AKSamba is a percussion group based in Auckland, New Zealand. While predominantly inspired by Brazilian rhythms, the group's music also incorporates international rhythms such as drum'n'bass, funk and disco.
Formed at the end of 2002, the group has around 50 members covering a wide age range and from many different nationalities. Its mestres are Darren Cottingham and Jo Odds. Band affairs are coordinated by several committees. AKSamba regularly works with visiting percussionists from around the world such as Mohamed Bangoura, Cabello, Monobloco and Ricardo Ó Rosinha.
AKSamba performs in a variety of settings including festivals, parades, and community and corporate events around New Zealand's North Island. It also runs workshops and introductory percussion courses aimed at the public. AKSamba is one of seven large samba groups in New Zealand, the others being Wellington Batucada, Tauranga Samba, Samba De Sol (Nelson), Sambatron (Hamilton), Samba o Vento (Palmerston North) and Bay Batucada (Napier). There are smaller, informal pagode groups and Brazilian-influenced groups around the country that incorporate the instruments of the larger Rio-style baterias.
Samba, also known as samba urbano carioca or simply samba carioca is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Having its roots in the cultural expression of West Africa and in Brazilian folk traditions, especially those linked to the primitive rural samba of the colonial and imperial periods, is considered one of the most important cultural phenomena in Brazil and one of the country symbols. Present in the Portuguese language at least since the 19th century, the word "samba" was originally used to designate a "popular dance". Over time, its meaning has been extended to a "batuque-like circle dance", a dance style, and also to a "music genre". This process of establishing itself as a musical genre began in the 1910s and it had its inaugural landmark in the song "Pelo Telefone", launched in 1917. Despite being identified by its creators, the public, and the Brazilian music industry as "samba", this pioneering style was much more connected from the rhythmic and instrumental point of view to maxixe than to samba itself.
Bossa nova is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovative syncopation of traditional samba from a single rhythmic division. Therefore, the "bossa nova beat", then, is characteristic of a samba style and not of an autonomous genre.
Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which includes samba and bossa nova.
Samba is a lively dance of Afro-Brazilian origin in 2/4(2 by 4) time danced to samba music whose origins include the Maxixe.
Rhythms of Resistance, sometimes abbreviated to RoR, is a network of percussion bands that play at demonstrations and direct actions that fall within the broad definition of 'anti-capitalist'. Since RoR London was formed in 2000, similar groups have arisen around the world; while not all such bands use the Rhythms of Resistance name, they generally share the same ideology, described on the RoR website:
We are a transnational anti-hierarchical anticapitalist, antisexist and antiracist network fighting for social and ecological justice.
We are activists using tactical frivolity as a form of political action to confront any system of domination.
We also directly support everybody experiencing or struggling against exploitation, discrimination and oppression, without compromising our principles.
Our tactics include drumming and dancing inspired by samba and carnival.
We reject any false opposition between militancy and creative forms of resistance.
Even if we are different bands operating in a decentralized fashion, we aim to maximise participation in our collective process.
We are an open network to any people who share our principles.
Come with us! We have everything to play for!
The Carnival of Brazil is an annual Brazilian festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival", from carnelevare, "to remove meat."
Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho, known as Pixinguinha was a Brazilian composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of popular music, particularly within the genre of music known as choro. By integrating the music of the older choro composers of the 19th century with contemporary jazz-like harmonies, Afro-Brazilian rhythms, and sophisticated arrangements, he introduced choro to a new audience and helped to popularize it as a uniquely Brazilian genre. He was also one of the first Brazilian musicians and composers to take advantage of the new professional opportunities offered to musicians by the new technologies of radio broadcasting and studio recording. Pixinguinha composed dozens of choros, including some of the best-known works in the genre such as "Carinhoso", "Glória", "Lamento" and "Um a Zero".
A tamborim is a small, round Brazilian frame drum of Portuguese and African origin.
Samba rock is a Brazilian dance culture and music genre that fuses samba with soul, rock, and funk. It emerged from the dance parties of São Paulo's lower-class black communities after they had been exposed to rock and roll and African-American music in the late 1950s.
Batucada is a substyle of samba and refers to an African-influenced Brazilian percussive style, usually performed by an ensemble, known as a bateria. Batucada is characterized by its repetitive style and fast pace.
An agogô is a single or a multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba and Edo music and also in the samba baterias. The agogô may be the oldest samba instrument and was based on West African Yoruba single or double bells. The agogô has the highest pitch of any of the bateria instruments.
The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near East.
Samba-canção is, in its most common acceptance or interpretation, the denomination for a kind of Brazilian popular songs with a slow paced samba rhythm.
Monobloco is a Brazilian bloco, or street band, that plays during Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro and is also a professional touring show. Unlike most of Rio's blocos, which tend play one type of music, Monobloco has become extremely popular among younger people because of its 'fresh' sound, playing a mix of various rhythms such as coco, ciranda, marchinha, xote, samba, contemporary R&B, and particularly samba-rock and funk. It continues to grow in popularity each year, and can be seen as a symbol of the resurging popularity in Carnaval blocos in Rio de Janeiro.
Samba-reggae is a music genre from Bahia, Brazil. Samba reggae, as its name suggests, was originally derived as a blend of Brazilian samba with Jamaican reggae as typified by Bob Marley.
Batalá is an international samba reggae music project. The name Batalá is a combination of the phrase "bate lá" meaning "hit there" in Portuguese and Obatalá (Oxalá), the Candomblé deity who is the father of the Orixas and of all humanity.
Carnaval Brasileiro is an annual one-night festival in Austin, Texas. It is a large indoor Carnival influenced by the traditions of Brazil.
Apito, which is the Portuguese word for "whistle", refers to any of a variety of whistles.
"Chiclete com banana" is a song written by Gordurinha and Almira Castilho and recorded in 1959 by Jackson do Pandeiro, who popularized the song. The title means "chewing gum and banana," which refers to American and Brazilian music.
CubaDupa is New Zealand's largest outdoor arts and music festival, celebrating the unique character of Cuba Street, Wellington. It attracts up to 100,000 people. The festival, managed and produced by the non-profit Creative Capital Arts Trust, is held each year over a weekend in late March. The festival features a dozen music stages, parade groups, street theatre performances, visual art installations, and food and beverage vendors. Some central city streets are closed with Cuba Street in the centre, creating a large pedestrian festival zone. Many artists participate in the CubaDupa programme, including acts from all over the world.
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