This show is history in the making, cross generational and multi cultural. This show will rely on the backbone of Afrobeat legend Tony Allen,Fela Kuti's drummer, recent collaborator with Damon Alburn on'The Good, The Bad & The Queen' and in essence one of the most important musicians of the last 40 years as per Brian Eno...nuff said
Add two of Brasil's finest musicians Ivan Conti (Mamao) 1/3 of Azymuth, the collosal force in Brasilian and World music who sold 100s of thousands of records worldwide and Joao Parahyba renowned percussionist with samba rock band Trio Mocoto and backing band for Jorge Ben. Sprinkle this with...Producer, MC, instrumentalist extraordinnaire..MADLIB.. The BeatKonducta aka Quasimoto aka Yesterday's New Quintet aka Jackson Conti and producer of the new Erykah Badu LP. Add your favourite deejay saviour JROCC...the founder of The Beat junkies, arguably the best club deejay in the world and place him alongside South America's finest turntablist DJ Nuts and this event becomes devastating. The Brasilintime DVD has just been released officially worldwide and is selling by the thousands. We are proud to also have B+ and Eric Coleman the creators of this mammoth project in the house for the shows.
Ivan Conti (aka Mamao of Azymuth)
is the drummer of Azymuth. He started out visiting and sitting in with Edison Machado and Wilson das Neves. Mamao was a drummer in the group The Youngsters a rock group (Jovem Guarda) who backed up Roberto Carlos. He was already an experienced session player when he met Jose Roberto Bertrami and Alex Malhieros on the soundtrack session for O Fabuloso Fittipaldi with Marcos Valle and Wilson Das Neves. One of the songs on the soundtrack gave the group their name (Azymuth) and in 1975 they relesed their first album on Som Livre – since then they have travelled the world many times over with their distinctive style of “broken samba jazz”. Mamao is an innovator – his polyrhythmic style has influenced many drummers, djs and drum programmers. More recently he has done several albums for FarOut records including Mamond, Partido Novo and Africa Brasil with Grupo Batuque. Mochilla are releasing a new project this summer which sees Mamao team up with Madlib under the name 'Jackson Conti'.
Joao Parahyba is the drummer of Trio Mocoto.
Mocoto (a slang for womens legs) are the musical root of Samba-Rock a fusion of sorts between Brasilian samba and soul music from the US. Joao is a philosopher drummer, when asked to play in Brasilintime he said “Aaaah I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to play improvised music like this all my life, free jazz with DJs perfect.” Joao’s distinctive high energy style has formed the rhythmic foundation for many – most famously Jorge Ben (Jorge Ben1969 and Forca Bruta) Tim Maia and Vinicius de Moraes. He has spent his entire life studying and progessing music, his work with partner Suba (Sao Paulo Confessions) ushered in a new era of experimentalism – with its embracing of electronic musics. Although Trio Mocoto had split up for twenty years they reformed in 2000 due to overwhelming interest in their music. Joao’s adventurous spirit and wild playing made him the perfect choice for Brasilintime’s MC and leader.
Tony Allen
Born in Nigeria in 1940 of mixed Nigerian and Ghanaian parentage, Tony Allen is perhaps the most highly-regarded African drum set player to emerge since World War II. Drummers and other musicians of all backgrounds marvel at his uniquely polyrhythmic style. Allen belongs on one hand to a tradition of African drum set playing associated with the Ghanaian drummer Kofi Ghanaba (Guy Warren), and historically rooted in British military drumming, European ballroom dance music, big-band jazz drumming, and indigenous percussion traditions. However, he is also an African exponent of the African-American tradition of modern jazz drumming typified by musicians such as Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and Max Roach.
J-ROCC
JRocc is a southern California legend. He is also a founder of the World Famous Beat Junkies. He has been called the worlds greatest party dj by Scratch Magazine He has released several mix CDs including Syndromes, Sex Machine and Syndromes 2 Remixed. He has Djed for everybody from Dilla to Mos Def to MF Doom and tours frequently with the Beatjunkies. He is a member of the Supreme Team with Madlib and Kareem Riggins. His first solo album will be released by Stones Throw Records in late 2008.
MADLIB
Madlib is from Oxnard California. He is the nephew of Jon Faddis the famous jazz trumpet player. He is primarily a producer/musician although he also raps and can DJ really well. He first came into the eye of the public as the MC and producer of Lootpack with a successful first album on Stones Throw. Madlib has recorded two solo albums as Quasimoto: The Unseen which has been heralded as a new breakthrough in the music. And more recently he has been furthering his breakthrough with his group Yesterdays New Quintet a jazz project which was released to critical acclaim in 2001. Subsequently he has done several solo albums for the individual members of the Quintet. He has done remixes for Jill Scott, Bilal and Jazzanova. He has produced three songs from the new Erykah badu album. His collaboration with Ivan Mamao Conti entitled Jackson Conti will be available in may from mochilla and Kindred Spirits. Madlib is extraordinarily prolific and is rarely seen outside his lab in the hills of Echo Park in Los Angeles. To say he is a phenomenon in the music is to understate his stature.
DJ Nuts
DJ Nuts is the foremost turntablist living in Brasil today. His skills mixed with the depth of his crates makes him unique in his home country. Graduating from the school of “Yo! MTV Raps” - he began DJ’ing under the tutelage of Marcelo Tudo Bom (producer of Racionais MCs) in 1991. In 2000, he became the turntablist champion of Brasil. As a producer he has done albums for Marcelo D2(Sony Music) as well as working with Brasilian music legends Gilberto Gil, Planet Hemp, João Donato, Trio Mocoto, O Rappa and Dom Um Romao. He has recently been touring Europe with Gilles Peterson and Ed Motta. His solo album of collaborations with the creme de la crème of Brasilian music (including Bebel Gilberto, Lula Cortes and Thalma de Frietas) should be complete by late 2008.
B+ (aka Brian Cross)
B+ was born and raised in Limerick, Ireland. He graduated the National College of Art and Design in 1989 with a degree in painting. He came to the US in 1990 and received an MFA in photography at CalArts. While at CalArts he began work on “Its Not About A Salary: Rap Race and Reality in Los Angeles.” which was published by Verso Books in 1993. Subsequently Cross has done extensive work in the music industry photographing over one hundred album covers and directing several music videos. He has photo-edited for Rappages (1993-1997) and Wax Poetics (2004 - present). His production company Mochilla (with partner Eric Coleman) has done many ad campaigns and produced four documentaries. Keepintime: A Live Recording (2003) directed by Cross was bought by the Sundance Channel. Brasilintime: Batucada com Discos (2007) his most recent feature has premiered at CineSESC in Sao Paulo, Brasil and at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles. Cross continues to live and work in Los Angeles. Ghost Notes a retrospective look at his work will be published in 2008.