Last Pictures of the Year

The pictures are a bit grainy. I've tried not to use the flash in order include the Christmas trees' lights that Remko has put them on specially for us !.

Last rehearsal for 2009

This Thursday 10 December is the last rehearsal for 2009. I propose we make it quite informal, with lots of pagode, time for socialising, and lots of fun.

If you want to bring some nibblies you're more than welcome!

I will also have a little present for everyone....

And, this Thursday's class will be free for everyone again.

I really hope to see all of you there, before we break for the holidays!

Well done everyone!

Flamengo e Samba

Details for Sunday's gig @ SunCorp

Hi all, here are the details for tomorrow's gig at SunCorp.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it due to prior commitments that I thought I could change but it turns out I can't. Jason has kindly agreed to step in and lead the bateria! Please help him out.

Dress code: white pants, Orange Roar shirt. For those who don't have a Roar shirt, there will be some extra ones available in the dressing room. Hang on to them for next time!

Everyone assemble at Inform (radio lollipop) car park, opposite the main boom gate at Castlemain Street. Please be there 5.45pm. You will receive tickets, wristbands and be lead into the stadium and to the dressing room. I will have parked the trailer at the carpark previously, please carry all instruments and bags inside to the dressing room.

We'll have a dressing room, and I've asked for a separate dressing room for the 3 dancers. Please set up, ready to go for half time at 6.45pm. I believe the first 7 minutes of half time will be commercials, but don't count on it - be ready on time!

The half time performance will last 7.30 minutes max, and will go as follows:

1. bateria walks out of centre tunnel (without playing), sets up in front of stage
2. Jason walks out of centre tunnel, playing paradinhas. Bateria responds (of course!)
3. Jason walks to front of stage as well (whilst playing paradinhas)
4. Samba for 2 minutes or so
5. Dancers come out of centre tunnel (walking with grace, but not dancing) then dance on top of stage
6. Optional: Jason enters stage and interacts (musically) with dancers
7. bateria + dancers + Jason walk back to centre tunnel while playing

So ONLY the dancers (and maybe Jason) will go on the stage!

Following the half time performance, I'd like to ask the following players to play in the Den with Jason (repinique): Elwin (2nd surdo), Mike (1st surdo), Fernando (3rd surdo), Gail (shaker), Vitor (caixa)

Everyone else, please take instruments back to dressing room. I will arrive into the stadium about 7.30pm with my car + trailer, and we will be able to load the instruments into there without going back to the lollipop carpark.

Carol & Michael's BBQ

Short notice - entirely my fault as I've been 100% flat out since Wednesday. Sorry!

Carol & Michael are organising a BBQ tomorrow Sunday 29 November at the Roma Street Parklands (where we had the Multicultural festival). It starts around 11am (yes, in time for lunch!).

BYO drinks & food.

Please RSVP (0431 320 754) by Thursday (sorry!). They will provide plates, knives etc.

I understand it will be next to the main stage but check with Carol to be sure.

Flamengo

Possible SunCorp gig this Sunday evening

As you are all aware, over the last few weeks we have been playing with a small number of people (different people each game) in the stands during Brisbane Roar games.

It has been tough as not everyone likes samba, and the people that don't like something typically are more vocal than the ones that do appreciate it. But we are making progress and this might become a regular thing, with better cooperation with the fans down the track.

This Sunday, they again want 6 drummers in the stands. But on top of that, we have been invited (all of us!) to perform at half time on the stage on the field for 7 minutes. We haven't formalised anything yet but I'm sure we'll get there. We also have been asked to provide dancers in costume.

So, this might be our last gig before we break for Xmas, and it would be a great way of showing what we are capable of.

We'll discuss this further tomorrow during the rehearsal! Hope to see you there!

Denis' Party

Posting on behalf of Denis,

To all sambistas,

Denis is putting up a party for us all to celebrate Remko's new trailer mkII.

When: Saturday, December 5th @ 7:00 pm

Where: 14 Eckersley Street , TARRAGINDI

B.Y.O. drinks and musical instrument .
.

Merry melee this Sat

Hey sambistas,
Join the merry melee at 51 Burlington St, East Brisbane (5 min from Mowbray Park ferry stop) from 3pm this Saturday, 21st Nov. Bring an instrument if you feel the itch! Partners and kids welcome (we have a house full of things for kids to bash/juggle/watch/dance to). Food and non-alc drinks provided, additions welcomed.
Hope to see you there!
Will

Tonight's rehearsal

I particularly enjoyed tonight's rehearsal! Thank you all who were there, you were magnificent!

Christmas break

It's that time of the year again where people think less about Samba and more about Xmas presents. So, to allow you to plan your shopping trips, here's the holiday schedule:

• Last rehearsal 2009: Thursday 10 December
• First rehearsal 2010: Thursday 17 January

Don't worry, I'll give you homework to do for the period in between :-)

I hope to see as many as you as possible during the next 5 weeks - we have made some significant progress this year however we could do more and make it even more interesting if everyone attended every class each time.

By the way, why is it that the moment there is any sign of the slightest bit of rain, people don't come to samba rehearsal? Let me know your theory by commenting to this post (Brian is only allowed one comment!!!)

350 drumming event. Saturday 24th Oct.

Hi everyone,
If you want to make some noise this Saturday 24th Oct to voice concerns over arguably the biggest natural phenomenon we will ever experience (WHOA! climate change baby!) and the lack of action on behalf of the powers-that-be, then there is a 350.org event at the West End markets, 11-1pm.

350 drums and 350 frisbees is their goal - 350 cause that is the agreed safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere (in parts per million).

It's a pretty ambitious goal and a pretty awesome cause, so I'm heading along. It would be great to have some rhythmically knowledgeable folks there, such as yourselves, to make 350 drums sound less like this and more like this or this or this, especially if you support the cause.

Here is the event page:
http://www.350.org/node/5431
and here is a video on the 350 project, a massive global project:


Hope to see peeps there. Volume up, CO2 down!
Will

Tomorrow's class cancelled

Based on the poll on the Blog, I have decided to cancel tomorrow's class :-(

Firstly, you all deserve a little break after two great performances in two weeks!

