Imagine the sound of a Brazilian Carnaval in the Appalachian Mountains. A sound where exotic percussion instruments rumble beneath blues drenched vocals, telecaster twangs, accordion acrobatics, and folksy fiddle

tunes.

Now, imagine these sounds in the hands of some of NYC’s finest young improvisers as they light up club and festival stages worldwide.

Through the unorthodox blend of Brazilian Percussion and American

Bluegrass, Matuto has created an organic, animated sound all its own.

“Weird and Wonderful… Unorthodox and Delightful” - Jazz Times Magazine

“Irresistible… imaginiative improvising”- Los Angeles Times

“America’s finest purveyors of the forró sound”- San Francisco Bay Guardian

“True World Beat”- TheBigTakeover.com

“A stunning cross-cultural statement.”- Limewire.com “Spanning continents with a down-home sensibility and an explorer's curiosity” - All About Jazz

“Curto has earned a reputation as forró’s foremost ambassador in the states.”- Good Times, Santa Cruz

“Clay Ross thinks like a poet, writes like a novelist, and plays the guitar like a master.” - Jambase

www.clayross.comwww.robcurto.com

for booking info please contact matutomusic@gmail.com

“In the past 3 years, he was the guy in the band who evolved the most, turning into this incredible, multidimensional musician. I don’t feel like Clay just went and got a rhythm from Brazil and put another music style on top. He assimilated Northeastern Brazilian music and created a new conception.” – Cyro Baptista in Down Beat Magazine “Countrified licks and insinuating samba groves merge in weird and wonderful ways on this unorthodox and delightful debut.” – Jazz Times Magazine “Spanning continents with a down-home sensibility and an explorer’s curiosity.” – All About Jazz “Ross has earned Jazz Ambassador status for his guitar stylings, but his new disc, Matuto, is a subtle blend of bluegrass and baiao that adds playful vocals, cavaquinho, and kashaka to his musical arsenal.” – Bold Life Magazine “Ross hits upon the shared joy in rural music from everywhere.” – Free Times, Columbia SC “Best of 2009 World Music… Telecaster-wielding songwriter Clay Ross is leading the guitar-meets-world revolution” - WNYC.org “Clay Ross thinks like a Poet, writes like a Novelist and plays the guitar like a Master.” – Jambase.com “Sly, subtle wit colors his guitar style: playful and humorous but deeply complex.” – Jambands.com “Ross makes music that swirls samba and other Latin rhythms around while retaining a melodic essence intimately familiar to most Americans… the tracks have the easy appeal one would expect from the source materials… Ross feels as at ease with one style as another, making the blend all the more organic…it’s true world beat.” – TheBigTakeover.com “Clay Ross demonstrated that not all Americans who have the will to be Brazilian are boring…His sound tries to mix the old west and the sertão in a stylized way, but it’s all so much fun that it doesn’t sound artificial.” – Reciferock.com “Clay Ross has created a stunning cross-cultural statement with Matuto”– Limewire.com “Clay Ross and his MATUTO group really shook the place up – Bluegrass Hillbilly meets Brazilian Folk Beats in a head-on celebration – !! – making this nite on par with the top 5 most memorable live music acts we have ever seen, and we’ve seen a few !!! MATUTO – is a LIVEWIRE ACT – you do NOT !! want to miss.” – Artloversny.com “Restrained virtuosic skill and a joyful anything-goes attitude…a unique musical vision.” – Virginian Pilot “Clay has a passionate, unique and personal voice that awakens feelings in audiences.” – Jazzreview.com “Fresh, spontaneous, and full of substance” – Post and Courier, Charleston SC

MATUTO STAGE PLOT

DRUMS ON RISER PERCUSSION ON RISER (1 MONITOR ON LEFT SIDE, (1 MONITOR IN FRONT, 1 VOCAL MIC) 1 VOCAL MIC, DI BOX) BASS AMP GUITAR AMP

BASS ACCORDION (1 MONITOR IN FRONT (2 MONITORS IN FRONT 1 VOCAL MIC) 1 VOCAL MIC, DI BOX)

FIDDLE GUITAR (1 MONITOR IN FRONT (1 MONITOR IN FRONT 1 VOCAL MIC, 1 DI Box) 1 VOCAL MIC, DI BOX)

TECH SPECS

6 SM58 VOCAL MICSGUITAR AMP (FENDER TWIN, VIBROLUX, DELUXE OR SIMILAR TUBE AMP)BASS AMPDI BOX FOR ACCORDIONDI BOX FOR FIDDLEDI BOX FOR PERCUSSION5 MONITORS (5 MIXES)STANDARD 4-piece DRUMSET WITH 22-inch bassdrum, 16-inch floor tom30 CM RISER FOR DRUMS30 CM RISER FOR PERCUSSION

MATUTO is a Brazilian slang word used to describe a simple man from the countryside.

