Brazil Music Night med Nelson da Rabeca

It was a pleasure to introduce Nelson da Rabeca to the Norwegian audience, playing together with Rolf Erik Nystrom and Celio de Carvalho. Frode Haltli and Håkon Thelin from POING, contributed to a unique union of sounds combining jazz with the traditional forró.

The Brazilian guitarist Eduardo Agni and percussionist Lius Baruch was first on stage, followed by Nelson da Rabeca and his wife Donna, Celio de Carvalho, Rolf-Erik Nystrøm, Håkon Thelin and Frode Haltli, and finally Wagner Campos as a guest guitar player and Lidia Pinheiro on rabeca for the last two songs.

For the grand finale Grupo Zanza was last on stage, making sure the audience would continue dancing until the end. The group consists of Vera Americo (vocal), Gerardo Orego (base), Lorenzo Nardocci (piano), Antonio Torner (drums), Kenneth Ekornes (percussion) and Per Einar Watle (guitar, cavaquinho).

Nelson dos Santos, better known as Nelson da Rabeca, was born in Joaquim Gomes in 1929. Han is self taught, but has achieved enourmous recognizion for his music. Although his music is known by Brazilians all over the world he has never before played outside Brazil. Nelson da Rabeca is named after his main instrument, the rabeca, but he also plays the accordion. He has become a living legend within the rural forró tradition in Brazil, a rhythmic folk-based music style played all over the country, but with it's base in the northeastern Pernambuco region. The forró has seen a renaissance over the last 15 years through the fusion with Brazilian rock and pop music.