Brazilian Jazz Concert

As the guitarist and drummer for the NYC based, Agora Quartet, these musicians toured the Balkans last January through the U.S. State Department’s Jazz Ambassadors Program. Now they return as a duo with a new program of Brazilian Jazz. With the use of many exotic, South American percussion instruments, guitars, vocals, and electronics, they create sonic landscapes, full of rhythmic energy and far-reaching, expansive sounds.

Born in South Carolina, Clay Ross was recently selected by the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center as a Jazz Ambassador. Under this title, he has toured throughout Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, and to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Ross graduated from the University of Charleston with a degree in classical composition and has been featured at Universities around the world as a guest artist and clinician. In 2005, Ross released his debut album, The Random Puller, documenting nine original compositions with his quartet. He continues to perform at major international music festivals with world-renowned percussionist Cyro Baptista and his group "Beat the Donkey".

Scott Kettner is the artistic director and founder of NYC based ensembles The Nation Beat and Maracatu New York. As a drummer, percussionist, composer, recording artist and producer, he is building a unique position for himself in the world of jazz and contemporary World Music. A graduate of The New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music program, Kettner has studied intensively in Brazil and in 2004 became a member of one of the oldest existing traditional Maracatu groups from Recife, Brazil, Maracatu Nacao Estrela Brilhante (founded in 1906). In 2003 and