From a more practical point of view, for those who haven't heard yet, my two-week old trailer has been written off by the insurance company after a neighbor accidently hit the accelerator instead of the break when she was trying to reverse close to where my trailer was parked. I am of course trying to get a new trailer asap but this might take weeks. I will need some help in the next few weeks I think to transport instruments :-(

Enjoy your Thursday evening - can I suggest you put on a CD with Brazilian music to stay in the mood...

Claire's House Warming

Hi Sambistas!

I'm throwing a house warming party on Saturday 7th November from 3pm and it would be great if you could join me! There'll be a BBQ so bring whatever meat and alcohol you want to consume and I'll provide the rest. Partners and kids are welcome as well as musical instruments!

My new place is in Wynnum and because it's not a brilliant idea to post addresses on the internet, I will send you my proper address when you RSVP claire.petersen@brisamba.com .

Hope you can make it!

Cheers,

Claire

P.S. There is plenty of space if anyone needs to stay overnight (but you might be on the floor).

Thank you for today

Thank you all for yet another great performance today. To me, it sounded really good. It was fun, having to start and stop so often, and I saw a lot of people laughing because of it. Of course, we all wanted to play more at the end, unfortunately that was not possible because of the programming on the stages nearby, as we're a little bit loud...

Thanks to Elwin for doing a great job as a referee - this turned out to be really important as the inflatable pitch was so high I couldn't always see what was going on.

Regarding Thursday, I'll put on a little vote to the right of this page.

Thanks again all!

Details for Sunday's Multicultural Festival

Here are the details for Sunday's gig at the Multicultural Festival:

• Location: Roma Street Parklands, inflatable soccer pitch
• Time: performance 2.15pm - 2.35pm, please be there 1.30pm as we may need to discuss a few things
• Dress code: white pants, Mangueira shirt, no hat. Elwin, could you please dress in black?
• Parking only available for Dale and myself (access through gate 13 via Parkland Crescent)

Thursday we'll rehearse our cues again. Remember, don't get distracted by the game too much, keep an eye on me. Also remember to have lots of fun, this will be controlled chaos and I think we're going to have a good laugh!

Parading

One of the things that was clear last Sunday was that we still have some way to go in how we parade. Fair enough, we didn't even know we were parading until 2 minutes before time, and on the second occasion they even changed plans while we were mid way on the field, but I know we can do better.

And yes, the pace of walking has a lot to do with this.

Any suggestions and ideas on how we could practice this would be appreciated!

What was I doing in Melbourne on Saturday?

What can I say?

This picture says it all! I hope you all had a great time, I know the crowd really appreciated it and I've already been asked if we want to join the Orange Army again this Saturday! Thank you all for making this possible on such short notice!

PS: Jason - have a good look at the picture. Look at everyone's pants - looks great doesn't it? Look at everyones bare head - also looks great doesn't it. All the same, one might say 'uniform'. Very professional. Oh wait, someone is standing out...... ;-)

Details for Sunday @ SunCorp

Please check this post for updates at least Saturday & Sunday morning

Car parking

There are 6 x car park spots in radio Lollypop’s car park for Remko, Trailer, Dale, Patty, and Claire.

This car park is directly opposite the stadium at the Inform building, 67 Castlemaine street. A volunteer will open the gates to let you guys in. do NOT enter without the event staff being present....THIS HAS TO HAPPEN....

All vehicles must be at entry gate at 2.30pm....to be admitted.

Entry, Accreditation and Game Tickets

All drummers will receive their accreditation and game tickets at the one time. This time will be at 2.40pm at the radio lollypop car park. Each drummer will receive 2 tickets to match. (The six with the Orange Army will be given 3 or 4 tickets to ensure we have room for your drums and yourselves. You will be sitting in three groups of two about 2 to 3 metres from each other).

All drummers will enter stadium via security control gate and be escorted by an event staff member to Band Room.

Band Room

Chaperone will direct you to our event room (the Band Room)...where your group can leave drums and gear. This event room will still be used by my staff. Valuables can be left in lockable lockers in the room.

From here your game tickets will be processed by scanning. You will be shown the only route for movement from Room to Field, Room to Plazas and Room to their game seats. This will be tightly monitored. We CANNOT have people wandering around back stage...particularly with Foxsports and ourselves producing live football and live television....Security WILL enforce. Can’t stress this enough.

Room will be locked during game...so all drummers are either in their game day seats or with you in Orange Army bay during the match. If they wish to leave after their halftime performance that is okay.

Performances

North Plaza ( Paddington end) Remko's group 3.26pm to 3.36pm

South Plaza (Milton Station end) Jason's group 3.26pm to 3.36pm

Field of Play all 3.47pm to 3.51pm

Orange Army: Remko, Fernando, Jason, Mike, Angus, Martinho, Elwin, Patty/Miki 4.06pm to 4.45pm

Halftime (Field of Play) all 4.57pm to 5.00pm

Orange Army: Remko, Fernando, Jason, Mike, Angus, Martinho 5.06pm to 5.45pm

Please note we will inform all drummers of their route for entering and leaving everywhere on Sunday.

Foot wear

Please ensure that all drummers have closed in footwear...no thongs, no football boots!!

Rider

Water will be supplied for all performances. Limited Soft drinks and sandwiches will be available for both drummers and event staff and volunteers. We will all share.

Friends

Please note that if they are going to give their tickets to friends then we can arrange for these to be picked up by their friends/family from the South Plaza ticket gates......at the ROAR members window. No friends/family will be permitted back stage. We have accreditations for the performers ONLY. WE will not be discussing on the day who gets in and who doesn’t. There will be envelopes for you to place tickets in for friends/family etc.

Exiting venue

When the drummers wish to leave they MUST return to Band Room and retrieve their drums and leave via the ring road under the stadium and out through the security control gate they first entered the stadium through and then onto Castlemaine Street.

