http://trioginga.com/news.html Trio Ginga: News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Sat, 19 May 2012 04:10:05 -0700 http://trioginga.com/news.html#40
I have to tell you something. In the music business or any other artistic endeavor you’d better love what you do with all your heart because the disappointments and trials that you will face will absolutely crush the spirit of an uncommitted person. My spirit's been stomped on many times but never crushed. I believe so much the power of Trio Ginga and so does God because He sent our former singer, the beautiful and talented Kenya Evelyn, back to us. That’s right”¦our original singer is back with Trio Ginga”¦she reappeared at exactly the right time and in exactly the right place. We did our first gig together last week at the McMinnville campus of Motlow State Community College and it was like a breath of fresh air. With one rehearsal Kenya came back in and turned it out. Kenya, you are amazing. I hope you all can come to our next show and hear her artistry, which combined with this fantastic band is absolutely transcendent.]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#40 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#39
We've been having some really great gigs so far this year. Debora, Tony, Dave and I just had the honor of sharing the stage with the great Brazilian Percussionist Cyro Baptista and his band Banquet of the Spirits in Louisville at Jefferson State Community College's Points of Culture Festival in mid April. Then off to Knoxville where we played Pellissippi State Community College's Festival of Cultures. The next week we went to Greeneville in East Tennessee where we played a concert at Tusuculum College's lovely Behan Theatre. Next week on May 21st we are in Hopkinsville, KY for the Little River Days Festival. It is quite an inspiring time to be in this band.

I've been really busy with side projects as well this year as well. So far I've contributed to several new CD's. I just did all the percussion on my homey Ross Sermon's fantastic new Piedmont blues CD King's Pool Room. Ross and I play with blues rockers The Carter Brothers and we just finished recording their gritty new CD with me on drums and Ross on bass. I just recorded all the percussion on a reunion of Todd Rundgren's Utopia band. We re-cut the Utopia Theme and many of their coolest songs...Latin Style! Also, I played some percussion on Jeff Hall's project called Third Coast Vocal Ensemble, a fantastic jazz vocalese group. I recently joined a great group of rock musicians in Nashville called 6 Weeks to Live. We are recording next month.

We'll keep you posted on upcoming gigs. Keep the Ginga!]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#39 Fri, 06 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#38
We came home and the phone rang. It was Lori Mechem the director of the Nashville Jazz Workshop, who told me that my evening class was cancelled due to weather. We currently have a 6-week class on studio drumming featuring Nashville’s finest studio drummers. Last night was to have been Chester Thompson’s night. Yeah, that Chester Thompson”¦Zappa, Weather Report, Genesis. Luckily we were able to reschedule him during our break week between sessions. So, I was left with a night off. As fate would have it Diane had tickets to the symphony last night. Initially I couldn’t go because of my class. Well, then her girlfriend who was scheduled to go with her called and bailed because of weather. So I got to go. They were AWESOME!!!! They played Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto with guest violin soloist Stephan Jackwl. He was a complete virtuoso. Then they played a piece called Inextinguishable by Neilsen. It featured two tympani players. It was all this cool, dark, Nordic symphonic music, perfect for a snowy night. Two major inspirations in one day! Wow! I just had to tell you about it.

Well now to the Ginga news. We are making progress toward finding a venue for Carnaval 2011. Our friend Pablo Bodini is helping us make some contacts for the venue. We found one and are in the negotiating stages right now to get the business straight. We’ll keep you up on the progress. This years Carnaval party promises to be the best yet.

Dave is healing steadily from his accident last November and is back playing guitar again, thank God! Debora is in her second semester at Vol State and carrying a full load of classes. I’ve been super busy booking Trio Ginga for 2011 and also with my other gigs. I’ve been working in the house band at the Ibiza nightclub playing salsa/merengue and just joined 6 Weeks to Live an awesome melodic rock band. I also am happy to announce that, at great expense and effort, I upgraded my recording rig”¦big time! I bought a Powermac G5 Quad Core computer and ugraded my microphones. It took me forever to get all the components to talk to each other but with some help from my buddy Warren White at Pro Audio Solutions, its all working great. Thank you Warren! Trio Ginga is ready to record again!

