Brazilian born, New York City-based drummer/composer Mauricio Zottarelli has been on the forefront of the Jazz, Latin and Brazilian music scenes for many years. Called a “superb drummer” by JazzTimes magazine, Zottarelli comes from a musical family and 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.
mz bio
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Mauricio moved to the U.S. in 1999 after winning a scholarship award 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.
Mauricio is a critically acclaimed and award-winning drummer and artist. Since his move to New York City in 2006, he has become one of the most sought after drummers on the scene. Zottarelli is credited in more than 70 albums so far in his career, and has worked and shared the stage with some of the most important and notable artists of today, crossing over many musical styles.
Some of them are: Hiromi, Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson, Prasanna, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Esperanza Spalding, Keiko Matsui, Richard Bona, Paquito D’Rivera, Joe Lovano, Chico Pinheiro, 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, Oriente Lopez, Filó Machado, Gustavo Assis Brasil, Hendrik Meurkens, and many others.
Also very active as a bandleader and composer/arranger, Mauricio co-leads and collaborates with several projects, such as the Dig Trio, which released its first CD in 2003 to 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 a lineup of some of the best names in jazz and Brazilian music, performing a unique mix of Brazilian jazz, fusion, and jazz. In 2011 Zottarelli released MOZIK - a collaboration with pianist Gilson Schachnik. The album has garnered praises from many important jazz/music publications such as Downbeat magazine and All About Jazz. 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 The Year list three years in a row, in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
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”. Mauricio’s new album is a collaboration with bassist Amanda Ruzza entitled “Glasses, No Glasses”, a free improvisation, live-in-the-studio recording with special guest, pianist and multi-instrumentalist Leo Genovese.
Following his 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.