Forro Do Cana

Doors: 6:30 p.m.      Show: 7:00 P.M.

Ticket is non-refundable.

About the Band:

Vancouver’s premier Brazilian Forro band, Forró do Cana, was founded in 2018 as a passion project, dedicated to the dissemination of the music of Northeastern Brasil. The music of Forró do Cana blends the sounds of the violin (and sometimes the Brazilian fiddle aka. rabeca) and accordion played by Serena Eades and Steve Charles respectively, with the Brazilian roots of Mario Silva’s 7 string acoustic guitar and Sara Magal’s percussion and all Portuguese vocals.  A rotating cast of incredible percussionists include Vancouver’s top go-to players of Brazilian music: Liam MacDonald, Celso Machado and Phil Belanger.

For those not familiar with Forró, this is a partner dance with a variety of rhythms and accompanying steps from very intricate and showy to subtle and sensual.  A whole family of related rhythms are referred to under the umbrella term Forró: Baião, Forró, Xaxado, Xote and Arrasta pé.  Arrasta pé (“drag your foot“) received its name due to the peculiar dancing movement: the soles of the feet drag over the floor with each dance step. Forró is a lively, accentuated Baião. And as you will have noticed, not only the name of the genre, but a specific rhythm within the genre, as well as the name of the festivity at which its music is played and danced (“Let’s go to the Forró!). Both the rhythms of Baião and Forró formed the guideline for the emergence of the Lambada. Xote is a slower rhythm with a very special swing, inspired by Polka and Mazurka.

The traditional instrumentation is…you guess it….: Triangle, Zabumba (a Brazilian bass-drum), and Sanfona (accordion) and vocals!  Forró do Cana adds the more contemporary sound of the 7-string guitar and violin and sometimes rabeca.

While formed as an ensemble that focussed on the traditional Brazilian dance music of Forro, the band quickly realized there was a desire to hear other styles, namely the Northeastern Carnaval music known as Frevo which consists of very fast joyful and almost frenetic ska-like rhythms and melodies, naturally accompanied by equally joyful and frenetic, jumpy dancing often with small colourful umbrellas and costumes.  And to stimulate the more complex melodic and rhythmic listener’s ears, the band plays a healthy dose of beautiful Brazilian melodic Chorinho.

What’s with the band name? Forró do Cana is a play on words: Cana meaning sugar cane in Portuguese, which is used to make Caldo de Cana (sugarcane juice), Cachaça (sugarcane liquor), as well as an abbreviation of Canada.

Think good vibes, killer rhythms and catchy songs!  This band will make you dance, sing and groove hard.