs (concert at Bottom line, New York), the multi-racial band Bucth Lacy and the little big orquestra - appeared in concert for the Noregian Royalty Family (Oslo), the London Djs Grant Nelson, Ian O"brien, Alex Attias and the Brazilians artists Sivuca (Latin America Festival, Berlin), Francis Hime (shows in Cuba), Ney Matogrosso, Ed Motta (on the CD "Dwitza"), Emílio Santiago, Carlos Lyra, Bosacucanova amongst others. He has participated in more than 200 recordings with a wide array of musicians and was acknowledge as one of the top Brazilian percussionists by "The Billboard Book of Brazilian Music" (page 162) Guinness Publishing, 1991. Salazar was nominated the top 10 percussionist of the year 2006 by Downbeat magazine