João Palma

In Brazilian circles, veteran drummer João Palma commands the sort of respect that has been given to Max Roach in hard bop, John Bonham in heavy metal/hard rock, and Ray Barretto in salsa/Afro-Cuban music; in other words, he is widely regarded as one of the best drummers in his field. Over the years, Palma has played with everyone from Milton Nascimento to Sergio Mendes to Astrud Gilberto, and that isn't counting all the non-Brazilian stars who have employed him (a list that ranges from Stanley Turrentine to Frank Sinatra). Palma is both a jazz drummer and a pop drummer; he ha...