Roar gig this Sunday

Great news, the gig in SunCorp Stadium this Sunday 11 October for Queensland Roar has been confirmed. Some details yet to follow, but what I know so far:

• starting 3.15pm with some pre-match entertainment, both on the plazas and on the field
• up to 6 of us to join the "Orange Army" to see how we can contribute to the atmosphere. Don't worry you can all be there in the crowd, just for the moment they want to limit this to 6 percussionists as it's a bit of an experiment (we're talking about doing this on a regular basis based on the outcome)
• On field performance during break
• Two match tickets for everyone (that's you plus one guest)
  
• I'll try to get Roar shirts - looks like this is now confirmed as well.
  
• Performers room with water, soft drinks and hopefully some sandwiches

Sounds good? More details to follow. If you haven't yet registered for this gig please send me an email asap. Attendance this Thursday pretty much mandatory (free class).

Surdos for sale

Five Surdos of various sizes 18" and 22". Assorted samba instrument for sale. New and used earplugs for sale as well .

Make an offer !

Contact Brian or Denis.

Instruments next two weeks

Hi all, I will need your help this Thursday and the week after with instrument transport.

I have bought a new car that will be delivered on Friday, but it won't fit the instruments. I decided I no longer will put up with all the damage that is being done to my car because of ongoing instrument transport, so instead of buying a Wagon I bought a car with a tow bar, and I will get a trailer for all instruments (so no longer necessary for anyone to take surdos home!).

It will take a few weeks for the trailer to be completed, so in the meantime I hope you can help out by taking home some of the instruments, in particular surdos! Thank you!

Tomorrows festivities!

Hey everyone,

Reminder about tomorrow.

Where: 53 Vernon Tce, Newstead. Our building is the red brick Mactaggarts woolstore right next to the Teneriffe Citycat terminal/ bus stop. Please go around the back of the building to where the river is, and look for us in the pool/BBQ area out the back of the building. I have to buzz you in so call out to me!

Parking: There's parking on the streets and also in a big 3 storey carpark building beside our building, if you turn into its driveway just drive directly down toward the river and there's visitor parking there too.

When: 12pm, Saturday 12th September (TOMORROW!)

BYO: Meat, salads, alcohol. I will supply a few loaves of bread, chips and soft drinks. Also BYO instruments!! We will play pagode =)



If you need helf or have questions, please call me on 0402 373 669.

See you tomorrow!
Reni

Multicultural Festival 2009

I just had some discussions with the organisation for the Multicultural Festival (Roma Street parklands) and it is pretty much agreed we would take part in this in a weird and wonderful and original way. Approx 2pm, 18 October.

If you like to get involved, put it in your diary now :-)

Survey

In my never ending quest for improvements in the Samba School, I will send you each a short survey in the next few days with a few basic questions.

I'd really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to email me back the completed form.

Thanks
Remko

Brasil Independence Day/ Adios Ereni!

Hello lovely sambistas,

I remember someone making a suggestion about having a shindig to celebrate Brasil telling the Portuguese to get lost in 1822, who's still up for that? I am departing for Spain on September 20, so it would be nice to make it a little farewell party as well *choking back tears*.

For a little change of scenery (unless you all want to have it at Orleigh Park in West End or somewhere else) I'd like to invite you all to my place in Teneriffe- we have a great BBQ and pool area overlooking the river.

Saturday September 12
12pm onwards
53 Vernon Terrace, Newstead
BYO food and alcohol, some nibblies and soft drinks provided (BBQ available)
As there is only enough seating for 6-8 people, please bring your own seating or a blanket to spread over the grass.

Please rsvp asap!

Reni

C&K Kindy Gig

To those lucky enough.
The gig this Sunday is at the C&K West End, Kindergarten.
This is half way along Corbett Street in West End.
The event is from 10 - 12 noon, and we play at about 11.40.
There is a lot a of coffee and even more cake, so feel free to arrive early and stuff your face. Please let Remko or myself know if you can play.

Workshop

Hey Brian,

Keen to do Samba workshop.

Are you going to post details?

Another 'big' gig coming up!

Well, we have played big gigs before:

• We played at the Gold Coast Indy, several times
• We lead the Australia day parade
• We lead the Pride parade a few times
• We played for 40,000 people in SunCorp stadium
• We did a segment on 'Toast TV', broadcast nationally

... so we have enough experience for the next gig:

• Sunday 23 August, about 11:45am
• Angus son's Kindy, somewhere in West End (to be confirmed)

I'd like to get a smallish group together for this one, as to not damage those little ear drums, please email me if you'd like to be involved, and I will let you know if we can fit it in!

Sounds like fun!

Nice video from Brian's excellent blog

Finally

Finally got into the blog

Gig: Soiree

Do you remember the gig we did at UQ last year, on a late afternoon, in front of a bunch of very enthusiastic students? It was a lot of fun, and I remember some of you commenting that this was the best gig ever.

Well we have been invited again!

Saturday 8 August, 5pm; please be there 4.30pm
International House, Glasshouse Road, St Lucia
(within University of Queensland)
White pants, Mangueira shirt

More details to follow here, but let me know if you can make it by sending me an email please!

Brazilian Independence day

(Posted on behalf of Lynne)

No it's not the lastest Spielberg movie.

Sept 7 is Brasil's independence day and I thought it was a good excuse for a party.

I suggest Sat Sept 5 maybe New Farm Park. Music, Feijoada,Caipirinhas etc.

Suggestions re date, venue etc welcome.

Whose interested???


Lynne

Digital Couch

Who needs TV when you can create your own entertainment !? !?

This is a link to the blog I have set up as Remko had suggested. It's not only Samba but MODERN Brazilian ( and Portuguese ) music as well , from my perspective. My own archive of this fascinating culture . . . . as I rummage through the internet .

I don't know why I want to do this. . . . May be the fear of being banished from the Brisamba Blog ?

I'll post some more interesting video clips as I go. Any suggested musicians are welcome . Like to discover new unknown good musicians.

Andreia Dias - Seu Retrato

Interesting Cuica playing.

Try this

Try this

Brian has missed this one!

No class NEXT week 23 July

I'm not available next week so unfortunately will have to cancel the class on Thursday 23 July. I look forward to seeing you all this week 16 July though.

PS: On Thursday, I'll have a little present for all of you that played at SunCorp!

Well done everybody!!!

