Marcio Doctor

Percussionist and composer from Buenos Aires, Argentina based in Hamburg, Germany.

Marcio's musical approach is influenced by his studies of different ethnic music traditions. He belongs to a new generation of contemporary percussionists that feel at home in a wide variety of musical situations, retaining at the same time his own voice.

Marcio began playing percussion at the age of five and over the years studied drumset, percussion and piano in Buenos Aires. In his early professional years he played percussion and drums in local bands as well as in film, TV, theater and contemporary dance productions. In the late 80's he toured extensively in Argentina and Brazil with the group "Comedia".

He moved to Europe in 1989 and settled down in Hamburg, Germany, in 1990, where he still lives with his wife and two children. There he studied hand drumming and percussion with Mark Nauseef - who became his mentor - and also with the legendary Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu. He had soon established himself as a highly sought after collaborator for international groups performing as well as recording extensively as a studio musician. In 1997 he studied ethnic percussion with Glen Velez und Jamey Haddad in New York. Then undertook further studies of Indian percussion with master percussionists Trichy Sankaran und T.R. Sundaresan.

Since 1995 Marcio has been a member of the acclaimed NDR-Big Band (the jazz orchestra of the North German Radio). With this band he has performed on numerous recordings, concerts and tours with renowned artists such as: Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Lionel Hampton, Maria Schneider, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs, Tim Hagans, Steve Gray, Omar Sosa, Steve Gadd, Colin Towns, Norma Winstone, João Bosco, Al Jarreau and Bobby McFerrin among many others.

In addition, as a freelancer and featured soloist, Marcio has performed and/or recorded with: the Carla Bley Bigband, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, María João Quartet, the WDR-Bigband, Vince Mendoza, Trilok Gurtu Group, Dino Saluzzi, Jon Faddis, Nils Landgren, Michel Portal, Will Lee, Jim Beard, Rosa Passos, Dhafer Youssef, Lalo Schifrin, Joachim Kühn, Paquito D'Rivera, David Liebman, Steve Swallow, Adam Nusbaum, Mark Feldman, Marcel Khalife, the Mask Orchestra, the Metropole Orchestra, Osvaldo Golijov, Dawn Upshaw, the Hannover Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ensemble Absolute, among many others.

Live performances have included concert tours through Europe, South and Central America, Canada and the U.S.A, Israel, Lebanon, China, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa and Mozambique.

Percussion arrangements and playing for film soundtracks include: "Rose", "Tee Tattoo", "Die Rote Jacke" (awarded with an Oscar for best Student Film 2003), "Anam", "Das wahre Leben", "Mein Herz in Chile" a.o.; as well as for radio plays (Hörspiele) like "Träume" by Günter Eich, "Red is my name" by Orhan Pamuk, "Wassermusik" T.C. Boyle a.o. and for the aquatic circus "Crescend'O in Paris, France.

As a composer he has written music for various jazz ensembles as well as music for radio plays, radio features, theater, films and contemporary dance. The album "Idyllen" has been chosen as "Best Hamburg Album of the Year 2006" in the Hamburg Szene Magazine. His music has also been featured on Chicago Public Radio - on the program "RE:Sound" presented by the Third Coast Audio Festival in January 2007.

Marcio has received a GRAMMY AWARD for his collaboration as a soloist on the live CD "Some Skunk Funk" Randy Brecker with Michael Brecker, Will Lee, Jim Beard, Peter, Erskine, Marcio Doctor and the WDR-Bigband arr./cond. by Vince Mendoza.

As an educator, Marcio has been a regular guest professor at the "Hamburger Musikhochschule" and for many years has given percussion and rhythm workshops at various music universities around Germany and Switzerland as well as workshops in Beijing, Toulon, La Paz, São Paulo, London and Mexico City.

Marcio is a founding member, percussionist and co-producer of the group "Tango Crash", an electro-tango group that takes the tango tradition into the 21st. century. The group was awarded the "RUTH" World Music Price for Newcomer band of the year 2003. His debut album as a band leader "Restless World"was released on the British label "Provocateur Records" to great acclaim of the press and was selected as #14 among the top 20 albums of the year 2001 by Jazz Review Magazine (Great Britain).