Batida Diferente

Batida Diferente (A Different Beat) is a quartet of veteran DC-area performers fusing Brazilian and American influences in a unique blend of jazz and pop. It features originals, jazz classics with original lyrics and text settings, plus re-imagined covers and fresh arrangements from off the beaten track. This is music you won’t hear anywhere else!

The band was co-founded by vocalist Kim Scudera and pianist Rob Orwin in 2012, and has appeared at Twins Jazz, Mr. Henry’s, the Epicure Café, the Black Fox Lounge, the Hill Center, the Capitol Fringe, Corner Store Arts, Urban Eats, the Salt & Pepper restaurant, and at numerous festivals, fundraisers and music venues in the DC area.

Kim is a classically trained singer whose range covers opera, folk and funk, blues and especially jazz. She sings fluently in French, Spanish, and Italian, in addition to English and Portuguese, and is also a proficient lyricist. She has appeared with the Anderson-Wingo Project, the Columbia Jazz Combo, and TKD Jazz, and originated the role of Yemaya in Carol Campbell’s “The Goddess Diaries,” receiving rave reviews.

Rob earned a composition degree from Chicago Musical College, later studying jazz piano with DC’s own Wayne Wilentz and renowned saxophonist/ educator Jeff Antoniuk. He composed and produced works in various genres before discovering the amazing music of Brazil and co-founding the Brazilian jazz quintet Travessia in 2001. He has since covered keys and wind synth for the neo-soul/R&B group DownTyme and another Brazilian group Batuque, and piano for the Bob Schwartz Quartet, appearing on their Wammie-nominated CD, “Look for the Silver Lining.” Kim and Rob honed their own collaborative process in “Conexão,” their critically acclaimed duo CD.

Drummer/percussionist Mike Wingo joined in 2014, bringing performing experience in multiple genres including symphonic, jazz, ethnic, and electro-acoustic improvisation. Mike studied with the legendary Murray Spivack in Hollywood and has degrees in Percussion Performance from UC Santa Barbara and SUNY Stony Brook. Mike performed in the Santa Barbara Symphony for several seasons and was a founding member of Gamelan Mitra Kusuma (a Washington, DC based Balinese Gamelan orchestra), One Earth Percussion Theatre (a trio of composer/percussionists that included Rich O’Meara and Joseph McIntyre), and Slurrr, an electro-acoustic improvisational ensemble with Doug Quin and Alberto Gaitan. In addition to his work with Batida Diferente, he currently performs in a jazz duo with pianist Dave Anderson, and their CD release, ‘Conversations’ was met with critical acclaim and received extensive radio air play throughout North America.

Jody Myers plays both upright and electric bass for Batida Diferente. His early musical experiences focused on bluegrass and folk guitar and vocals. He took up the electric bass in the 1980s as a member of The Blues Astronauts, an original punk/"no wave" outfit based in New Haven and Boston. After repressing his identity as a musician for a period, he has embraced it with a vengeance for the past fifteen years, starting with the formation of the Nobody's Business band, and continuing with upright bass and jazz studies under Joshua Bayer and Jeff Antoniuk. Jody held down the bottom for the annual Bannockburn Spring Show (community theater production) for nine years, and he continues to do so for Mad Dog Jazz and various other occasional jazz, blues, roots, and rock configurations. Each fall, he organizes the Bannockburn Music Festival.