Gabriel Bruce

Gabriel Bruce is a drummer born in Belo Horizonte - MG. He was a student of great names in music like Márcio Bahia, Edu Ribeiro, Rafael Barata, Duduka da Fonseca, Kiko Freitas, André "Limão" Queiroz and others. He won the BDMG Young Instrumentalist Award in 2013. He played with renowned musicians such as Juarez Moreira, Gastão Villeroy, Cliff Korman, Daniel Santiago, Wilson Lopes, Cleber Alves, Rafael Martini, Breno Mendonça, Felipe Vilas Boas, Frederico Heliodoro, Alexandre Andrés and others. He has been part of the well-known band Graveola since 2014. In that same year, he played at the great Festival del Bosque in Argentina and made two tours in Europe with the bands Graveola and Zimun, where he performed in major festivals such as the Summer Stage in Cologne, Germany, the Cup of Cultures in the HKW in Berlin, and Med Loulé in Portugal. Later, in 2015, he participated in an artist residency in Lisbon-PT at the renowned Espaço Espelho D'água with the band Zimun, and in 2016 he performed again in Europe. He played in Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, France and Germany. He appeared in big festivals like Roskilde-Denmark, with a line-up of great artists: Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers, New Order among others, FMM (World Music Festival, in Sines-PT). He also participated in the recording of the album "Macieiras" by flutist Alexandre Andrés. In 2017 he did a series of shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He participated in the release of the album "Macieiras" at Savassi Festival-BR, as well as in the show of the artist Daniel Santiago at the same festival. He performed with American pianist Cliff Korman and Argentinian bandoneonist Martín Sued on different occasions. Toured Brazil releasing the album "Camaleão Borboleta" from his band Graveola and also released the album "Sobre o Bom Senso e o Senso Comum" from the band Zimun. He also recorded a version of the song “Francisca” with his jazz band Septeto 774, which featured the eminent Toninho Horta. Together with PC Guimarães, he made the musical arrangements for the album "Âmago", by rising singer Octávio Cardozzo, which was among the one hundred best records of 2017, according to the list "Melhores da Música Brasileira". In 2018 he performed with the master of Minas Gerais music Juarez Moreira at the Ibitipoca Jazz Festival and Lençóis Jazz e Blues Festival. He participated in the recording of the first album by guitarist Lucas Telles. In 2019 he began recording his first solo album with the production of Frederico Heliodoro. The album features the participation of Matéria Prima, Daniel Santiago, Mariana Cavanellas, Alexandre Andrés, Deangelo Silva and Hernán Jacinto (ARG) and Seamus Blake (CA). Seamus commented: I had such a pleasure playing on Gabriel Bruce’s album. I was featured on the beautiful song called Espelho d'Água written by Frederico Heliodoro. I was impressed with the song and playing. I just had to do it. It was such a pleasure. I first heard Gabriel in Belo Horizonte in August 2019. I loved his band and said hello. We became friends. I am moved by a lot of Brazilian music and I was so happy to get the chance to record with him. I hope we can play live one day together! He released his first single "Cortina de Fumaça" at Savassi Festival, where he performed with his quintet. He played in the Belo Horizonte release shows of the album Amazônia, Amazônia, by Gastão Villeroy and recorded Graveola’s seventh album. In 2020 he launched two new singles from his work on digital platforms, one with Canadian saxophonist Seamus Blake and the other with Argentinian pianist Hernán Jacinto. He made, once more, the arrangements for the new album of the singer and composer Octávio Cardozzo together with P.C Guimarães. During the pandemic period, he recorded a song for Seamus Blake and collaborated with artists such as: André Mehmari, Frederico Heliodoro, Josué Lopez, Junior Braguinha, Alexandre Andrés, Marcus Abjaud, Bruno Migotto, JP Barbosa among others. Bruce has just released his first album "Afluir", with sounds based on music from Minas Gerais, present mainly in melodies and harmonies, and with a strong influence of modern jazz and rap.