Well done everybody today! It was a fantastic performance, as I expected it was much more powerful than during the rehearsal on Saturday, and I was really proud to see you guys play after all the other groups.

I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to speak with all of you following the event - it was a bit chaotic as you may have noticed.

I had an interesting perspective, being in the position to see each group perform up close, then watch all of you. Certainly you can all be proud of what is a great group of people.

Congratulations to all of you who had their first performance: parabens!

My best wishes go to Byron and Maria, both too sick to perform. I know you wanted to.... there will be a next time.

Also applause to Denis who switched group at the last minute to strengthen the numbers of the Middle East group that had been struck by swine flue.

Finally, thanks to Melanie and Dale for helping out with the Surdo transport!

This was the third year in a row that we played at "Queensland Roars against Racism", this must be a credit to the quality of what we do! So let's keep going!!!

QRAR: late change!!!

Firstly, thank you all for attending the rehearsal today, at the end it was really getting together. I'm sure all of you will be very impressive tomorrow!!!

There has been a late change for the performers welcome tomorrow. The time is still 3.25pm, but you now have to be on the northern side of the stadium (Caxton street side), on the grass area to the right of the path to the stadium entrance! See you there!

Further details QRAR

Rehearsal - tomorrow Saturday 11 July 3pm

• Location: Sunnybank State High School oval. Best parking and access to the oval from Gager Street
• I will need a few of you to take the place of the Aboriginal group, who are not able to attend the rehearsal. I suggest all tamborim players!
  

Performance - Sunday 11 July

• Melanie and Dale - car arrangements will be announced during the rehearsal tomorrow. They have changed from what I announced yesterday.
  
• Everyone else: please be outside the Suncorp Stadium boom gate closest to Cordova Street no later than 3.25pm. If you miss this time you will NOT be able to enter the stadium!
  
• Unfortunately, there will be no dressing rooms available inside, so everyone will need to come in their costume, carrying their own drum (except for surdo players).
• Costume: white pants, Mangueira shirt. No high heels (not even Denis)!
• If people need parking, the Polish Club has allowed us to park on their parking, preferably on the lower area. It's about a 15-20 minutes walk to the stadium.
• It will all be over by 4.15pm, the performance is about 3.59pm
  

Important note: for both the rehearsal and the performance, please be on time. We have extremely tight schedules. Thank you!

Cheeky Forro Dancers

Never mind Tom Ze's good music, keep a watchful eye on the cheeky and playful dancers. Sorry Remko, can't sleep after Samba tonight.

Note: Don't go to the "Josenid.blogspot.com" the video is too small. Stay in google and click the image on your left .

Queensland Roars agains Racism - rehearsals

With only 4 days to go there's still a lot of work to do regarding our performance this Sunday:

• At tomorrow's rehearsal we'll again spend some time rehearsing 'Recordar'. Can I ask everyone to please be on time as some people will need to leave early tomorrow.
• We'll have another rehearsal, this time with ALL performers. This will be this Saturday, 3pm at Sunnybank State Highschool oval (some of you have been here before!). I hope everyone can make it to this one.

Another couple of points regarding these rehearsals:

• Some members haven't attended last Thursday and Sunday's rehearsals. As the arrangement is not trivial, and we won't be able to 'wing it', I like everyone to attend both rehearsals
• I was a little bit embarrassed on Sunday when half of the Samba School rocked up over 15 minutes late. On Saturday we'll rehearse with 120 performers so please be on time, preferably even early.

I will post details about the Sunday logistics in the next few days, still things to sort out...

Cheers

Remko

kuduro

I find the "mutant" steps quite fascinating with the dangling arms. Haven't seen in it catch on in the US yet.

Kuduro dance

These kids , from Angola, copy Remko's dance style and move a notch higher. Quite big in Angola and immigrants in Portugal. Wonder what the Brazilian kids can do ?

Naná Vasconcelos and Maracatu

Have you guys seen this clip yet ?

Extra rehearsal this Sunday

Thank you for the overwhelming response for playing at Queensland Roars against Racism on Sunday 12 July at SunCorp stadium. We currently have over 110 percussionists confirmed from 7 groups (Brazil, Sri Lanka, Middle East, Burundi, China, Cook Islands, Aboriginal).

Note there will be two rehearsals:

• This Sunday 5 July 3pm at the Polish Club
• Saturday 11 July (the day before the performance), time/location to be confirmed but likely to be at Ballymore stadium.

We'll also practice some breaks tonight at our regular rehearsal but this is part of what we do normally anyway.

Shaker with attitude

Two minutes into the performance, watch out for the Japanese female shaker on the left .

Volunteers wanted

If you have a little bit of time left and want to do something extra for the samba school, I could do with a couple of volunteers for the following tasks:

• Collect/make photos of all current members (in action!), as well as some further information like 'date of joining', 'a short paragraph about yourself' and 'favorite instrument'. This information will then be uploaded to a new 'who is who' page on the members area of the brisamba.com website. We have so many people now so it will make it easier for new members to learn who is who.
  
• Investigate new surdo straps. This job is probably best for a surdo player. Investigate what kind of strap is best, where to get them from, what price, or do we need to make something ourselves or get some made for us.

Please email me or post a comment if you would like to help with either task. Thank you!

João Rabello – An Experience In Six Strings

The guitar is central to the Brazilian musical experience. From great composers like Villa-Lobos, to folk forms like samba and bossa-nova, the guitar has played a pivotal role in unifying "high" and "low" music. In a country as large as Brazil, with such a rich musical heritage this means a lot. The guitar became popular there even before emerging as a concert instrument in Europe in the 20th century.

João Rabello has been described as a member of Brazil's elite register of musicians; little surprise when he can claim legendary guitar players on both sides of his family going back four generations. An Experience In Six Strings is João Rabello's tour through the universe of the Brazilian guitar. From the traditional to the vanguard, from the north to the south, this repertoire is for those who wish to hear a small piece of a long history carried in six strings.

• Fri 17 July 8pm
• The Tivoli
• Tickets: Full $39 Conc $29
• Bookings: 132 849 or www.qmf.org.au

Barbatuques: Baiana

This is an interesting Brazilian body percussion group

Gail's holiday party

(posted on Gail's behalf)

Why: Come and celebrate with a night of European food with ME before we leave.

