Armandinho, an internationally renowned Brazilian virtuoso mandolin and guitar legend from Salvador, Bahia, and the Tucan Trio, a talented world-class Brazilian-Israeli jazz group based in Tel Aviv, have performed in music festivals in Israel and the United States. Their last collaborative performances were part of a two-week tour in the US promoted by Ganzá Entertainment in November 2002.

The US Tour performance venues were:
Kennedy Center, Millenium Stage, Washington, DC (www.kennedy-center.org);
Brazilian Music Workshop, Hartford, CT
Makor Center, New York City (www.makor.org);
Manchester Community College, Manchester, CT;
University of Massachusetts, S. Dartmouth, Mass;
La Renaissance, E. Windsor, CT, Part of BRAZILFEST 2002 (www.ganzaentertainent.com);
Jewish Community Center, W. Hartford, CT; and Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass (www.regattabar.com).

Their music is an exotic fusion of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) and acoustic Brazilian jazz with a dash of Mediterranean spice. An acoustic guitar, mandolin, guitarra baiana (Bahian guitar), flute, percussion, and vocal, will blend diverse Brazilian rhythms and genres that will take you on a mesmerizing musical voyage.

Their repertoire will display a vast array of Brazilian music covering choro, bossa nova, frevo, samba, baião, MPB, jazz, and carnaval music. Most selections will be from Armandinho’s latest albums, Retocando o Choro (“Replaying Choro”) with classic compositions from Brazilian composers like Jacob do Bandolim, Garoto and others, and A Voz do Bandolim (“The Voice of the Mandolin”). The latter is a Tribute to Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil and takes us to the 70`s and 80`s period of Brazilian Popular Music with classic hits from these two of the greatest Brazilian artists.

Armandinho and The Tucan Trio’s concert showcases a performance from one of the most talented instrumentalists and composers on the Brazilian musical scene. And the unique Tucan Trio’s exotic Mediterranean blend of acoustic Brazilian jazz will make their concert an unforgettable musical experience.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

ARMANDINHO
Born in Salvador, Bahia, the birthplace of famous Brazilian composers and artists, Armandinho plays his instruments with extreme virtuosity and musicality in a diverse range of musical genres. Since beginning his career in 1963 at the age of ten, he has released 31 CDs, received several music awards, and became an international icon for Brazilian music and culture. A 1999 poll by Brazilian Guitar Player magazine of 200 guitarists selected him as one of the Ten Best Guitarists of Brazil.

In 1967, Armandinho created his own rock band playing Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Brazilian rock music. In 1977, he formed the rock band A Cor do Som (“The Color of Sound”) that became one of the first Brazilian groups to perform at the first Brazilian Night of the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978. At the festival, A Cor do Som captivated the crowd with the Beatles music played in a Brazilian frevo rhythm. This performance resulted in the band’s second of eleven albums, A Cor do Som - Ao Vivo em Montreux. Armandinho was back again at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1990 with Luis Caldas and in 1996 with his new band, Trio Elétrico Armandinho, Dodô and Osmar, formed by his father and three brothers. Aside from his brilliant performances at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival, Armandinho has toured throughout Europe, Middle East, South and North America performing alongside Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Daniela Mercury, Moraes Moreira, and Raphael Rabello, to name a few.

Armandinho’s talent and career was influenced by his late father Osmar Macedo, a guitarist and engineer who (with his partner Dodô) invented the Trio Elétrico and the Guitarra Baiana used in Bahia’s Carnaval. Created in 1942, Guitarra Baiana is a 5-string electric mandolin that gives that special sound to the Bahia Carnaval music played on the Trio Elétrico. A Trio Elétrico, created in 1951 using a Ford 29, is now a giant sound truck topped with a stage used by over 200 bands parading during carnaval in Bahia. It is also called A Máquina da Alegria (“The Happiness Machine”). Both inventions added a new dimension to the Brazilian Carnaval celebrations and a mobile stage for the Brazilian Popular Music performers. Armandinho and his brothers Aroldo, André and Alberto, also musicians, continue with his father's legacy.

TUCAN TRIO
Formed in 1998 in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tucan Trio brought together three Brazilian-Israeli professional musicians and composers with international exposure who share a great love for Brazilian music. Their compositions and arrangements, played with guitar, flute and percussion, blend the Brazilian rhythms with a jazzy flair and a dash of Mediterranean spice. They have a CD released and are planning their second.

Joca Perpignan (percussion and vocals), was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he started his music studies. He continued his studies in Tel Aviv at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and later graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has recorded and performed with several groups including vibraphonist Victor Mendoza, Brazilian singers Luciana Souza and Teresa Ines, Brazilian musicians Armandinho, Gilson Schachnick, Fernando Brandão, Sergio Brandão, the legendary jazz saxophonist Billy Pierce, and Israeli artists, such as Mati Caspi, Arik Einstein, Izhar Ashdot and Gidi Gov.

Amir Milstein (flute), born in Israel to a Brazilian family spent his childhood years in Brazil and Venezuela. He is a graduate of the Rubin Academy of Arts, Jerusalem with a degree in classical and jazz flute performance. His classical training began in Venezuela when he was twelve years old and continued in Israel, where other musical styles have influenced him. Amir has recorded and performed with various artists such as Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ross Daly, Keivan Chimirani, Omar Farouk Tekbilek, Tito Puente and many others who have influenced his musical path.