Cosmopolitan Paulista
Mário Gaiotto was born in a small town called Tietê, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. His mother, despite coming from an extremely poor Italian immigrant family, had a huge musical culture, which influenced his upbringing. He convinced his father to buy him a drum kit at the age of ten and began taking lessons with a symphonic percussion teacher, who encouraged him to join one of the most important conservatories in Latin America, the Dr. Carlos de Campos Dramatic and Musical Conservatory - or simply Tatuí Conservatory, as it is internationally known.
At 17, he chose to pursue music professionally and was accepted into the three main universities: USP, UNESP and UNICAMP. He picked UNESP.
In his second year of university, he founded, along with students from Santa Marcelina University, the group Mandu Sarará, a quintet of Brazilian instrumental music and jazz. With this group, he recorded two albums, the first produced by Swami Jr. (guitarist and arranger/Omara Portuondo) with special guests Nailor Proveta (clarinetist, composer, and arranger/Mantiqueira Band) and Hermeto Pascoal; the second with the participation of Danilo Caymmi (singer, composer, flutist/Antonio Carlos Jobim's Nova Band). With this group, he toured nationally, traveling to various cities in Brazil - one of which was curated by Zuza Homem de Mello - and internationally to the United States and India.
After graduation, he joined Antônio Nóbrega's band, becoming a notable Brazilian drummer and appearing in drumming books. He recorded "Lunário Perpétuo" and "Nove de Frevereiro volumes I & II" albums and "Nove de Frevereiro" DVD, playing with the Spok Frevo Orchestra. He toured Brazil for years, performing in traditional theaters with guests such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Paulinho da Viola. He also played in Recife Carnival and toured Portugal, Russia, and France.
Gaiotto studied under Cláudio Leal Ferreira, one of Brazil's most renowned harmony and arrangement instructors. This tutelage provided Gaiotto with a fresh perspective on chord structures and composition, ultimately enabling him to achieve his desired outcomes in his own musical creations.
During his extensive 20-year career, Gaiotto has collaborated with numerous musicians and artists, primarily in the Brazilian music industry but also within the realms of jazz and rock. Notable partnerships include working with jazz and Brazilian pianist Benjamin Taubkin, which involved recording a film score and performing alongside Israeli percussionist Itamar Doari (bassist Avishai Cohen); appearing at the Jazz Plaza festival in Cuba with jazz pianist Hercules Gomes; and joining forces with accordionist Toninho Ferragutti, saxophonist Teco Cardoso, and the Belgian guitarist Henri Greindl.
In 2018, Gaiotto embarked on a six-month sabbatical in Portugal. During his stay, he attended the highly-regarded Luiz Villas-Boas Jazz School at the Hot Clube de Portugal and honed his skills under the tutelage of Bruno Pedroso, one of Portugal's most sought-after jazz drummers.
Upon returning to Brazil in 2019, Gaiotto applied for a Proac grant offered by the São Paulo state government. The grant was awarded to fund a six-show tour across the state to showcase his compositions in a trio format. However, the pandemic put a damper on those plans. Undeterred, Gaiotto was determined to share his music with his fans and used the grant to record a studio performance instead. He broadcasted the performance via social media to ten municipalities across the state, reaching a wider audience than he would have through the tour. Buoyed by the positive response, Gaiotto decided to release the audio as his debut album, "Cosmopaulista," in 2022.