Cyro Baptista & Beat The Donkey
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Cyro Baptista & Beat The Donkey
Record Release Party for Infinito – Out now on Tzadik Records
INFINITO marks the culmination of a 30 year career that has spanned through every genre of music from jazz to classical to experimental to world and rock.
BEAT THE DONKEY, brain child of Brazilian born New Yorker CYRO BAPTISTA, will headline a night, augmented by many surprise special guests.
Hailed by The New York Times as “wild, vivid entertainment...BEAT THE DONKEY is a Brazilian carnival crossed with Lower East Side performance art.”
Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey is more than just a band. It is a wild, unstoppable and torrid world beat percussive ensemble that blends and beats a bewitching stage stew of untamed percussion, tap dance, martial arts, samba, jazz, rock, funk, and sometimes even the kitchen sink. An exuberant mix of instrumentation from all around the globe and Cyro's own inventive percussion creations. The musicians hail from many corners of the world and dress in wild, elaborate costumes which creates an atmosphere that is ripe for audience participation – your eyes will be glued to the stage, your asses shaking and your ears smiling! Young or old, your jaw will drop!
Since arriving in the U.S. from his native Brazil, Cyro has become one of the most sought after percussionists in the world. He has lent his sounds to six GRAMMY award-winning records and over 250 albums with many of the most distinguished musicians in the world. Baptista has ongoing collaborations with Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Yo Yo Ma, John Zorn, Trey Anastasio (Phish) and numerous others. Most recently, Cyro rekindled his musical relationship with Sting recording on his newest album, If on a Winter Night… due out in October 2009. Cyro will be featured in a concert film with Sting, which will be broadcast on Thanksgiving night as a PBS “Great Performances” special. In short, if you’ve listened to the radio in the past 30 years, chances are you have heard Cyro’s caxixi, pandeiro or one of his (now famous) homemade instruments.
"Without question, this is one of Baptista's meatiest, most readily engaging works. INFINITO tempers his crazed experimental side (which I personally adore) with the countless traditions, styles, etc. he's been involved with over the years. The level of composition here is sky high!"
- Dennis Cook (Jambase.com)
"...Baptista cannot be reined in by any classification. He is simply one of the most limitless musicians we have... This is another winner in a catalog full of them!"
- Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
"Bottom Line: this is music of substance, brilliantly conceived, consummately executed. Miss it at your peril."
- Jan Dennis, Longboard Jazzer
Artist Website
INFINITO marks the culmination of a 30 year career that has spanned through every genre of music from jazz to classical to experimental to world and rock.
BEAT THE DONKEY, brain child of Brazilian born New Yorker CYRO BAPTISTA, will headline a night, augmented by many surprise special guests.
Hailed by The New York Times as “wild, vivid entertainment...BEAT THE DONKEY is a Brazilian carnival crossed with Lower East Side performance art.”
Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey is more than just a band. It is a wild, unstoppable and torrid world beat percussive ensemble that blends and beats a bewitching stage stew of untamed percussion, tap dance, martial arts, samba, jazz, rock, funk, and sometimes even the kitchen sink. An exuberant mix of instrumentation from all around the globe and Cyro's own inventive percussion creations. The musicians hail from many corners of the world and dress in wild, elaborate costumes which creates an atmosphere that is ripe for audience participation – your eyes will be glued to the stage, your asses shaking and your ears smiling! Young or old, your jaw will drop!
Since arriving in the U.S. from his native Brazil, Cyro has become one of the most sought after percussionists in the world. He has lent his sounds to six GRAMMY award-winning records and over 250 albums with many of the most distinguished musicians in the world. Baptista has ongoing collaborations with Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Yo Yo Ma, John Zorn, Trey Anastasio (Phish) and numerous others. Most recently, Cyro rekindled his musical relationship with Sting recording on his newest album, If on a Winter Night… due out in October 2009. Cyro will be featured in a concert film with Sting, which will be broadcast on Thanksgiving night as a PBS “Great Performances” special. In short, if you’ve listened to the radio in the past 30 years, chances are you have heard Cyro’s caxixi, pandeiro or one of his (now famous) homemade instruments.
"Without question, this is one of Baptista's meatiest, most readily engaging works. INFINITO tempers his crazed experimental side (which I personally adore) with the countless traditions, styles, etc. he's been involved with over the years. The level of composition here is sky high!"
- Dennis Cook (Jambase.com)
"...Baptista cannot be reined in by any classification. He is simply one of the most limitless musicians we have... This is another winner in a catalog full of them!"
- Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
"Bottom Line: this is music of substance, brilliantly conceived, consummately executed. Miss it at your peril."
- Jan Dennis, Longboard Jazzer