When: From 7-ish onwards, Saturday 27 June

Where: 18 Neata Street, Corinda (0407 583 452)

Wear any of your favourite holiday gear (the more German, French, Irish, Spanish, Italian and/or English the better)

BYO drinks

Suncorp stadium gig - registration open!

As you probably know, we have been invited to play at Queensland Roars against Racism again on Sunday afternoon 12 July. This will be for about 55,000 visitors, a full house!

I'd like as many people as possible to play that day, we're working together with other groups as well so it's going to be something really really special.

Please let me know by email if you want to be there (and why wouldn't you!).

One thing, unfortunately it is extremely unlikely this year that we'll get tickets to see the game itself. Mind you, we would have to prepare anyway during the first half, however I think some of you may still be disappointed. Sorry, this is very much outside my control.

Cheers

Remko

Fete de la Musique - well done!

Well done everyone, despite the rain and the resulting lack of a real crowd, you all did very well indeed! Applause for Belinda, Fiona and Peter, it was their first gig with us!!!

And now for the next one....!

Reminder - Fete de la Musique this Sunday

All are invited, please let me know if you haven't done so yet.

• When: Sunday 21 June 2009, 11am - 12.30am, please be there 10.30am
• Where: New Farm Park "rotonda" (the music pavilion close to the road next to the river)
• Dress: Mangueira shirts, white pants, and/or creative pink/green
  

I'd love for all of you to be there - it's a big park ;-)

It has been suggested to have a picnic after this, I think this is an excellent idea. We can also play some pagode during this if you're up to it!

Marcio Local

Check this group out. They play good samba using daggy musical instruments such as the melodica, " ukelele" ( according to the translation ) and spoons ( wood ).


Have problem uploading the clip

Ile Aiye

These chaps seem to enjoy themselves, indeed.

. . . Surdo Limbo dancing anyone ?

Hot banana news!

*** Hot news ***

Patty just sent me an email regarding Fete de la Musique this Sunday, she is going to dress up as a banana! I really look forward to it!

Gig - Fete de la Musique

As you are hopefully aware, we again have been invited to play at this year's Fete de la Musique. Last year we played in Queen Street mall, and this year we'll play at Newfarm Park:

• When: Sunday 21 June 2009, 11am - 12.30am
• Where: New Farm Park "rotonda" (the music pavilion close to the road next to the river)
• Dress: Mangueira shirts, white pants, and/or creative pink/green
  

I'd love for all of you to be there - it's a big park ;-)

Please drop me an email to let me know if you will or will not play.

It has been suggested to have a picnic after this, I think this is an excellent idea. We can also play some pagode during this if you're up to it!

Brisamba on Brisbane City Council site

Please check us out on the following Fete de la Musique site. We're on front page !

Fete de la Musique: June 21st

After all the talk on the previous blog, are we doing any gig for the Fete de la Musique this year ?

Songs!!!!

Just letting you know I decided to bite the bullet: I just ordered an amplifier that we can use to connect to the big speakers in the Polish Club. This means that, hopefully from next week, finally we will be able to rehearse all kind of different songs, with vocal(s) and cavaquinho(s), and beautiful, beautiful arrangements.

This will be the start of a new era within the samba school, with focus shifting from just percussion to using percussion in combination with songs. You will not be bored. We will still practice rhythms, even new rhythms, so you should see this as an extension, not a replacement, of what we do. As I said, this will result in much more variety and this can lead to some big things in the future.

In the short term, this means that our lovely tamborim section will need to rehearse the songs that I arranged last year, and that I'll have to work on new arrangements. Also, we need to extend the tamborim section with people that will nail these advanced arrangements and that can either already read sheet music or that are prepared to learn. Let me know!

Regarding songs, I am very much open for suggestions on what other songs to make arrangements for. Again, let me know!

I am excited!

Stimulus Package and MARCEL

A quote from the ABC :

" . . . The Government has come under fire since the Tax Office revealed 16,000 cash payments were made to deceased estates as part of the economic stimulus package.

Another 27,000 cheques were made out to those living overseas.

The Opposition says that is $40 million that will not reach the Australian economy. "

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/28/2583249.htm

. . . Marcel, please do the right thing and send us $AUD 900.00 worth of Samba musical instrument . . . . ASIO and the ATO are looking for you, Marcel.

Bringing instruments to class

Just a suggestion for people bringing their own instruments to class (which I encourage and appreciate): please label them, to avoid confusion. I find a good way is with a permanent marker somewhere on the inside of the instrument.

ever thought of borrowing some tips from american marching drumming?! They got discipline! and still at high school!

Gig this Friday 29 May

We have been invited to perform at the Sunnybank State High School this Friday 29 May.

Where: Sunnybank State High School, 9 Gager Street, Sunnybank
When: Friday 29 May, perform 8:15pm sharp, be there 7:30pm
Dress code: Mangueira T-shirts

It's going to be a short & sharp gig, I think I want to play without any break, magically moving from one rhythm to the next. We need to play at 8.15pm sharp, no room for messing around as they have a very tight schedule!

Please let me know if you want to play by email or by reply to this post!

Rehearsal tonight

Just a quick note that I checked with the Polish Club and there's no problem with water there, so I hope to see you all tonight nice & dry!

Also I look forward to seeing Patty, Brian and Claire in their special garments!

Great percussion intro!

Announcing ... a great gig!

OK the press release has gone out today. So, Brisbane Roar is playing Celtic in SunCorp stadium on Sunday 12 July as part of Queensland Roars against Racism (QRAR).

We've done QRAR twice before, so why is this so much bigger?

• It's pretty much certain to be a sell-out, so 52,500 people or so will see us live
• It's going to be broadcast nationally and internationally

But what's really great, and a great honour for me personally, is that I have been asked by Multicultural Affairs Queensland to be the artistic director for half-time entertainment. I have been asked to completely create, arrange and manage a 6.5 minute 'percussion spectacular' at half-time, with not just the Samba School, but with other Brisbane percussion groups as well, with at least 100 drummers on the field. There's some further details that are still classified but you start getting the idea I hope.

