California music accessories brand Gruv Gear is proud to feature Drummer Mauricio Zottarelli. Mauricio is part of a family of prominent world-class musicians that heartily endorse Gruv Gear products.
Brazilian born, New York City-based drummer/composer Mauricio Zottarelli has been on the forefront of the Jazz, Latin and Brazilian music scenes for years. Coming from a musical family, Mauricio was born in Santos, SP, Brazil, but grew up in Rio Claro, SP in a highly musical environment.
His first few years as a professional musician consisted of many performances throughout his native country as well as studio and session work with different artists and bands. At the same time, he pursued a degree in Computer Science, and concluded his studies in 1997. Mauricio moved to the U.S. in 1999 after winning a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, MA. He majored in Film Scoring, Performance and Arranging, and graduated from the prestigious college in 2002. In the following years, Mauricio studied south Indian music with guitarist Prasanna, and studied piano/composition with renowned jazz instructor Charlie Banacos. He moved to New York City in 2006.
Mauricio is a critically acclaimed and award-winning drummer and artist. He is credited in more than 70 albums so far in his career, and has worked with dozens of the most important and notable artists of today, crossing over many musical styles. Some of them are: Hiromi, Dig Trio, Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson, Prasanna, Esperanza Spalding, Keiko Matsui, Richard Bona, Paquito D’Rivera, Cláudio Roditi, Joe Locke, Geoffrey Keezer, Mike Pope, Ivan Lins, Carmen Souza, Chuck Loeb, Rosa Passos, Dom Salvador, Jovino Santos Neto, Nilson Matta, Toninho Horta, Filó Machado, Cidinho Teixeira group, Gustavo Assis Brasil, Marc Rossi Group, Hendrik Meurkens, Oriente Lopez, and many others.
Also very active as a bandleader and composer/arranger, Mauricio co-leads the jazz-fusion project Dig Trio, which released its first CD in 2003 and received great reviews from critics and audiences alike. In 2009, Mauricio released his first solo album, entitled 7 Lives, which includes several of his own compositions, and features an amazing lineup of some of the best names in jazz and Brazilian music, performing a unique mix of Brazilian jazz, fusion, and jazz. His new CD – a collaboration with pianist Gilson Schachnik called MOZIK, was released in October 2011. The album has been praised by many important jazz/music publications such as Downbeat magazine and All About Jazz.
Among the most recent press quotes and news’ polls, the prestigious Jazz Station Blog, written by journalist/producer Arnaldo deSouteiro, considered MOZIK the #1 new talent of 2011 and included the CD in their TOP 15 best of 2011. The blog also listed Mauricio in their top 10 drummers of 2011, and as #3 best drummer of 2012.
Also in 2012, Mauricio won the prestigious Brazilian Music Awards (Prêmio da Música Brasileira), the most important music award in Brazil, with artist Dom Salvador and his album “The Art of Samba Jazz”.
Following an ever-growing interest in music education, Mauricio teaches regularly in the NYC area, and has done workshops/clinics in Brazil, Europe and the USA. He has also taught at the world-famous Brazil Camp in California, and he is a regular columnist/writer for Modern Drummer Magazine in Brazil.
About Gruv Gear:
Gruv Gear exists to bring innovative and well-thought out products to creative professionals and beyond, including career musicians, DJs, photographers, filmmakers, mobile producers and more. The company is on- track not only to become a premium lifestyle accessories brand in the Music/DJ and Photo Industries, which is a small fraction of its potential market, but also expand to a broader range of industries that will increase its global footprint exponentially. To date, Gruv Gear products are sold in 5 continents and shipped directly to adoring fans worldwide.