Born in Brasília, Brazil, Maurício de Souza is a professional jazz drummer who easily performs in both traditional jazz and Brazilian jazz styles.  De Souza was a pupil of world renowned jazz drummer Joe Morello.

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Coming from a musical family, de Souza began playing drums at age eleven. His early interest in complex music led him to explore numerous styles ranging from progressive rock, to classical music, to jazz. 

 

Since 2004, de Souza has directed/performed with his own groups: Maurício de Souza Group (Straight Ahead Jazz) and Bossa Brasil® (Brazilian Jazz).  As a band leader, he has released four albums to date: ˝Here. There…˝, ˝Different Directions˝, ˝Trajeórias˝, and ˝Five Roads˝ (new album).  Lately, de Souza has been focusing more on his Brazilian Jazz project and writing his own compositions for that group. 

 

Some of the amazing artists de Souza has had the pleasure of performing/recording with include Mike Stern (guitar), Marc Copland (piano), Greg Gisbert (trumpet), John Lee (electric bass), Gary Mazzaroppi (acoustic bass), Dmitry Baevsky (alto sax), and Adrian Cunningham (tenor sax).   

 

Highlight performances as a band leader include appearances at Blue Note NY, NJPAC, Festival International de Jazz de Quebec, Westfield Downtown Jazz Festival, DiMenna Center, Kitano Hotel, Saint Peter’s Chruch, Gates Pub (Brazil), among many other prestigious venues/festivals. 

 

De Souza and his music are/have been featured in Jazz Times Magazine, Hot House Jazz Magazine, NYC Jazz Record, WBGO, Music Choice, Pandora, Sirius XM, Jazz Week, and numerous radio stations in the US, Brazil, Canada, and Poland.

 

 

Homage To My Private Instructors

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Joe Morello (US): 1997 to 2008

Glenn Weber (US): 1998

Ney Rosauro (Brasil): 1996

Various Drum Teachers in Brasília (Brasil): 1991 to 1996