So it's going to be an interesting two months, with a lot of creative thinking, arranging, rehearsing and project managing.

I'm looking forward to it! And I hope so are you! More details over the next few weeks...

Major event coming up

Here's a very early heads up about an event we might be involved in on Sunday 12 July.

For confidentiality reasons I am not able to say anything more at this stage, but if it all goes ahead this might be the biggest thing we've ever done.

If you think you may want to be part of this, please keep this date available.

More details next week, after the press release has gone out... ;-)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Message from Lynne:

I was just wondering if any one from the Samba school is interested in tickets to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Monday June 29? Unfortunately there are no group discount price for this performance. All tickets are $82.90.

If anyone is interested they can email me at salsam3 [at] hotmail.com

Thanks
Lynne McLachlan

Ruben plays Cajón (box)

Fete de la Musique?

If we are going to FdlM, what I want to know is "where"? Any place but that nest of vipers, Queen St Mall, with its retailers who hate noise.

What about on a Citycat ferry? We could go up and down the river - or get off one ferry after a while and go back in the other direction on a different ferry.

That would be a HOOT! Imagine the faces of ferry patrons when they get to a jetty and hear us coming down the gangplank.

MWAAHAAHAAAA!!!

Tonight's rehearsal...

... is promising to be GREAT!

Why, you ask? Because PATTY IS BACK from Cambodia!!! Yes, she has been on a 3 week workshop over there to descend into the depths of her own mind and further improve her already excellent skills on the agogo, as well as incorporating elements of Khmer music like the Kong Vong Toch (Cambodian agogo) and the famous Krap (a pair of flat bamboo or hardwood sticks, not to be confused with popular Australian music).

I for one am looking forward to this new dimension that she will introduce tonight!

Caution: she will probably also offer some illegally imported Cambodian citrus fruit for sale! Be careful with these, they are worse than Amsterdam mushrooms!

class CANCELLED tonight 16 April

Sorry guys I've got a very sudden high fever.

That was fun!

Just a quick note to thank all of you who played yesterday in Brunswick street, that was a lot of fun! The bucket song was a "once off", we won't permanently introduce the bucket as part of our bateria ;-)

Well done to Byron and Martinho, it was their first gig!

Also well done to Gail for holding the shaker section all by herself!

As a heads up, I'm currently in the process of organising the following gigs:

• 29 May: Sunnybank High School
• 21 June: Fete de la Musique

Details for gig tonight

Not much more detail for tonight (Sunday 12 April) than I already wrote:

• Be there: 9:10pm
• First set: 9:30pm
• Second set: 10:30pm
• Dress code: Mangueira shirt, white pants (I'll bring more shirts in case people don't have one yet)
• Where: former church at corner of Malt & Brunswick streets in the Valley. Entrance is from Malt street

Instruments:

• Remko: Repinique
• Erin, Jason, Denis: Caixa
• Gail: Ganza
• Claire, Maria, Martinho: Tamborim
• Ereni, Angus: first Surdo
• Melanie, Byron: second Surdo
• Brian, Will: 3rd surdo

See you there!

Dan Bau ( Monochord instrument )

Remko, this is how it should really sound like , traditionally. Ignore the keyboard in the background.

Brazilian Internet Radio

Have a listen to this free Brazilian internet radio from Salvador, Bahia:" Radio Cana Brava "

http://www.live365.com/stations/307181

An old fashion arrangement where you can hear all the acoustic instrument clearly. . . . . As long as you don't mind occasional sponsoring messages from the C.I.A . But the music is good though, honest !

Brian is starting Dan Bau classes!

For all that are interested in learning to play the Dan Bau, please contact Brian. This is what you might learn:

Easter gig!

Yes, it's time for a gig again! It has been a while so I'm looking forward to this one. It's a pretty interesting 21st birthday, Neo Tribal party, with a very artistic/eclectic audience apparently. Let's see! We'll do two sets, a performance and then later another one with some intense audience participation.

• When: Easter Sunday evening 12 April, approx. 9.15pm
• Where: former church at corner of Malt & Brunswick streets in the Valley
• Costumes: Mangueira shirts

I realise this is Easter, however this also means you've got the day off the following day!

Please let me know by email if you can make it!

Thanks

Remko

Class CANCELLED tonight 2 April

Sorry all, I'm not feeling well and will have to cancel the class tonight. I'll also send out an email but unfortunately I think some people might get this message too late, for which I apologise.

Announcing: new costumes!

All,

I'm proud to announce a cooperation with a swim wear company for our new costumes. Following up on frequent requests from some of the people that have booked us, we will be much more in-line with the spirit of Brazil, showing a bit more flesh, while still maintaining the central theme of pink & green. See the picture!

For the avoidance of doubt, the male members of our group do not have to wear the top.

The swimsuits will be made available in different sizes. Today, I received a sample for myself, so I invite you for a 'cat-walk' session at my deck, tonight Wednesday April 1st, at my place.

See you then
Remko

New South American Sambistas

Remko, there are more South American players coming to our school than ever before and they are returning for more too !

You must be doing something right ! ? !

Has our average attendance increased or am I hallucinating ?

New class structure

Draft for comments

OK, based on the valuable feedback in the last few weeks I have drafted a new structure for rehearsals. Note this is a draft for your comments only at this stage, it will not start until a few weeks from now.

Advanced group
Key to the new structure is the introduction of an 'advanced' group. The members of this group will be nominated by myself, based on the following criteria:

• Skill level, including ability to learn new things quickly
• Commitment, in particular ability to attend classes very regularly

Please note the amount of time someone has been with the samba school doesn't automatically qualify for membership of the advanced group. Nor is this group just for 'my favourite members', whatever that might be. Please leave any politics out of this.

I don't intend to limit the number of people in the advanced group, and in fact I encourage everyone to practice, learn, and work hard to one day, sooner or later, become part of this group too. To help with this, I am developing a skills matrix to help people progress and to learn to play instruments in a more structured way. Coming soon to a Samba School near you...

