All for Forro, Forro for All!

One of my co-workers showed me a giant photo of accordionist Rob Curto in this week’s San Francisco Bay Guardian. Turns out his band, Forró for All, will be at the Elbo Room in San Francisco next week.

The group is dedicated to forró, the dance/party music of Northeast Brazil, and features some of New York and Brazil’s most talented musicians. Three instruments make up the core of a traditional forró ensemble: accordion, zabumba (a large bass drum carried and played with a mallet and stick), and triangle. Driven by the rhythm of the accordion, it almost sounds like a Brazilian version of zydeco.

Forró for All will be performing tomorrow night as part of the accordion-themed series “Compressing the World” at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Then they’ll head up to the Bay Area for shows in Santa Cruz, Sunnyvale, and San Francisco. While you’re waiting for them to visit your town, here’s a track from their self-titled debut:

1 Comment:

  1. I agree that there seems to be some kind of musical relationship between forro and zydeco. Forro tends to have more cheese in the rhythm.