I recently played on several tracks for my buddy Jeff Hall and his 3rd Coast Vocal Ensemble. He had some beautiful Salsa and Brazilian arrangements that needed percussion. I also did Brazilian percussion on a track for the inimitable Dan Hagan, an amazing guitarist here in Nashville. It was a musical representation of the Spring flood, which devastated many parts of Nashville. I recently completed work on some pieces for TPAC Education on a CD they are doing. All of this was done in my studio. I love this kind of work! It is so cool and fun to be free of the time constraints and pressure of the formal recording studio environment.

The band is in writing mode now. We are putting together some originals to record and perform. Much of it will be ready by Carnaval time.

Well that’s about it for now. Stay warm. Be well. Be in the moment. Try not to think too much! And above all...Keep the Ginga.


Dann]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#38 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#37
But Debora and I love Brazilian music so much that we decided to reform the group. And with the help of the fabulous Dave Martin on guitar and Tony Nagy & Ron de la Vega sharing the duties on bass, we have been able to not only survive but thrive! It took us about 3 months to get the new group stage ready but thanks to our dear friends at Georgia Southern University and Laurie Larson at the Green Hills Health Center, we had some performance dates to shoot for. The gigs were awesome and gave us the motivation to continue. And it kept getting better. We played for a big Brazilian party at La Hacienda restaurant in September, which was very validating. It told us that what we are doing goes over with the Brazilian community. We also played a couple of International Culture days at Motlow State Community College. We had a ball.

What a difference a year can make!

We are planning our work for 2011 now, which will include another Carnaval Nashville! party in March along with some festival performances and some theaters. We are trying our best to complete the writing for a new CD as well. Keep ya posted.

Keep the Ginga!

Dann]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#37 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#36
My good friend David K Martin stepped up to the plate on guitar and has deftly, and fiercely navigated his way through some really difficult music terrain...all while playing in several other bands.

The bass chair is being shared by two fantastic musicians Ron de la Vega and Tony Nagy. Ron is the music teacher at Indian Lake Elementary School in Hendersonville and is also an in demand cellist and bassist for several very artistic Nashville artists (Jonell Mosser & Nancy Griffith to name a couple). Tony Nagy is doing amazing work around Nashville in several bands (Terry Clark and his own project) and is a very gifted instrument builder. Both Ron and Tony have sacrificed mightily to be in Trio Ginga. They love Brazilian music so much. These gentlemen are total pros in every way.

Debora Brazil, our vocalist, is back in college and studying very hard to get her degree. Debora has made every rehearsal to prepare for the gigs. She always delivers a great performance and is great fun to be around.

We've had some pretty important gigs this summer. On August 24th we played for an all-campus event at Georgia Southern University for the Multi-Cultural Student Association. We had a ball playing for the students as they crossed campus on their way to and from class. We made a bunch of new friends that day.

This past Sunday 9/12/10 we played a party for the Nashville Brazilian community celebrating Brazilian Independence Day at La Hacienda Restaurant and Bar in Frankin. I gotta tell you we worked our tails off to get ready for that one. I had our friend Mason Embry transcribe a bunch of Pagode songs so we could give the audience some serious dance samba.

I just sent thank you notes to the band. It's Monday and I'm exhaused. But its the exhaustion you feel when you know you did your best.]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#36 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#35
For all y’all who think being in or running a band is a “glamour profession”, you could not be more wrong. I always wondered why all the major artists for whom I have worked (the one’s that have been in the business for a long time) are so jaded and temperamental. Well now I know.

In late March our dear friend and guitar player Otto disappeared for several weeks. We had gigs coming up and I started to really worry that I had done something to upset him. (I always blame myself first.) The reality was, according to his fiancé, that he had some pretty serious unfinished business in Georgia before he moved to Nashville a year ago. Namely a felony indictment, which he failed to tell me about because he and his lawyer thought they had a slam-dunk case. Well, ”˜fraid not.

Brother Otto is in the joint for a while. He was actually at his trial when he disappeared”¦convicted.

This seriously messed the band up for about three months. I had contracts on gigs that had to be cancelled immediately plus a new mission to find a replacement guitarist. Sooooo”¦..

