Here's a few great examples of how to translate Brazilian rhythms to the drum set in a very musical way.
Thanks to Mark Eisenman who brought this great clip to my attention via the Facebook, here's guitarist Ed Bickert with bassist
Dave Young and the masterful Terry Clarke on drums performing a great rendition of "Street of Dreams":
Terry has a real grasp of playing Samba and Bossa Nova on the drum set. From my time hanging out and studying with him in Toronto I know that he was very much influenced by Brazilian Jazz drummer Duduka Da Fonseca during his time in New York City. Duduka is also the author of the acclaimed book "Brazilian Rhythms for Drum set".
During our lessons Terry also sang the praises of Sergio Gomes' recent method book "New Ways of Brazilian Drumming" which everyone should definitely check out:
I caught Sergio's clinic at the 2008 IAJE convention in Toronto and his playing and method was outstanding.
And since I'm on a bit of a Steve Gadd kick these days, here's a few videos of Gadd demonstrating his fine approach to playing Brazilian rhythms on the drums: