I toured Brazil in August as part of "Jazz Festival Brazil", with
a sextet that included the wonderful tap team of Giattino and
Schwartz. Melissa Giattino is a former Rockette who has just
finished her first film, choreographing a spoof musical version of
"Waterworld". Richard Schwartz is a Broadway tapper who's appeared
in EIGHT productions of "42nd Street"! This was a new adventure for
me - as a child I wanted to be a tapper myself. I'm happy to
report that while still not a tapper, I DID learn a time
step from Melissa and Richard during the tour and I may
break out in wild tapping when my audience least expects it! Ed
Ornowski played drums for the band, Jon-Erik Kellso trumpet, and
my longtime collaborator Mike Hashim played saxophone.

The photo below is me warming up the set with my great
friend Paola Saad, who works with "Jazz Festival Brazil," before
appearing on "Programa do Jo", the Jo Soares Show, the Brazil
equivalent of "The Tonight Show". Music is an important feature on Brazilian TV and
is given more time than that given by American television, so the
band played two tunes and enjoyed a fun interview exchange with Jo
himself.

The band performed in Rio, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Brazilia, Aracaju,
and Sao Paulo.