Clay Ross - Guitar and Vocals, Rob Curto - Accordion, Rob Hecht – Fiddle,Edward Perez - Bass, Richie Barshay – Drums, Ze Mauricio – Percussion

CLAY ROSS, a South Carolina native, has become an in-demand guitariston the NYC jazz, world, and roots music scenes. In the last four years,Ross has submerged himself in Brazilian music as a member of CyroBaptista's world-renowned percussion ensemble "Beat the Donkey." Hehas completed four international tours as a U.S. Jazz Ambassador andcurrently performs at bluegrass festivals across North America with risingfolk star April Verch.www.clayross.com ROB CURTO brings passion, energy and musicality to the accordion,shedding new light on the instrument's many timbral and rhythmicpossibilities. The Los Angeles Times writes that, "Curto's originals..combinetraditional authenticity with persuasive dashes of jazz." An early devotee ofNorth American swing music, bebop piano, funk, rock and blues, Curtocombines these influences with his mastery of their South Americancounterparts forro chorinho, samba, maracatu, frevo and the many otherstyles that belong to the Brazilian accordion tradition. The result iscompletely original, authentic and stimulating to fans of all kinds, and hasearned the accordion many a convert, who profess to having discovered alove for the instrument at one of his shows.www.robcurto.com RICHIE BARSHAY, most noted as a member of the Herbie HancockQuartet since 2003, has established himself as a prominent musical voice ofhis generation. Regarded as "a player to watch" by JazzTimes magazine,he maintains a busy international schedule with some of today's top artistsincluding Hancock, The Klezmatics, Kenny Werner and Chick Corea amongothers. In September of 2004 he was named an American Musical Envoy bythe U.S. State Department, along with the renowned Latin-Jazz ensembleInsight. Now based in New York City after 5 years on the Boston musicscene, Richie began playing Jazz and Afro-Latin music during his youth andhas expanded his focus to Indian rhythmic concepts and tabla, inspiring his2005 recording debut "Homework" and the launching of his new band, TheRichie Barshay Project.www.richiebarshay.com

EDWARD PEREZ stays active in New Yorks jazz, latin jazz, and southamerican music scenes. His bass has been heard in major festivals such asVitoria (Spain 2006), Moers (Germany 2006), Valencia (Spain 2006) andLima (Peru 2002, 2004, 2005) and he has shared the stage with jazzluminaries such as Mick Goodrick, George Garzone, Hector Martignon,Greg Hopkins, Lionel Loueke, and Tony Lujan. On any given night in thecity, he may be found playing anything from traditional afroperuvian music tomodern jazz, and he has appeared in many of the key nightspots includingthe Blue Note, Iridium, Jazz Gallery, Zinc Bar, Smalls, Fat Cat, Tonic, 55Bar, and Nuyorican Poets Cafe. He currently leads a world-jazz-fusiongroup under his own name and serves as musical director of theafroperuvian band Alcatraz.www.edwardperez.com

ROB HECHT is the winner of the 2009 Rocky Grass Fiddle Competition. Anative of Bloomington, Illinois, he has studied violin with some of thegreatest in Bluegrass music including Mark O' Connor and Darol Anger. Hestudied saxophone at William Patterson University in their esteemed JazzStudies program and has developed a playing style that bridges the gapsbetween jazz, classical, and folk. He has performed at major music festivalsincluding Bonaroo, and toured in support of The multi-platnum DaveMatthews Band.www.robhecht.com

ZE MAURICIO was born in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. He is an originalmember of "Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey" and performs with an eclecticblend of NYC bands. Highlights have included “Carnival on Broadway” withWynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra as well asrecording on the Grammy winning album "Obrigado Brasil!" with Yo-Yo Ma.He has performed or recorded with Paquito D' Rivera, Romero Lubambo,and Trey Anastasio among others. Since 2001, Zé has been a member of"Choro Ensemble," the only band dedicated exclusively to BrazilianChorhino Music in New York.www.zemauricio.com

“Brazilian Carnaval in the Appalachian Mountains”

Selected Past Performances2009 American Folk Music Festival, ME2009 Sines World Music Festival, Portugal2009 Mariposa Folk Festival, Canada2009 Palisades Bluegrass Festival, CO2009 Rec Beat Festival, Brazil2009 Garanhuns Jazz Festival, Brazil2009 Diario De Pernambuco, Brazil2009 Livraria Cultura, Brazil2008 Detroit International Jazz Festival, Detroit, MI2008 Jewish Museum, NYC2008 Roccella Jazz Festival, Roccella, Italy2008 Lincoln Center Band Shell (Out Of Doors Series), New York2008 Grassroots Festival, Trumansburg, NY2008 Quebec City Summer Festival, Quebec City, Canada2008 Stuytown Music on the Oval Concert Series, New York, New York2008 Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Charleston SC2008 Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, IA2008 Abrons Center - Henry Street Settlement, NY, NY2008 Garanhuns Jazz Festival, Brazil2008 Light in Winter Festival - The State Theatre, Ithaca, NY2007 Raue Theatre, Crystal Lake, IL2007 Kinetic Playground, Chicago, IL2007 Krannert Center For The Arts, Urbana, IL2007 World Music Festival Chicago 2007, Chicago, IL2007 Planet Arlington Festival, Arlington, VA2007 The Chastain Theatre, South Boston, VA2007 Presser Hall, Decatur, GA2007 Huntington Arts Council, Huntington, NY2007 The Starwood Festival, Sherman, NY2007 Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH2007 Artown Festival, Reno, NV2007 The International Fesvtial of Arts and Ideas, New Haven, CT2007 Kentucky Center, Louisville, KY2007 Cultural Performances in Kosovo2007 Tracce Festival, Brescia Italy2007 Porto Musical Festival, Brazil2006 Two U.S. State Department Tours of the Balkans2006 Festival International de Louisiane, Lafayette LA2006 Bethel Woods Jazz Festival2006 Alice Jepson Theatre, Richmond VA2006 Boulton Center for the Arts, Bay Shore NY2006 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival, Silk Hope NC2006 Krannert Center, Urbana IL2006 Kolher Arts Center, Sheboygan WI2006 Grassroots Festival, Turmansburg NY2006 Charleston Performing Arts Festival, SC2006 Alverno College2005 Summer Stage in Central Park2005 10,000 Lakes Festival