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Mariza’s Vicky Marques

“Olá a todos!” is Portuguese for “Hello everyone!”

First of all, it’s a pleasure to talk to you all. I’m Vicky Marques, and I’ve performed and/or recorded with artists such as Paulo Gonzo, Ana Moura, Yuri Daniel (bass player for Yan Garbarek), Gregg Kofi Brown, Ivan Lins, Pedro Madaleno’s UnderPressure, Miguel Amado, Philip Hamilton, Pedro Joia, José Peixoto & Carlos Zíngaro, Maria João & Mário Laginha, and Mariza. I’m lucky to come from a country that has a lot of influences from the northern part of Africa, the Mediterranean European countries, North America, and Brazil.

Mariza’s Vicky Marques Modern Drummer Drummer Blog

These last three years I’ve been playing mostly with the renowned award-winning Fado singer Mariza and doing some studio work. We’ve been playing mostly around the world, in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, Barbican, Carré Amsterdam, Cairo Opera House, and Palau De La Música. We also did a one-and-a-half-month North American tour, where we played at Carnegie Hall, New York’s Town Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Seattle Symphony Hall, and Massey Hall, among many other wonderful venues. It’s been some crazy traveling years.

Due to the fact that Mariza’s Terra album has a lot of percussion and drums (recorded by Piranha and Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez and produced by Chavier Limon), and it sometimes combines them in the same song, I came up with a kit that I was already developing in other projects in order to combine both worlds simultaneously when I played it live. I also had to find my own patterns based on what these two fantastic musicians are playing on the album, which was challenging. I call the kit “Todo-o-Terreno,” which in English means “four wheel drive.” It’s very versatile, in fact you can play almost any style on it. I use a remote hi-hat in the center of the kit and a cajon in place of a snare drum. You can see photos of it on my website and at the link below. I’ve also recently released my tutorial DVD Vicky-Elementos, and have been doing workshops and showcases related to it. It’s something that I enjoy doing a lot. Advertisement

I’m currently preparing my first solo show, Viagem Ao Oriente (A Journey Into The Orient), a drum solo that reflects on time and travel, word joining, recorded sounds, and music in a set where the unique drumkit is the starting point for a personal journey where each audience member is invited. I hope that it becomes more than just a show and that it inspires a new process for drum composition.

Vicky Marques plays Taye, Sabian, Evans, and Pro-Mark gear. For more with Vicky, go to www.vicky-drummer.com and www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNtERehx-HY&feature=related.

 


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