It’s all about groove, whether the music is Brazilian or American. 

The Brazilian Project plays Samba and Bossa Nova from Rio, sure, but also country dance music from the Northeast of Brazil and Jazz from Sao Paulo. It’s Samba, Bossa Nova, Samba-Funk, Baiao, Forro, Frevo, Choro, Mojo and more. 

The Rick Pollack Trio plays classic Rock, Pop, and Soul music.  

 BIOS 

The Project began in 2005 with a community of musicians getting together to play Brazilian Jazz music for ourselves. A lot of great musicians have participated.  

A current working version of the Brazilian Project Band has guitar, piano, bass, drums and vocals/melodica.  

The Rick Pollack Trio is guitar, bass, drums and vocals. 

Here are bios of some of our players. 

Rick Pollack (guitar and vocals) 

After getting some career baggage out of the way, Rick devoted himself to music and, for many years, focused on Brazilian jazz.  Rick has studied with Marcos Silva, Chico Pinheiro, Toninho Horta and a number of other Brazilian masters.    

He compiled the current band book of over 200 arrangements, which include some of his compositions (he recorded "Muito Non" with Brazilian Master Drummer Kiko Freitas).  He is a  veteran of hundreds of gigs playing American and Brazilian jazz.

More recently, Rick returned to singing classic Rock, Pop and Soul, mostly in a trio format. 

Rick is also active in big band music.  He plays in the Bay Area Big Band, The Don Piestrup Band and was a founding member of Jazz Horizons. 

Jarrell Irvin (keys) 

Jarrell Irvin grew up in Santa Barbara, CA, where he learned to play the piano by ear rather than practice his lessons. He received a B.A. in music composition at UCSB, where he also picked up an undergraduate composition award. He has studied composition privately with Paul Glass, arranging with Dick Grove, and piano with Marcos Silva.  

Jarrell has played keyboards and keyboard bass in innumerable jazz, pop, and funk bands over the years, and occasionally in other venues, such as the San Francisco based George Coates Performance Works show "Rare Area." After moving to the Bay Area in 1982, he started working in the software engineering field, primarily writing music software, including 11 years at Opcode Systems, Inc., Muse Research, and most recently at Danger Inc. His main focus these days is on Brazilian music and jazz. 

 Jim Thorne (drums) 

Jim has been a professional drummer and drum teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades. Many of his students have gone on to professional music careers. 

He has played thousands of gigs and is fluent in many genres such as: Jazz, Fusion, Rock, Brazilian, anTd more. 

He has played and/or recorded with: The Temptations, Pete & Juan Escovedo, Tom Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival), the Tommy Dorsey Ghost Band, John Handy, Art Lande, Bud Shank, the Mike Vax and Full Faith & Credit big bands and many more.

 Karl Hartmann (bass)

Karl is a proficient and versatile bassist in the SF Bay Area. Fluent in many music styles, he plays double and electric basses as well as occasional cello. He  can be heard in jazz ensembles of all sizes and genres, orchestras both classical and theatrical, salsa, rock, top 40 and many others. 

Lillian Yee (vocals, percussion, melodica)

Lillian is a musician with deep roots in Brazilian music, specializing in Bossa Nova, Samba, and Choro. With a degree in classical composition, her skills extend to playing the melodica, harp, and percussion, making her a versatile and dynamic performer in various genres.

She began her career composing in a classical style and later ventured into pop/rock and jazz. Lillian is a veteran of playing in bands where she interpreted songs from the Great American Songbook, Brazilian standards, Japanese pop tunes, and other global favorites. Currently, she is training to become a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP) to provide therapeutic harp and vocal music at the bedside of the ill and transitioning.