Article
A nightlong party in 90 minutes
Described by some as the Brazilian Buena Vista Social Club, the average age of Fuloresta is comparable to that of the Rolling Stones – their percussionist-singer is a youthful 73 years old, and is still dancing the entire night away in the manner familiar to the inhabitants of Zona-de-Mata, from whence the musicians come.
Bandleader Siba (otherwise Sérgio Veloso) began his career focussing on the local traditions of the Mata Norte, in Pernambuco State in Brazil. As the vocalist with Mestre Ambrosio, he and the band dealt with the interface between traditional and modern, rural and cosmopolitan, past and present, and developed their own unmistakeable musical language.
Following the demise of Mestre Ambrosio, Siba returned to Pernambuco in 2002 to form the Fuloresta band. Adapting the local culture of all-night street parties/performances to a more condensed version suitable for European festivals, the band began playing in Europe in 2004, to wide acclaim. Referring to this ’compression’ of tradition, Siba notes that ‘we never experience our past or tradition as a cage. On the contrary, our tradition offers us a vast vocabulary, and we do our best to use all of it every day and especially all night long. It is impossible to reproduce the way we involve the whole community in poetry and collective dancing during the whole night, although the hour or 90 minutes that a festival can offer us will provide a very good opportunity to catch a glimpse of our actual musical impact’.
Siba (rabeca, electric guitar, folk acoustic guitar, and voice), graduated in music from the Federal University of Pernambuco. His research on ‘the rabeca in the Zona da Mata Norte of Pernambuco’ was honoured by the Brazilian Congress of Scientific Initiation in 1994. Siba played on "Todos Estуo Surdos" (Everybody´s Deaf) by Chico Science & Naчуo Zumbi on the CD Rei, and together with Chico Science and Fred 04 composed the sound track for the feature film O Baile Perfumado (The Perfumed Ball). Siba can also be heard on the sound track of the extraordinary Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning 1998 film Central Station.
Contemporary masters of the maracatu tradition, Siba and Fuloresta refer back to a pre-colonial era, a ‘time before samba’. Their reading of the tradition however lends itself to a joyous exploration of African rhythms and post-colonial European sensibilities.
Following the demise of Mestre Ambrosio, Siba returned to Pernambuco in 2002 to form the Fuloresta band. Adapting the local culture of all-night street parties/performances to a more condensed version suitable for European festivals, the band began playing in Europe in 2004, to wide acclaim. Referring to this ’compression’ of tradition, Siba notes that ‘we never experience our past or tradition as a cage. On the contrary, our tradition offers us a vast vocabulary, and we do our best to use all of it every day and especially all night long. It is impossible to reproduce the way we involve the whole community in poetry and collective dancing during the whole night, although the hour or 90 minutes that a festival can offer us will provide a very good opportunity to catch a glimpse of our actual musical impact’.
Siba (rabeca, electric guitar, folk acoustic guitar, and voice), graduated in music from the Federal University of Pernambuco. His research on ‘the rabeca in the Zona da Mata Norte of Pernambuco’ was honoured by the Brazilian Congress of Scientific Initiation in 1994. Siba played on "Todos Estуo Surdos" (Everybody´s Deaf) by Chico Science & Naчуo Zumbi on the CD Rei, and together with Chico Science and Fred 04 composed the sound track for the feature film O Baile Perfumado (The Perfumed Ball). Siba can also be heard on the sound track of the extraordinary Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning 1998 film Central Station.
Contemporary masters of the maracatu tradition, Siba and Fuloresta refer back to a pre-colonial era, a ‘time before samba’. Their reading of the tradition however lends itself to a joyous exploration of African rhythms and post-colonial European sensibilities.
Author: Martin Gordon
Works
Toda vez que eu dou um passo o mundo sai do lugar
Published Audio,
2008
O+ MUSIC
Projects
This artist took part in the following project(s) organized/funded by the culturebase.net partner institutions.
