Sambatuque Reunion
As many of you know, my Brazilian band, Sambatuque, played our first show since I returned from Florida a little over a month ago. We were so proud and glad to finally be back together after all this time. So we put on a "Welcome Home" and Reunion show at Cafe Solstice last Saturday (1/16/10). When I say 'reunion', it wasn't just a gathering for us as a band, but for everyone to celebrate us being able to come back and reconnect with our fans and community. We truly missed all of you SO MUCH!
Those of you that know about Brazilian culture, know that it's all about gathering together in massive numbers and having a celebration! Full of life, full of energy, and full of love. Our reunion show was nothing less than just that. We had two AMAZING sets filled with the most heavy-hitting, melodically intoxicating, and hip-shakin' songs we have in our repertoire; like, Cheguei Meu Povo/Tanta Saudade, Berimbau, and 100% Voce. People were singing along and really diggin' the grooves.
As is normal at our shows, when we start, people are usually kind of shy to dance. We are very lucky to have a variety of professional Brazilian dancers that come out to help the crowd creep out of their timidness. At this show, we were very fortunate to be able to have Dora Oliveira and Mestre Pacifico to get the crowd going. Both of them are well known Brazilian dance instructors in the community. It wasn't too long before everyone was crowding the dance floor. And since this was an all ages show, we invited all of the kids to come out to the floor to dance as well.
I don't think any of us, in the band, expected so many people to come through to the show. We, as a group, truly do music because it is a great gift to be able to share with an audience. So we literally wouldn't have a reason to do what we do. W can't wait for the next show! Please keep coming out, because it's not us, it's you all who make it a great experience!
Round Trip Birthday Bash!
We also had a show at Nectar Lounge for the "Round Trip Birthday Bash" for both DJ Tomas and, Brazilian Dancer, Lisette Austin. Another show to go down in the books as one of the greatest performances EVER! There were so many groups featured; Paris & Truth Awakening, TubaLuba, and Samba Assim. The night started off with local Hip Hop/ R&B group Paris & Truth Awakening. I gotta give them props. They started at about 9pm when the crowd was barely there (9pm is really early in club world) and still managed to rock it. I AM looking for local artists that would like to be featured in my new "Music to my Ears" Blog. Maybe, I will feature them sometime in the near future. ;)
Next up, was a brand new group, in its formation and also its style (Seattle really hasn't seen a group quite like this before), TubaLuba! A traditional New Orleans band that is comprised of just brass instruments, drums, and is lead by vocalist, and Brazilian dancer, Shanetta Brown. I honestly had SO much fun hearing this group. A high energy performance that included the audience so nicely. They started out by marching into the venue and played all but the last song among the crowd. We, in Seattle, are so lucky to have such a group form in our PNW city. I look forward to more performances from this group!
The Tudo Beleza dancers are always an enjoyable performance. From the caliber of the dancers that are performing and their soaring energy to the beautiful costumes. I always have fun performing with these ladies because they always work the crowd into a frenzy and leave them ready and excited for more show! In other words, Tudo Beleza ALWAYS delivers! Backing them up was a new batucada group, formed by Sambatuque drummer Jeff Busch, called Samba Assim. I am also a part of this group, but not as a vocalist, as a percussionist (a life-long goal of mine is now fulfilled!). On stage, there were about 9 or 10 of us percussionists just cranking out samba, sambarreggae, and maracatu, to name only a few rhythms. On top of that, we also had 7...let me repeat that... SEVEN Tudo Beleza dancers, in full costume, join us on that tiny Nectar stage. 'Pure Madness' is a proper way to describe this part of the show. But it was, as it always is, loads of fun!
Finishing the night was my Brazilian band, Sambatuque! I don't really have much to say except, WE ROCKED THE HOUSE! Everybody was feeling the grooves and it was so intense on stage AND watching the audience. From this performance, I have started to realize that I have really come into my own as a performer, since I graduated from Cornish 3 years ago. I'm not shy anymore, I am more engaging, and I really have gained confidence in my ability to lead and work the audience. I have never said this before, but I am really proud of myself! I feel like now is the time to start thinking about my own project. Hmmmm...What do you all think? That, in NO WAY, means that I would ever give up on Sambatuque because I love that band. But I feel that it's time to demonstrate who I really am, musically, and to make my dreams and visions a reality. Sambatuque will continue on, though. We are actually going to be revamping the repertoire starting this week. We hope to add a variety of new rhythms, as well as more English songs to our arsenal. STAY TUNED!!!
-Keep your ears open...
Artists mentioned in this Blog:
1 comment:
YaY!!!! Keep blogging.
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