'Gente!,' the new self-released album by the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based, Afro-Brazilian (bloco afro) band SambaDa, will drop on Feb. 23rg, the third full-length CD from the percussion-heavy troupe that emerged from a Brazilian dance group. Founded by capoeira master Papiba Godinho, SambaDa's new album features Dandha da Hora, a singer steeped in the life and lessons of samba culture and the Brazilian black pride movement.

According to the band's press release for 'Gente!,' "When Dandha arrived in Santa Cruz, drawn by love from her home in the hills and shanties of Salvador, Brazil, she brought with her an ethos that charges the band's music with an energy born of veneration. Every September, Dandha proceeds to the beach to lead the ritual in honor of Yemanja, the Yoruba Orixa of the ocean revered in Candomblé, her native religion. Here, the traditions of West Africa, carried halfway around the world, washed up in Santa Cruz like so much flotsam before finding a new home in the eclectic bricolage of SambaDa."

SambaDa launches a tour in support of the new album this week. You can see the full tour schedule after the jump.

2/11 - Crown Room, Crystal Bay, NV

2/12 - Miner's Foundry, Nevada City, CA

2/13 - The Underground, Reno, NV

2/16 - Downtown Brew, San Luis Obispo, CA (Album Release Party with SambaDá Plus DJ Mano Gil Dance Class with master dancer and lead vocalist Dandha Da Hora)

3/5-6 - Moe's Alley, Santa Cruz, CA

3/13 - Independent,San Francisco, CA

3/17-20 - South By Southwest Festival @ Copa Club, Austin, TX