Songs
To introduce some much needed variety, we will be playing songs, as soon as we've sorted out the PA. We'll play songs both in the common and advanced group, although the advanced group will have more complex arrangements. Besides songs we will continue to do plain batucada, so just percussion, again the breaks in the advanced group will be more complex. Also, I might try new things with the advanced group first, and later use that group to teach the same thing in the common group, as it will be easier to understand something new if you can hear what the result should be.

Performances
I still want to give everyone the opportunity to perform as often as possible. I believe most performances we do will still be with the whole group. However for some performances, and it really depends on the circumstances, we'll also have the 'advanced' group doing some features. I think for these gigs we'll start with the smaller advanced group, then get the full bateria on stage at a later moment for extra impact. And yes, for some gigs I might just be able to invite the advanced group, depending on the circumstances.

Class/rehearsal structure

• The first part will be used to set up and to play (new) songs in a more informal setting, with smaller instruments often used in pagode, as it's easier for everyone to get used to a new song with only a few instruments than with the full bateria. Note I still like to keep this central, so please keep any other noise to a minimum. Everyone is welcome for this part. I will not be able to teach any instrumental skills in this part of the night, as I'll be playing cavaquinho most of the time.
• The second part will be technique training, where people can practice and learn to play an instrument or instruments as well as playing together. Everyone is welcome for this part, and advanced members can learn new instruments, practice, have fun, and help out others.
• The third part will be dedicated training for the 'advanced' group, with more complex rhythms, breaks and arrangements. This part is only open for the 'advanced' group, and it is expected that the advanced members attend this session pretty much weekly. I do encourage everyone else in the Samba School to stick around and listen though, as you'll also be able to learn a lot from listening.

The timetable will be as follows (times are approximate):

• 7.00pm – 7.30pm: Setting up, pagode, new songs, welcome
• 7.30pm – 8.25pm: Technique training (common group)
• 8.25pm – 8.40pm: Break
• 8.40pm – 9.30pm: Advanced training (advanced group)

Advanced members can skip the first parts if they want, although they are very much encouraged to attend the whole night to learn new instruments, help the common class and have a good time.

Discipline
A few members have commented that there should be more discipline during the classes, and I fully agree:

• Be on time as much as you can
• Be there as often as you can, in particular advanced members for the advanced training
• Be quiet when I'm explaining something
• Be willing to learn, allow me to teach you, and don't get offended if I try to explain something to you and you don't get it straight away
• Respect each other, and maintain a positive attitude (believe it or not but I often get complaints about other members 'whinging')

(I could have started each of the above with the word 'please', but I'm Dutch ;-)

I realise this is all quite a bit of information to take in, and that it will be lost in the depths of the Blog fairly soon. I therefore will also introduce the 'Primavera handbook', which will contain the above information plus other useful stuff. This will be given to all current and new members.

I hope this structure will not only improve the skills in the samba school, but also increase the fun and achievement. After all, if we all progress we can be more proud on what we have achieved! And remember, the samba school can only be what you make of it!

I look forward to your constructive feedback. As always, please keep it short and sharp. I have also included a little poll to the right of this page.

Thank you
Remko

Morena Tropicana

OK Guys, you all seem to like the song "Morena Tropicana" so the lyrics and cavaquinho chords are now up on the members-only site on Brisamba.com in the "songs and arrangements" section.

I hope you all remember your password; user name is firstname.lastname. And... there is a 'forgot your password' link as well...

We'll start practicing this song this Thursday! As preparation, listen to the video in the post below, and have a look at the lyrics. Have fun!

Morena Tropicana and País Tropical

The way forward with the Samba School

OK, let's try to keep this short & sharp: I feel we need to change the format of the classes a bit to keep it interesting for both beginners and advanced people, and for me as well. I haven't decided yet on this and would be really interested in your (constructive!) feedback.

What I'm considering:

• Making sure there's something new pretty much every night. That way people will keep coming else they'll miss out. Of course that also works the other way - if people don't come then they're holding up progress for the whole group (as is happening now a bit too) so that will need to be managed too.
• Songs, songs, songs. This would be a great way of adding much needed variety. I loved making the arrangements last year, that was a highlight in the 5 years of Primavera. Songs make it much more complex (set up PA, cavaco player, tamborim section, singers), but I feel it's worth it. I definitely can't do this all alone so I will need your help/ideas.
• Maybe have a lesson schedule, published on the blog, with info on what we do each night. Also, maybe dedicated classes (every 4, maybe 6 weeks) for beginners so that I can go through the basics with them. Posting a schedule on the blog hopefully will encourage more people to have a look at it.
  
• Having an 'advanced' group for certain songs/rhythms. That way the people with 'less talent' (not sure how to put this) won't hold up the more 'advanced' people. Very difficult this one.
• We experimented the last couple of weeks with pagode the first 30 minutes. Personally I am not convinced about this yet but appreciate any feedback.
• The money side of things. I'm considering making payment for classes optional, as in it's expected people that can afford the $8 they pay but if you can't then you don't have to. This of course will only work if there's enough paying people. I don't want people to stay away because they really can't afford it.
• Any other ideas? Please comment on this post. Keep it short & sharp & positive ("Remko, I'm bored" is definitely not encouraging me to think constructively).

Your feedback is very much appreciated. For what it's worth, I have to admit there's a chance that I'll quit with all this if we can't keep it interesting and positive enough... so please make the effort to think and comment about this.

If you want to post comments privately or if you again have lost your password don't hesitate to email me!

Yours in Samba,

Remko

Thanks Angus & Renata!

Just a quick message to Angus & Renata, thank you very much for organising a great party! I had a fantastic time, great food, and the caipirinhas and the cachaca, well, were just amazing. I also really enjoyed the little pagode and then the playing on the street was fun as well. Funny how again we saved the day for RioRhytmics, I didn't quite expect that we would be leading but hey it's more fun for us that way anyway!

Thanks very much!

Remko

Carnaval West end: pictures

Try the link below for the rest of the pictures. Let me know if you can't get through:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bdi12177/CarnavalWestEnd200902#

Carnaval, West End: . . . .the parade

Mike sums up people's feeling !

