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Gaia Wilmer
Gaia Wilmer is a saxophonist, composer, arranger and photographer from south Brazil. With a degree in International Relations, Gaia started playing saxophone with Silvia Beraldo when studying the relationship between reason and passion in the International Relations and the connection of this balance with art.
In 2010, Gaia moved to Rio de Janeiro to expand her musical experiences. During the years she lived in Rio she studied with acclaimed musicians such as Edu Neves, Bia Paes Leme, Jayme Vignoli and Itiberê Zwarg, played in different projects, created and served as a producer for different groups and had the opportunity to playing with musicians such as Guinga, Egberto Gismonti, Gilberto Gil, Nailor Proveta, Maurício Carrilho, among others. During this period, in collaboration with great musicians, she created and worked as a producer for two of the groups she plays with until today, Tungo and Rama Trio.
Photography has always being part of Gaia's life. She started taking photographs when she was a kid with her mother, the photographer Luciana Petrelli, and both in Rio and Florianopolis she worked for many projects, most of them related to music. While in Rio de Janeiro, she studied in two well-known institutions for visual arts: EAV Parque Lage and Atelie da Imagem.
In 2013, Gaia made her move to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music where she studied saxophone, improvisation, composition and arranging with great musicians and professors such as George Garzone, Ayn Inserto, Greg Hopkins, Mitch Haupers and Ed Tomassi, among others.
In this period, she began forming her own groups and collaborating with others along with playing and recording for several other projects. In 2014, she began her own octet featuring musicians from Boston and New York, a group that she has been writing for in the past three years and with whom she has been playing around Boston and New York. This group has just recorded its first album at the Systems Two Studios in New York with the great help of Frank Carlberg producing it with Gaia and it is now working on the mixing and mastering process. In 2015, Gaia developed a project dedicated to playing the music of the Brazilian composer Moacir Santos, directing a 13-piece band and, in collaboration with three other Boston based musicians, started a quartet dedicated to play the Brazilian genre choro. And in the beginning of this year, Gaia started a project in collaboration with the drummer and composer Bob Moses with whom she has been playing with in his group called The Heart Breath Ensemble. She is now working on an album with her compositions in collaboration with him.
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Gaia Wilmer, Greg Ward, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Janel Leppin & Other New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
There are different ways to unpack this playlist. One of them is approaching it as a travelogue taking us to the music incubator that is jny: Chicago; to a scene deserving wider recognition in Washington D.C.; to Brazil, France and Italy. And it all starts from Free Form Funk Freqs' 3rd Galaxy. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Free Form Funk Freqs Outer Arm" Hymn of the ...
read moreGaia Wilmer Large Ensemble: Folia: The Music of Egberto Gismonti
by Mario Calvitti
L'importanza di Egberto Gismonti come compositore di musica contemporanea ha da tempo travalicato i confini del Brasile, suo paese natale (ma lui è discendente da madre siciliana e padre libanese), dove si è imposto subito come uno degli autori più influenti. La sua musica è un riuscito amalgama di tradizione folkloristica, canzone popolare e classica contemporanea, fin qui proseguendo nella scia di Heitor Villa-Lobos, con in più un deciso allargamento verso il jazz. Da tempo il chitarrista/pianista non ...
read moreGaia Wilmer: Migrations
by Angelo Leonardi
Sa coniugare feeling e complessità di scrittura Gaia Wilmer, sassofonista e compositrice brasiliana al suo debutto da leader. L'idea di formare quest'ottetto è nata nel primo anno di frequenza ai corsi di composizione jazz del Berklee College of Music e s'è concretizzata nel dicembre 2016 (dopo un annuncio su Kickstarter), durante il secondo anno di master al New England Conservatory. Prima di trasferirsi negli Stati Uniti, nel 2013, Gaia ha studiato e operato professionalmente a Rio in ...
read moreRed Piano Records To Release The Gaia Wilmer Octet: "Migrations"
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Thursday, December 14th 8PM NEW YORK CD-RELEASE CONCERT at Shapeshifter Lab, Brooklyn, NY The Gaia Wilmer Octet is: Yulia Musayelyan – flutes; Song Yi Jeon – voice; Gaia Wilmer and Gustavo D’Amico – saxophones; Leandro Pellegrino – guitar; Vitor Gonçalves – piano and accordion; Mayo Pamplona – bass; Richie Barshay – drums Migrations, introduces the music of Brazilian composer and saxophonist Gaia Wilmer, an emerging voice in the contemporary jazz community. Drawing inspiration from Brazilian music, its harmonies, ...
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"Gaia's music is beautiful, free flowing, and has all the resonance of her Brazilian background. I know that you will enjoy what her music has to offer, as a listener