Rock Paper Scissors - Percussivo Mundo Novo, Summer 2011 Tour

Five years ago, I was introduced to the liminal zones of Carnaval in northeast Brazil. In 2005-2006 I was living in Olinda, Pernambuco and joined a street theater group called Boi Surubi, which I practiced with for the months leading up to Carnaval, learning rhythms, songs, and stories. The group was led by Marcos Isaises, who brought together about twenty kids from the nearby favela in the blazing hot afternoons. Set in the Bumba-Meu-Boi dance tradition – reenacting a story called the Desire of Catherine about a slave named Pai Francisco who kills his masters ox to feed his pregnant wife its tongue she craves, and then, with his life being threatened by his master for killing the ox, Pai Francisco brings the ox back to life with the help of a medicine man, music, and magic -has a satiric and playful tone, full of caricatures and denunciations of the ruling class. With small bands playing throughout the 16/17th century stone streets which weave around the hill, Olinda’s Carnaval has a personal feel and hand made aesthetic. Pernambuco is known for its cavalo marinho, frevo, samba de coco, and maracatu (which I played with the alfaya drum pictured above right).

This year I returned to northeast Brazil, this time to Salvador, Bahia for a Carnival known for its bombastic trio electricos (giant mac trucks with huge sound systems and bands on them) axe and samba-reggae. There, filmmaker Joshua Sternlicht and myself met multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Mikael Mutti. He invited us to film him and his team atop the trio electric of the afro-brazilian percussion master Carlinhos Brown, with whom Mutti has worked with for many years. Using footage from that night and subsequent interviews, we created this video (below) sharing his innovative style of playing “digital percussion” during his collaborations with Bahia percussion master Carlinhos Brown. As you can see in the story, Carnaval was a pulsing of bodies, fluidly undulating, a mix of locals and national/international visitors.

Mikael and his band Percussivo Mundo Novo will be touring in New York and other cities in July and August of this year. Check out this schedule of their appearances.