"Carlos Ferreira comes from Vila Isabel, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) which is to samba what old New Orleans is to jazz. Carlos is (as they say in Rio) a "Carioca da Gema" - a genuine Carioca.. (Only people born in Vila Isabel are considered to be "Carioca da Gema"). He started playing the "drums" (old tins Carlos and his childhood friends used to collect from the streets of Vila Isabel and Grajau in the 50's) at the age of six. Later he developed his style playing samba drums in some of Rio's most important Samba Schools. His great passions are his beloved G.R.E.S. Estacao Primeira de Mangueira and Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (Brazil's most passionate football club - from 1965, Ferreira started playing percussion with major Flamengo's "torcidas" (cheer squad) in Maracana stadium in Rio). Ferreira was the drummer of the band "Circuito Integrado" which successfully supported Gilberto Gil on his concert at Clube de Regatas Icarai - Niteroi in 1973. In Rio, Carlos had the privilege to play with great Brazilian musicians in the 70's and 80's like Barrosinho (Trumpet - ex Banda Black Rio - original, Edson Maciel (Trombone, ex Sergio Mendes' Bossa Rio), Chico Botelho (Piano), Alexandre Carvalho (Guitar), Periquito (Sax) and the outstanding bassist Adriano Giffoni. Carlos also toured with TV - sponsored Brazilian jazz bands.

Since arriving in Australia in 1985, Ferreira has become one of Melbourne's most exciting and innovative interpreters Samba Jazz and other Brazilian rhythms. His bands have included Brazjaz Ensemble (Samba Jazz quartet, Suingue Brazuca, Carioca da Gema and Melbourne Samba School (G.R.E.S. Unidos de Melbourne -Australia's oldest Samba SChool - An exciting samba percussion ensemble which plays genuine Rio's street carnival music). Most of Brazjaz's repertoire has been composed by Ferreira . Brazjaz was personally chosen by Barry Humphries ( Mega Star of the Milenium) and Paulo Coelho (acclaimed Brazilian writer) to perform at their book launches (Melbourne). Ferreira's newest band is Suingue Brazuca (Australia's first All-Brazilian Samba Jazz band) which will debut in Melbourne on the 7th July 2007 at Paris Cat Jazz Club.

Ferreira has performed with both bands in many festivals around Australia and all major jazz venues in Melbourne including the Melbourne International Festival, Melbourne Spoleto Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Montsalvat International Jazz Festival, St. Kilda Festival, Brunswick St. Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Stir Fry Jazz Festival (Hobart, 1991), All Ears World Music Festival (Hobart, 1992), Melbourne Concert Hall, Limerick Arms Hotel, OZCAT, Dr. Jazz, Victorian Arts Centre, Miettas (Creative Music Series - recorded by ABC radio), The Malthouse, Jazz Lane, The Ritz, Vineyard, Dizzy's and Bennetts Lane, Jambalaya Festival 2003/2004 (New Zealand), The Cave 2 (Edinburgh), The Rag Jazz Club (Kyoto, Japan), Papa Blues (Bonn, Germany), Munich Town Hall (Germany) and Wellington International Jazz Festival 2003 (New Zealand) just to name a few.

Ferreira has established Australia's first smoke-free jazz club (OZCAT - April 1999). His initiative was very successful and as a consequence, other jazz clubs in Melbourne adoped the same healthy policy. His push for smoke-free clubs is backed by Vic Health and QUIT.

Ferreira has created and organised the annual Rio, Red & Black Carnival Party (An authentic Brazilian club carnival party inspired by Rio's famous Baile Vermelho e Preto, Rio's hottest club carnival party). Ferreira has also been featured in the "Jazz Az Now" series on ABC television.

Ferreira has given Brazilian Percussion Workshops at a range of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions at national level. He has also extensively travelled overseas where he both performed and organised workshops. Countries visited include Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, England, Scotland, Sweden, Slovenia, Iceland, Japan, USA, Germany and Switzerland. He specializes in training large Samba School "baterias" in creative arrangements with the authentic Rio de Janeiro feel. In 2004 Ferreira has conducted several "baterias" around the world, including 400 UK percussionists in Cornwall, 100-plus percussionists in Taupo, New Zealand, 150-plus UK percussionists at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

Ferreira has been invited by Russian rock superband BI-2 to write the Portuguese lyrics for (and sing on ) their piece "Flamenco" which is on their latest CD. Click here to Listen to/download the MP3 (Search for Ferreira).

In 2007 Carlos performed in Rio with Velha Guarda Musical de Vila Isabel.

In 2008 Carlos has been invited to produce a sound track for NINTENDO's video game BLOB. He recorded two tracks: a full samba bateria (where he plays all percussion instruments - around 40 - one by one) and all the percussion for a Pagode track.

Ferreira has conducted several major workshops, including the 2007 Brisbane Workshops, 2007 Perth Workshops, 2006 Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (China) , 2006 Edinburgh Samba School (Scotland), 2006 Isle of Wight (England), 2004 Birmingham Music Conservatoire (England), 2004 Brighton Carnival Encounter (England), 2004 Reykjavik Brazilian Percussion Workshops (Iceland), 2004 Braincroft Lodge (Scotland), 2004 Edinburgh Festival (Scotland), 2004 Encontro Atlantico (Cornwall, England), 2004 Stockholm Brazilian Percussion Workshops (Sweden), 2004 Jambalaya Festival (New Zealand), 2004 Perth Workshops (Western Australia), 2003 Wellington International Jazz Festival & Jambalaya Festival, 2001 National Conference Of Kodaly Musical Education Institute Of Australia and School of Creative and Performing Arts (University of Auckland).