Boundary Street Parade

Rio Rhythmics is organizing a street parade this Saturday night, on Boundary Street, West End, to coincide with carnival in Brazil. I have been talking to Tarcisio about participating. For anyone who is interested, he could do with a few extra surdos, shakers, and tamborines, and a snare or two. If there is extra people, a few agogos. Dress is white. We are meeting at the back door of Rio Rythmics at 9pm.
For those who want a bit more action, come to my place at 5pm for a Brazilian BBQ, pagode, and carnival on TV (i have TV Globo, so it is live, but on Saturday, it will only be carnival from Sao Paulo). My house is just down the road from Boundary Street, so maybe at 8.30 we do our own little, much tighter, better looking and generally higher quality, parade while we walk down to Rio Rythmics. My office is conveniently next door to Rio Rhyhmics so we can leave instruments there and party on after if required.
Please let me know if you can make it to either the street parade or bbq or both. I will give address and so on Thursday.
Angus

Carnival West End

Sambistas, As you may be aware, carnival in Brasil starts next saturday. Rio Rythmics is having a street parade including bataria and dancers in boundary street, west end on Saturday night (21th) around 8.30pm. I have spoken with Tarcisio from Rio Rythmics and he is happy for members on GRES Unidos da Primaerva (us) to join in. He will let me know which instruments they have, and what they need. At this stage it looks like they need shakers, surdos, and snares, however I will confirm.
So preliminary plan is meet at 4pm at my house for a brasilian bbq (churrasco), carnaval on the tv (or a video if its not live), a bit a pagode, a few caparihas for those not driving, some dancing, and maybe some costumes for thise drinking a few caparihnas. Anyway, details to follow.
Angus

Note from Remko: note this in on the 21th, not today!

Earplugs

Just a quick reminder that I cannot always provide earplugs, and that it is everyone's own responsibility to protect your ears. You can buy cheap earplugs at your local Chemist. However I can really recommend 'musicians earplugs' that are specifically made for your ears. They are not cheap (over $100) but your ears are very valuable too.

If there is enough interest in musicians earplugs I can try to negotiate a group deal at a Brisbane based specialist? Let me know.

Update: I've only found one supplier here in Brisbane so far, to have ear imprints taken, earplugs made and fitted costs $240. They don't want to do group discounts. I'll have another look.

Re-introducing songs

For those of you who haven't followed the comments in the previous post, some of us will get together 6pm this Thursday 11 February at the Polish Club bar to discuss and hopefully improve the format of our weekly rehearsals, in particular by re-introducing songs in one way or another. Please feel free to join us, your input is very much appreciated.

By way of preparation, here are the main challenges that I can see that we need to overcome, your ideas would be appreciated:

1. We need a serious PA. From where, who will transport (it won't fit in my car), who will set it up in time for the rehearsal etc.
2. How can we make sure we cater for everyone, so both beginners and long-term members, and also (and this is not the same!) different skill levels.
3. How can we make sure that Remko won't get burned out on Thurday nights. When we previously did songs, even though I loved it very much, all the associated hassles on top of having to really work hard by singing, playing cavaco, concentrating on the bateria, dealing with Brian ;-) almost became to much for me.
4. How can we make sure the level of playing improves. When we step up there will be the requirement to learn songs etc, so people will need to start learning and practicing at home.
   

Your input is very much appreciated. Like Brian, I feel it's time to step up and do something different. I am excited and hope we pull through this important moment in the history of our samba school!

New Year , New Rehearsal Format ?

Remko, . . . . I'm bored !

Can we change our rehearsal format with a 30-45 mins pagode at the beginning of each session ?
I'd like to play something new .

It just dawn on me that the Samba school have a repertoire of only about 5-6 songs . And I've been playing these 6 songs over, over,...an over for the last 5 years since 2003 ( with a variety of breaks ) .

Each week, I'm willing to carry my small Mackie active PA sytem ( 100W RMS, 2 channels + 1 RCA input ), 1 x microphone for you to sing and play the cavacinho. I can bring my tan-tan as well.

The advantages of this format are:

* We can all learn something new while waiting for people who turn up late.
* Play samba with few people as possible. Improve our chance of paid gigs in smaller venues.
* People have a chance of really learn an instrument because people can hear your own mistake. No safety in number.
* Buddy system : experience players can stop and show beginners how to play.
* Those MPB songs are so nice .
* Brian will stop whinging because he's not bored.

Let's SAMBA!

It's back on: tomorrow Thursday 29 January will be the first Samba Class for 2009!
Be ready for some action!!!
Looking forward to seeing you all, it has been way too long!

Cheers
Remko

Rehearsal this Thursday - cancelled

Happy new year everyone!!!

Well after a great and intensive holiday in freezing Europe (with one night going down to -20 oC, not a typo)! Ruben has grown so much in one month too, and was happy to meet all the family and friends.

I was planning to start the Samba year again this Thursday, however unfortunately Nicki will have to go down to Melbourne for a funeral, which means I'll have to look after Ruben that night, so the first rehearsal will have to wait one more week. I'm very sorry about that!

I look forward to seeing you all on the 29th!

Enjoy the rest of your break

Remko

Hi all!

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR, BONNE ANNEE!!

I have decreed in my own little kingdom that 2009 will be a year of change… And what more drastic change for the egocentric narcissist than I am than to cut my trademark hair, yes, abandoning the pony tail (no it is not a mullet!!)…. Now, this hair has witnessed a whole lot of dramatic history, the Rwandan genocide, the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11 and 2 gulf wars, the reelection of Georges W Bush… It can’t go just like that…

So here is the deal! I will cut my hair for the first time in 15 years and I’m asking you to sponsor me and support Medecins Sans Frontieres by jumping on this webpage http://www.justgiving.com/cedricrobillot . By making a secure donation through this website, you will assist Medecins Sans Frontieres in their mission to provide medical aid wherever needed (http://www.msf.org/).

Please support me in making some sense out of the terrible sacrifice I’m upon to commit (was I being a bit overdramatic here?). Anyway, to motivate you even further, the biggest donors will be entitled not to receive one of my locks in an autographed picture frame!!!

Please feel free to pass this email on.
I trust your compassion and, once again, wish you all the best for this coming year!!

Cedric