Brazil and Beyond

Led by prominent Detroit-area bassist and educator Rich K, Brazil and Beyond plays traditional Brazilian music as well as Brazilian-flavored popular and classical pieces. Brazil and Beyond performs in a range of formats -- from duos to quintets -- and has appeared at the Detroit International JazzFest, Festival of the Arts, Comerica TasteFest, Michigan Jazz Festival, Marshall Field’s Day at the Max and Macomb Performing Arts center. The group features Detroit veterans Dennis Sheridan (percussion and drums), Kurt Schreitmueller (keyboards), Garry Weinberg (guitar) and Ken Braun (percussion). The group received Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding World Recording for "Sounds of the Holidays" (2006) and "Beatles" (2004) as well as the WEMU-FM award for Best Sound Recording for "Amanhã" (2001).

Rich K has been a prominent band leader, teacher and performer in the metro-Detroit area for more than 30 years. Founder of Basschool in 1994 (www.basschool.com), Rich is active in teaching, publishing and giving workshops in a range of settings for beginners to pros. He has performed with a wide array of musicians, including Marcus Belgrave, Chet Bogan, Billy Eckstine, Sheila Landis, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Messina, Martha Reeves, Ed Thigpen, Jimmy Wilkins and many others.

Kurt Schreitmueller began his studies early on with classical training at both the Cleveland and Detroit Institutes of Music. He continued with jazz instruction under Matt Michaels, the now-retired professor of jazz instruction at Wayne State University. Kurt earned his bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from Hillsdale College, during which time he continued his classical training and was exposed to the works of Chopin for the first time. He has played numerous clubs and one-nighters as a working musician, eventually making his way into the world of music for advertising.

In his formative years, percussionist Dennis Sheridan was drawn into a broad musical palette of styles that ranged from classical, jazz, Motown and Latin to the distinctive East Indies sound, studying with a range of teachers including Rajin (tabla), Skip Burney (congas), Maruga Sharma (world) and Frank Isola (jazz). An active performer, Dennis has recorded with a wide variety of artists, including Chris Collins, Sheila Landis, Larry Nozero, Dave McMurray, and Blackman and Arnold, and has appeared with jazz singer Angela Bofil, the Drifters, the Great Pretenders, Joey Vann, Bowzer and Gaylord & Holiday among others.

Guitarist, bassist and percussionist Ken Braun has played alongside such artists as Meredith Wilson, George Duke, Kim Simons and Savoy Brown, Reba McEntyre and the Lettermen. In 1992, ’93 and ’94, Ken was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Children’s Album as a member of the Gene Grier Singers and the Academy of Vocal Arts of Drayton Plains, both ensembles of which he has been a member for more than 25 years. He also appears regularly with Rare Blend, one of Detroit’s finest corporate entertainment groups. Ken is a graduate of Oakland University’s School of Music Education and has attended Chicago’s VanderCook School of Music for post-graduate studies.