Tucson's Brazilian Music Invasion

Tuesday, 14 February 2012 23:47

  Carolina Murphy's house stands atop a hill at a neighborhood in the east side of Tucson, Ariz.It is probably a good thing that there aren't many neighbors around because Sambalanço's band practices are charged with Brazilian drumming, an electric guitar, a bass, a keyboard, and three very energetic vocalists.

 

Each one of the band members walks through the door, and into a small music room near the main entrance. The walls are adorned with acoustic guitars, Andean flutes, a tambourine, and photographs of Sambalanço's trips to Brazil and other events. The room is filled with amplifiers, microphones, and congas. At first glance, it is hard to picture the eight of them having band rehearsal in that cramped room. But, somehow, they make it work.

Sambalanço has had many different names and different members through the years. They come from a diverse cultural and musical background. But they have a common passion in bringing authentic Brazilian music to Tucson.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Sambalanço was known as Sounds of Brazil. Back then, the band was formed by Bill Martinez  alongside Brazilian students from the University of Arizona. Martinez is a Tucson native with an expertise in Brazilian percussion.

"The Brazilian band members came and went," Murphy said. She sings and plays the keyboard in the band. "They would graduate from the university and then move back to Brazil."

After Sounds of Brazil dissolved in 1989, another group of Brazilians contacted Martinez.  Together they started the continuation of Sounds of Brazil. The new group was called Brazilian Company. Martinez, who is still a percussionist in the band, met Murphy that same year.

Murphy moved to Tucson from Michigan to attend the UA. While earning her master's and doctorate degree in Spanish literature, Murphy met Nivea Parsons, one of the heads of the Spanish and Portuguese Department at the time. Parsons exposed Murphy to Tucson's local Brazilian Carnaval celebrations, which is where Martinez and Murphy met for the first time.

"I told Bill I liked to sing, and that I was a musician too," Murphy said. "He liked my singing and invited me to play with his band."

They have been friends and band mates since.

Brazilian Company evolved to Sambalanço in 2000.Orestes Morfín, Sambalanço's ex-drummer, remembers how the band came to be.

"I met Bill when I hooked up with Gustavo Gonçalves. He was one of the founding members of Sambalanço and its first guitar player," Morfín said. "Gustavo is from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was the one who got people together and suggested us to start listening to Brazilian music and play some bossas."

Morfín drummed for the group for approximately five years. Now, he lives in Calgary, Canada. He came into town to reunite with his old Sambalanço band mates, and perform at the Brazilian Carnaval celebration at El Parador Restaurant on Saturday, Feb. 18.

"I haven't played with them in years," Morfín says. "This Carnaval will be the first time I come back and play in easily three or four years. My life got complicated and I couldn't give it the time that I would want. It's a good crowd, and it's the kind of thing you don't want to do half assed."

Morfín has a very diverse musical background. He is the drummer of a post-hardcore band called Bitch Magnet. The band was together from 1986 to 1990, and reunited in 2011. With Bitch Magnet, Morfiín has toured all over Europe and Asia. "He's a pretty famous drummer," Murphy said. She constantly expresses how happy she is to have him back performing with them.

"I mean, this guy came all the way from Calgary, Canada. That is love, otherwise he would not be here," Murphy said. "And right there it tells us: we are good friends."

The band's camaraderie reflects in their interaction and the energy they put into their music. The rehearsal was filled with jokes and laughter -even when they messed up a song- and upbeat Brazilian music. Most of the members have worked together for two and plus years, so they have accustomed to each other's personalities.

A couple of them have even traveled through Brazil together.

"Billy has been to Brazil almost 12 times," Murphy said. "He's pretty much Brazilian now," she said, followed by a laugh.

Two trips in particular, however, seem to stand out from their anecdotes.

In the 2006, Martinez and Murphy travaled to Brazil together for the fist time. They took percussion lessons for three weeks with Olodum and Timbalada. These groups are two legendary, Afro-Brazilian drum ensembles from Salvados, Bahia, a northeastern Brazilian state.

"We developed a friendship with these artists,who were also our teachers" Murphy said. "It was a marvelous experience."

Last year, Murphy and Daniel Samson, Sambalanço's bassist, attended Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. Murphy participated in the parade with the Escola de Samba Uniao da Ilha do Governador.

"I played Carnaval Tucson with the band for the first time," Samson said. "And then the following year, I traveled to Rio and went to Carnaval in Brazil. It was an amazing experience." Besides playing Sambalanço, Samson  plays classical percussion with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra.

During their rehearsal for Tucson Carnaval, the band practiced cover songs from various Brazilian genres, including axé and samba. The local Brazilian community comes from all regions of the country. Sambalanço tries to perform songs from all different regions, so each person can listen to music from their native Brazilian cities.

"We have been learning more and more songs every year," said Aaron Szabo, also a percussionist in Sambalanço. "Carnaval is our biggest gig. There is not a huge Brazilian music scene in Tucson, and it is unfortunate because there is a huge one in Phoenix."

Szabo is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.

"I played at the Carnaval parade in San Francisco," Szabo said. "People go out on the streets. It was amazing to see how many people were into it. There are a lot of samba schools in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. It was a cool experience."

Sambalanço has played at Tucson Carnaval since 2000. But before that, the group played the event with its former names and former band members.

"Sambalanço gets to play the event exclusively, pretty much" Szabo said. "This is the 4th or 5th year that I've been performing it. It's a huge party, and people come out from all over to celebrate it."

Last year, Carnaval was canceled due to lack of funding. So this year, Sambalanço comes back with more energy than ever to entertain the audience the entire night.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                "We have rehearsed like seven times," says Bianca Afonso, one of the group's back up vocalists and a Rio de Janeiro native.

"First with only the voices. And today we put the voices and music together. That's the challenge, I guess. To make sure everyone is in the same tone," she says. Afonso is a doctor at the University Medical Center.

Sambalanço has managed to cross their musical and cultural frontiers, and fuze them into the music they play.

"The Music is so energetic, it really lifts up your spirit," said Sandra Klinger, another one of Sambalanço's back up vocalist, and a native to São Paulo.

Other band members include Alex Rodriguez, the group's Puerto Rican guitarrist. Rodriguez studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio de Musica in Puerto Rico. And he has been a member of Sambalanço since 2007.

"To me, it is a thrill to play with these guys," Murphy said. "I don't care if anyone pays me money, I just want to play. For me, that is the joy."

Read and listen to a short profile piece on Carola Murphy.

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