Latest news with #Miamibloco
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
More than 100 performers come together for this Brazilian percussion party
Music is a social art. How music is played and how it's shared is informed by the community in which it's created. In turn, in ways obvious and subtle, music reflects and shapes the community that produces it. It's a process that goes as far back as humanity has been creating sound, and it's at the heart of the work of Miamibloco, a Miami-based samba drumming ensemble comprising professional musicians and community music enthusiasts. In sound and spirit, it is modeled after the blocos de carnaval that parade through the streets during the Brazilian Carnival. Reflecting the diversity of South Florida, Miamibloco often blends Afro-Brazilian samba grooves and rhythms from next-door-neighbor sources such as Dominican merengue or Puerto Rican plena but also traditions as far afield as Moroccan Gnawa. Miamibloco's 80-member strong percussion ensemble Bateria Saideira, augmented by more than 20 guests, will be performing in its fifth annual 'Saideira Social' at the Miami Beach Bandshell at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 24. Bateria is a percussion band or the rhythm section of a Samba School. Saideira is a casual term that translates as 'nightcap' (much akin to a drumming nightcap). Guests for the performance include Tato Marenco, a Colombian percussionist and gaita player (a traditional double-reed wind instrument), who brings into the mix the irresistible groove of Afro-Colombian bullerengue. Meanwhile, the samba drumming will be pushed up a notch by the presence of Brazilian master percussionists Boka Reis, from Salvador, Bahia; and Gustavo and Guilherme Oliveira, members of the rhythm section of the storied samba school Gremio Recreativo Escola de Samba Academicos de Salgueiro, which in 2023 was declared intangible cultural patrimony of Rio de Janeiro. A strong lineup of Miami-based musicians including Gilmar Gomes, Rose Max, Ramatis Moraes, and Afrobeta, round out the program. 'This show is a continuation of the idea of using the bateria as an orchestra to support different artists throughout the night and create the feeling of a mini festival,' says Brian Potts, founder, percussionist, CEO, and music director of Miamibloco. With a Ph.D. in Musical Arts from the University of Miami, Potts became passionate about Brazilian music and has been traveling to Brazil to study and perform for more than fifteen years. Having Reis and the Oliveira brothers in this performance 'means a lot to me personally,' he says. 'The way we play the drums is inspired by the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro, but in particular, it's inspired by the Salgueiro samba school,' he says. 'I've learned from Guilherme and Gustavo. I paraded with Salgueiro this year. Having them here and getting a chance to play with them is incredible for us. You are learning from masters, and it's the kind of thing that you can't learn from the books. It's experiential.' The chance to experience the samba schools' work in their home neighborhoods gave Potts insights that went beyond the music, arriving at the experience 'from a musician's perspective,' he says. 'I studied music all my life and was a classical percussionist, and then I went to Brazil and saw this incredible musical tradition. But the other thing that was very striking was its social aspect. You have 300 people playing in the bateria [the drumming ensemble, the engine room of the samba school], but when the samba school marches, you have 4,000 people in the parade. Potts say there is a rehearsal every week and different events. 'From having feijoadas (a bean and meat stew) to bringing in doctors and doing health events sponsored by the samba school for the community. They do a lot of good in terms of holding the community together and creating bonds between people. People grow up in these schools. Think of the bloco and all that it involves as a community-building technology.' He credits his partner SuOm Francis, a designer and urban planner who became Miamibloco's co-founder and Chief Operations Officer, for putting that technology to good use. 'She has a background in community building that has been huge in terms of constructing the community that we have now,' says Potts. He says when he began in 2017, he was inviting people to come and drum, mostly posting on Facebook to get interest. 'I never got more than like five to 10 people to show up at a time. I was working as a freelance musician, and it was hard for me to put too much time into the project.' After the disruptions caused by COVID-19, Miamibloco 'started for real in 2021, after the pandemic.' Francis says that she wanted to turn 'what was a small hangout thing into something by which you feel a sense of true belonging to a community. Something that's very special to me is that we have begun to have an impact on the other work that makes a bloco a bloco besides the music, which is community participation and not necessarily playing.' As for Miamibloco's going musically outside samba and incorporating other traditions, Potts credits Batuquebato, a group from Rio de Janeiro with which he has also performed. 