Marcos Suzano is probably the best-known pandeiro player in the world. He is certainly one of the fastest and most enjoyable, having developed and popularized a style of playing that emphasizes moves with both hands, funky breaks, and updated rhythms that incorporate a barrage of modern influences without losing the power of Brazil's regional rhythmic traditions.

The explanation for these innovations is simple. Suzano grew up a rock and pop music fan and only took to the surdo, the cuíca, and the pandeiro as a young adult. He is now considered one of the most creative percussionists in Brazil, and he is one of the busiest studio musicians and stage performers in the country. Yet he also loves to teach, having taught pandeiro to countless players in the past decade.

Despite his prolific career as a sideman in studio and on stage for such singers as Gilberto Gil, Marisa Monte, and Ney Matogrosso, he has also forged several projects of his own. He collaborated with singer/songwriter Lenine to create Olho de Peixe in 1993 in a blend of northeastern rhythms and electronica. Suzano's solo debut, called Sambatown, was released in 1996. Another, called Flash, followed in 2000.