Thiago Trad - Brazilian percussionist!

drummer | percussionist

Thiago

Trad

Thiago Trad - percussionist, drummer, composer, producer and music educator

Thiago Trad is a Brazilian percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. His work is deeply rooted in Afro-Brazilian rhythmic traditions, in dialogue with contemporary jazz and experimental music.

As a drummer and percussionist, Trad has studied and performed with renowned masters of world music, including Maestro Letieres Leite, Celine Rudolph, Graham Haynes, Walter Thompson, Gabi Guedes, Santiago Vázquez, Liliam Carmona, Kiko Freitas, Marcos Suzano, Roberto Mendes, Neil Leonard, Rogério Boccato, and Paul Winter.

Thiago has performed on important stages and festivals such as Lollapalooza (Brazil), Badehaus (Berlin), Nublu (NY), Teatro Opera America (NY), and Casa Natura (São Paulo). He also has extensive experience performing at the Salvador Carnival (Brazil), considered the largest popular music festival in the world.

As a studio musician and producer, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists and studios, including Pinching Records (NY), Casa das Máquinas (Salvador), WR Studios (Salvador), and Estúdio Trama (São Paulo). He contributed to the Grammy-nominated album Afrocanto das Nações Jêje by award-winning composer Mateus Aleluia, among other projects.

music & percussion

art e criativity

Trad is a creator and a restless explorer of sound, constantly seeking authentic musical connections and collaborative experiences. Whether through his solo album Moscote, the Trad Organic Trio, or partnerships with artists such as Celine Rudolph, Neil Leonard, Malin Schell, and Mateus Aleluia, his work as a composer, producer, and studio musician has been gaining international recognition.

Bahia Calling — recorded at Casa das Máquinas (Salvador, Brazil) in collaboration with American saxophonist Neil Leonard — highlights Thiago’s improvisational voice. His contribution to the collective project Enter Horizons, produced by Scott Lidner and Adam Ajuha and recorded at Pinching Records (NY), further showcases his multi-instrumentalist approach, performing a range of percussion instruments and flute on the track A Rare Demonstration of Love, available on all digital platforms.

His versatility stands out both in studio recordings and live performances. Guided by deeply intuitive musicality, he moves fluidly across a wide spectrum of instruments — from synthesizers and effects pedals to pandeiro, cuíca, berimbau, whistles, atabaques, caxixis, drum machines, and flutes. In his hands, almost anything becomes percussion.

Explore his journey, watch selected videos, discover his projects, and feel free to get in touch if you’d like to learn more about his work.

"braziliam grooves, jazz, rock, experimental music, the instinctive drumming of Thiago Trad"

Check out the vibe of Thiago Trad's music!

Thiago Trad feat. Max Fragoso

Get to know Thiago Trad's music and his various projects

“Moscote” is the first solo album by Brazilian percussionist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Thiago Trad. His creative inspiration flows between cinema, music, and literature—drawing from the work of Egberto Gismonti, Naná Vasconcelos, Sivuca, Edu Lobo, Airto Moreira, and from the films of Glauber Rocha, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Tim Burton. The album was recorded between the city of Salvador—with its beaches, hills, and vibrant landscapes—and the mountain village of Vale do Capão, a place of waterfalls, trails, and scenery so striking it borders on the surreal. Moscote emerges from Thiago’s intimate relationship with the piano, the instrument that served as the foundation for all the themes in the album. The result is a pulse-driven, experimental sound: the piano was recorded first, and the drums were later woven over its rhythmic and melodic structures. The arrangements took shape organically, with winds, acoustic bass, cello, voice, and percussion gradually complementing the sonic world of the record.

Thiago Trad - Moscote (fisrt album) - 2018

Leonard & Trad Duo (album)

Recorded in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil), WR Session brings together three exceptional musicians who had never played together before, forging a completely organic and unrepeatable musical encounter. The trio — Thiago Trad(drums), Ícaro Santiago (keyboards), and Ejigbo Oni (bass) — captured the entire session in a single take, with only a handful of additional percussion layers later added by Trad. Drawing inspiration from pillars of Brazilian and universal jazz — Azymuth, João Donato, Hermeto Pascoal, and Chick Corea (Return to Forever) — the album unfolds with a warm, richly textured sound. Tracked through an analog recording system, it invites the listener into an intimate, deep-listening journey where spontaneity, interplay, and atmosphere shape every moment.