Brazilian Jazz at the Arsenal Center for the Arts

JAZZ @ The Arsenal presents a night of exciting Brazilian jazz with Mozik, Monday, September 15, at 7:30PM at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown. Tickets are $20; $18 for members; $15 for students, plus fees. For tickets or more information, call the box office at 617-923-8487 or visit http://www.arsenalarts.org.

Blending the playfulness of funk with Brazilian and Afro-Cuban rhythms, this five-some presents a muscular new take on Brazilian jazz. “Vivacious and exciting,” is how Downbeat describes them.

Reared on hard rock, classical music, blues, funk and jazz, pianist Gilson Schachnik and drummer Mauricio Zottarelli independently found their way to Berklee College of Music, earning scholarships to study at the prestigious institution. They combined forces to produce the group Mozik which includes Russian Yulia Musayelyan/ flute, Argentine Fernando Huergo/ bass and Brazilian Gustavo Assis Brasil/guitars. Their captivating 2011 album Mozik reflects their deep engagement with Brazilian rhythms and forms, filtered through their love of the early fusion of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock.