In February 2024, Andrew Gilbert wrote a great profile of the collaboration of the Gurgel and Cressman Families.  A beautiful melding of musical and personal parallels… click here: https://www.sfcv.org/articles/feature/tale-two-jazz-families-brazil-and-bay-area#

In June, 2022 Sandy was awarded the San Francisco Art Commission's "SF Artist Grant" for her project "Cantos do Povo: the Music of Milton Nascimento".  The grant will funded new arrangements, compositions, rehearsals and performance of a multi media show free to the public on Sept. 17, 2023. [The first showing of works was Aug. 6, 2022 Tribute to Milton Nascimento at SFJAZZ.]  Intermusic SF also awarded Sandy it's Music Grant to fund a CD of this music, to be completed in 2024.  Stay tuned for more developments. The Intermusic funding of the upcoming recording is made possible through the Musical Grant Program, which is administered by InterMusic SF, and supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and San Francisco Grants for the Arts.

On Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 8:30 PM, San Jose's Art Boutiki presented a beautifully filmed livestream concert of Homenagem Brasileira's first show with a live audience.  Art Boutiki did a great job with the camera work and fantastic sound. The band was thrilled to play with our first (small) live audience since the pandemic lockdowns!  You can view the show HERE!

I have added a new page with the English Translations of the lyrics from the "Entre Amigos" CD.  Click on TRANSLATIONS to access.  Aproveitam! Enjoy!

In 2017, we released a Music Video for the song "Não Me Acorde Não" (Please Don't Wake Me), filmed in Recife, Brazil with Spok and members of SpokFrevo Orquestra.  The song tells the story of the wonderful and surreal experience of Carnaval in Recife that Sandy and Jeff experienced in 2015.  Spok arranged Sandy's composition, and in 2016, she returned to Recife to record the song for the "Entre Amigos" CD; and in February 2017, Sandy, Jeff and Natalie went to Recife to perform as part of a project "Do Jazz ao Frevo" (From Jazz to Frevo), performing with Spok and his musicians, and filming the video.  Click on "Não Me Acorde Não" to see the video (and it is also on our Photos/Video page).