Upper School Jazz Band Takes Their Talents to Brazil

This August, an Upper School jazz band embarked on a musical journey of cultural exchange through Brazil. After their tour of Shanghai last summer, the students decided to make international travel a tradition and organized their second annual expedition—this time to Rio de Janeiro.

The aptly named group Jetlag first formed in 2025 and comprises seniors Leo Rao, Beckett Smith, Melese Light-Orr and Shiv Munjal; juniors Giovana Baker and Landon Hollman; and recent alumni Sissi Rao ’26 and Austin Washington ’26.

Saxophonist Giovana Baker, a junior who has familial ties to Rio, suggested bringing the group to Brazil. She described the process of booking performances and planning the trip as an exercise in reaching out to the edges of her community.

“My parents and I have nothing to do with the music industry,” Giovana explained. “A lot of our contacts were siblings, boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, sisters. We got contacts, and then more contacts, and a lot of them were schools. My mom’s high school, the British School, was one of them, and we got to perform with their students.”

The tour began with a performance at Beco das Garrafas, a legendary Rio venue and historic home of bossa nova and Brazilian jazz. The following two days centered on collaborating with Brazilian students. At The British School, Jetlag performed alongside IB (International Baccalaureate) music students and introduced fourth graders to New Orleans jazz. At CEFET, a public school with a focus on technology, the band joined the school’s student musicians for a joint performance and experienced the weekly tradition of “Choro Batucada,” a festive public performance of Brazilian music.

The students then spent a day deepening their understanding of “choro,” a distinctly Brazilian genre that blends European and Afro-Brazilian music styles, through a masterclass at Casa do Choro. After a free day to explore Rio, they returned to the stage for a jam session and performance at Jazz da Santa Luzia before closing out the tour at Audio Rebel, a rock club.

Many of the performances were highly collaborative, with Brazilian musicians joining the students onstage and audiences actively engaging with the music. Giovana noted that the atmosphere felt different from other performances she had experienced before.

“In Brazil, we usually started an hour and a half late because the audience doesn’t get there at the start time,” she explained. “And people dance, people sing along. It's more of a community—you’re playing with your audience.”

Senior Shiv Munjal was also struck by the energy of Rio. "Visiting Brazil was enriching,” he remarked. “All the locals were more laid-back and enjoying life. Every meal I had was delicious and everyone was so hospitable.”

Throughout the trip, Jetlag created a short film documenting their travels, performances and reflections on the experience. Watch the film here.