'They are always experimenting with a bunch of different influences from all over the world,' he says. He adds that while most samba schools prepare during the year for fierce competition during carnival, Batuquebato is not competitive. 'They're focused on teaching people how to play drums, how to play with each other, and creating a community where there wasn't one before.' Music offers many lessons, from learning to play your part and understanding that no matter how seemingly small, it's necessary to the overall sound, to listening, a lost art these days. 'Creating musically interesting ideas by fusing other cultures with the sound of the bateria is amplified by the fact that you're bringing all these people together and creating community,' says Potts. 'That's the big inspiration for what we do.' If you go: WHAT: Miamibloco 5th Saideira Social with guests including Colombian gaita player and percussionist Tato Marenco, Brazilian master percussionists Bóka Reis, Gustavo & Guilherme Oliveira, and Gilmar Gomes, Rose Max & Ramatis Moraes, and Afrobeta. WHERE: Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach WHEN: 7 p.m., Saturday, May 24 COST: $47 at (Discount code VISITMIAMI ) INFORMATION: (305) 322-0875 and is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don't miss a story at
Axios
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Miamibloco creates community through samba culture, live music
Every Monday at Magic 13 Brewery, about an hour before rehearsal, members of Miamibloco walk back and forth from a parked U-Haul, unloading countless drums and arranging them in front of the stage. They share hellos and hugs as they move, highlighting how the group is just as much a community as it is a samba percussion ensemble. Why it matters: The nonprofit held its first official showcase in 2022, with 18 drummers. Now, as it preps for its fifth annual showcase Memorial Day weekend, it's grown to 80 members. Many joined after attending the show last year. "In the span of a year, people went from 'that's awesome' to learning an instrument and performing on stage," Brian Potts, co-founder and "mestre," told Axios. The shows, he said, are "invitations to join, because what you're seeing on stage is attainable to you." The big picture: Miamibloco is an intergenerational samba percussion group inspired by Brazilian "baterias," combining traditional samba rhythms with sounds and genres from Latin and South America that are central to Miami's culture. Potts, a classically trained percussionist from Texas and a University of Miami graduate, began organizing meetups in 2017 in parks and backyards to teach friends how to play drums and traditional samba music. After spending time in Brazil, learning the unique variations of music among regions, he wanted to bring that style of play back home. What they're saying: "We live in a system where we learn to read music before we learn how to play. [Brazil] was different," he said. There, music is taught in a way akin to "folklore tradition, which is more accessible and effective," especially when teaching nonmusicians. Zoom in: While it's the largest samba percussion orchestra in the country, many of the group's members aren't professional musicians, or haven't played the drums before, and the majority aren't Brazilian. Of the 80 drummers, fewer than 10 are Brazilian, said SuOm Uheri Francis, the group's co-founder. Yes, but: That's what sets the group apart from a typical concert or music group — and one of the biggest reasons it has grown. Unlike other shows, where the audience could feel separate from the performers, samba culture incorporates spectators. "The drummers and the audience are equal and the crowd is crucial to making things happen," Uheri Francis said. Zoom out: The group isn't exclusive to samba or Brazilian culture. The group is "allowing for Miami at large to create a common identity through samba," she said. "The drums are Brazilian, but we play rhythms from all over the diaspora. Everyone can see themselves in the rhythms we play." How it works: Aspiring percussionists must first complete the group's Bateria Academy, a six-week course for beginners. After the academy, graduates must submit an audition tape — a process that was implemented after the group's numbers skyrocketed and to "maintain a certain level [of talent] to be able to respect the music," Potts said. State of samba: This year's showcase will pay homage to more traditional sambas from Rio and highlight Colombian Cumbia, Potts said. The group is bringing maestros from Rio and a slew of guests, including Tato Marenco, a Colombian artist, and local group Afrobeta. The showcase will begin with a "Pagode de Mesa," a traditional form of samba, while concertgoers arrive. Then, the ensemble will play. The bottom line: The night is a "journey to Brazil," Uheri Francis said. "It's Carnaval style. A four-day festival packed into four hours."
