89.9 KCRW Presents: FORRO IN THE DARK

with Forro In The Dark at 10:45pm, Andrea Ferez & D' Agua at 9:30pm


For those who don’t already know, forró is the hip-swiveling, dancefloor-filling, rural party music of Brazil’s northeastern states. And Forró in the Dark is the collective of four New York-based Brazilian ex-pats –Mauro Refosco (zabumba drum and vocals) Davi Vieira (percussion and vocals) Guilherme Monteiro (guitar and vocals) and Jorge Continentino (pifano flute, sax and vocals) - who are updating this traditional sound for the 21st century.

“In Brazil, forró literally means party,” says Mauro. “It’s a gathering, a good time. The objective is to make people dance.” Which is exactly what Forro In The Dark have been doing since 2005 at their weekly residence at East Village nightspot Nublu, where their signature blend of down home forró and urban cool have made them one of the city’s must-see buzz bands.

The skeleton of the band’s sound is the syncopated rhythms of forró, - xote, baião and arrasta-pé - which are familiar to Brazilians as the toe-tapping backdrop to a long workday, a folk party in the Northeast, and the sound spilling out from dance halls in the wee hours. The upbeat tunes contrast with the lyrics’ serious themes: Forro songs romanticize the harsh and unforgiving sertão of Brazil’s northeast, giving voice to the migrant’s melancholy lament and the country bandit’s ballad.

“Forró is so much a part of Brazilian life that you hear it everywhere growing up, in soap operas, on TV, everywhere,” says Jorge. “It’s all over the country, not just the Northeast It doesn’t matter where you’re from. If you’re Brazilian, then you know about forró.” Forro in the Dark pays homage to this playful and emotional genre’s rich history, while also making party music for today’s global village. They update the traditional accordion, zabumba, and triangle instrumentation popularized by the great forró artists like Luiz Gonzaga and Jackson do Pandeiro. Abandoning the accordion, they’ve added Jorge’s pifano, a wooden flute from the Northeast of Brazil, Guilherme’s twangy guitar, and Davi’s timbau, a Bahian drum. The new additions float between the beat of Mauro’s zabumba, a drum with both snare and bass pitches, and the tweet of Davi’s triangle.

“All the traditional elements of forró are there. We respect the tradition,” explains Guilherme, “but that’s just the starting point. We’re open to all styles. Forró creates the space, but our imaginations and our creativity are our only limit.” “Our instruments, our way of writing songs is very connected to those roots,” Mauro adds. “But our approach to playing and our attitude and energy comes from rock and roll. Living in New York helped us break the rules a little. We like to play loud.” The result is a musically omnivorous signature sound that grafts dub, indie rock, funk, jazz and even country & western swing onto forró’s sturdy roots. It’s a sexy, globalized groove that’s entirely their own – and which has been seducing New Yorkers onto the dance floor for years now.

The seed of the band was born at a party for Mauro’s birthday at Nublu, a club in New York’s East Village, where he invited some friends to jam, forró-style. They were such a hit that they started a weekly residency. The band’s current cast solidified for 2006’s Bonfires of Sao Joao, an addictive exploration of the forró form with downtown New York influences, featuring David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, and Miho Hatori as guest vocalists. Forro in the Dark spent 2007 touring throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America in support of Bonfires, spreading their good vibes over the globe. They garnered critical acclaim for their innovative sound, and new audiences fell in love with their energetic live shows. On that period they still found time to record the song “City Of Immigrants” on Steve Earle’s Grammy-winning album Washington Square Serenade. Only two months after returning to New York, they were ready to go back into the studio for 2008’s acclaimed Dia de Roda EP. 2009 promises even wider horizons, with more touring in Europe and the Americas, and the release of their new, full-length LP Light A Candle.

Light A Candle
Forro In The Dark’s newest release, Light A Candle is the group’s first full-length release since 2006’s acclaimed Bonfires of Sao Joao. Recorded in a marathon, six-day session at New York City’s Flux studios with production by Fab, the album contains 13 all-new tracks and a reprise of Forro favorite “Nonsensical” from their 2008 EP Dia de Roda. Taking inspiration from a Neil Young song, Guilherme explains how Light A Candle’s title track is about the power of hope and faith in dark times. “Coming from a Catholic country like Brazil,” he explains, “lighting a candle has a spiritual connotation – and not just in Catholicism, but in Candomble and other Brazilian spiritual practices, too, the idea of illuminating a space is very powerful. For me it’s about using music to transform the darkness of the times we just came out of into something positive.” Old friends and fellow Nublu alumnae drop by to lend their voices to Light A Candle, too. Sabina Sciubba of Brazilian Girls graces “Silence Is Golden” with a sultry and knowing performance, while Forro’s own Guilherme Monteiro, sings the lead on “Better Than You,” and singer- songwriter Jesse Harris voices the rueful hangover ballad “Just Like Any Other Night.” But their tenure in NYC hasn’t erased Forró In the Dark’s Brazilian roots, as covers of forró classics “Saudades de Manezinho Araujo” by Teo Azevedo and “Forro de Dois Amigos” by Edmilson do Pífano attest. Also on the trad side is the rollicking “Bandinha,” built around forro’s fast-paced arrasta-pé rhythm. Taken together, these 13 songs break new ground for Forro In The Dark, and extend the range of Brazil’s favorite homegrown sound into entirely new territory.

Forro in the Dark is Mauro Refosco on Zabumba and Vocals; Davi Vieira on Percussion and Vocals; Guilherme Monteiro on Guitar and Vocals; and Jorge Continentino on Pifano, Baritone Sax and Vocals.

Extra: The members come to the table with undeniable musical chops, whether from a lifetime of jazz training and performance (Jorge and Guilherme), a classical conservatory background and work in the Downtown avant-garde scene (Mauro), or a decade performing in the off-Broadway show Stomp! and a solo hip hop funk career (Davi).