It is with great pleasure that I announce the new lineup for Trio Ginga. Our awesome new guitarist is David K Martin, a dear friend for many years”¦since the ”˜80s actually and one of the finest guitarists and all round musicians I know”¦all that on top of being a really great guy. David, and I and our new bassist have been doing a bit of session work together lately as house musicians for a studio in the area.

Playing with Trio Ginga now on Bass and Cello is another dear friend of ours, Ron de la Vega. Ron is a consummate musician. We have worked a lot together playing Caribbean music for Mat Brittain’s Deep Grooves Steel Drum Band. Ron’s background includes long stints with Nancy Griffith, Nashville’s r&b diva Jonell Mosser, English guitar god Richard Thompson and superstar singer Engelbert Humperdinck.

And just so you’ll know, Debora is still with us as featured vocalist. She has been writing some tunes lately, which we hope to debut soon.

Trio Ginga has some gigs coming up so we’ve been rehearsing really hard for several weeks getting the repertoire under our fingers. I have to admit this is the hardest grooving version of the band to date. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

”¦.the struggle continues unabated!

Keep the Ginga!]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#35 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#34
We are proud of you bro!]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#34 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#33
Otto and I have been incredibly busy working the phones and booking the band. We are serious. This band is not just about survival. We aim to thrive. This incarnation of the group is the best we've had and we intend to keep it together no matter what. On top of that, Otto is writing charts for the group and is actively pursuing his Masters at MTSU. Debora is back in school too studying Art at Vol State. Me? Yeah, I'm in school...the school of hard knocks, working the phones everyday trying to learn to be a better businessman, bandleader and musician...learning time management, diplomacy, humility...heavy on the humility. The struggle continues....]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#33 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#32
Speaking of which, on Sat. February 13th @ 7:00 we will be performing at Nashville's second annual Carnaval party. This year we will celebrate Carnaval with three bands at the French Quarter. Samba Nove, Music City Samba and Trio Ginga will be sharing the stage for this incredible party. Don't miss it!

More later.]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#32 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News http://trioginga.com/news.html#31
Debora: Being a dancer, she's been wearing out the dance music lately... house stuff and trance. She really likes Sasha, a house artist from England and Tiesto a trance guy from the Netherlands. But what about Brazilian music. Deborah has become a Lenine fan. She mentioned specifically his song Leao do Norte. The song title was familiar but I couldn't connect a melody. So I started looking through my Lenine CDs. Couldn't find it. Then I thought...No it couldn't be? The only other place it could be is on a self titled duo album called Lenine & Suzano, with percussion genius Marcos Suzano. And there it was. This says a lot about Debra. She knows the great stuff. It is Lenine's debut and it is so brilliant. Unfortunately it is out of print. I guess I could burn you a copy... but that wouldn't be legal, would it?

Otto Stoy: Otto's listening tastes are all over the map lately. He's listening to all the stuff any serious Brazilian music buff would listen to, Baden Powell, Jacob do Bandolim, Rafael Rabello and Marco Pereira. However, Otto admitted today he was listening to Hank Jr. in his car. Yeah, that Hank Jr. Whaaaat? Sorry, I have to admit knowing what he knows. Southern rock and Brazilian music have some stuff in common...namely the stuff they sing about, the passion of the playing and the love of the land and the longing for getting back home...oh yeah and drinkin' and women.

Dann Sherrill: Let's see. My stuff is all over the map too. Here's a couple of recent discoveries. Check out Forró in the Dark. I think they are Brazilians living in NYC. Cool stuff. Also, a guy named Silverio Pessoa from the state of Pernambuco in Brazil. I was checking out Calabash.com and found this band called Cascabulho. It blew me away. So I ordered it and saw that Silverio was the bandleader and principal songwriter. He's one of the artists featured in the documentary called Moro no Brasil. Check out this movie for a musical tour of Brazil. For some OTHER Brazilian flavor...this a little darker, check out Os Ritmistas. They mix electronic music with live playing and vocals. Very cool stuff. Also, for all you Stomp fans, you will love Barbatuques, an amazing body percussion/vocal band from Sao Paulo. Stunning.

Haven't gotten Hubert's mix yet. He's recovering from some surgery and kind of on the down low right now. We love you Hubert! Get well soon my brother!

More later. Keep the Ginga!]]> http://trioginga.com/news.html#31 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Brazilian swing that will move your body and stir your soul - Trio Ginga - News