Tonight I went to the Barbican Freestage to see Bosco D'Oliveira (what a cool name!) and his band strutting their stuff. And man could they strut! His band was a Brazillian samba band, the perfect kind of hot stuff you need to relieve the chills of these winter nights. Bosco had a solid line-up consisting of:
Bosco Himself on drums, percussion and vocals
Fabio de Oliveira on drums and percussion
Andy Lafone on bass
Ugo Delmirani on piano
David Bitelli on tenor sax, clarinet and flute
The band started off with a lovely samba tune that really got the crowd going. It took a while to get started; David was playing his flute and to be honest it didn't quite work with the whole samba feel, but once he moved onto his sax things really started to heat up. Bosco and Fabio had a wonderful counterpoint happening with their drums; Fabio's solo in the second number really defined that set. Together they created a strong driving force that was full of rhythm, but they were never overwhelming and the wind player always managed to lead the band. Bosco's singing wasn't up to much, but luckily the sax doubled most of what he sang anyway.
The group featured a couple of guests: one, a tambourine player who had little overall effect on the music, but he certainly added to the spirit of the music, having a good time up on stage. The other was a trumpet player, and boy did he have style. He seemed a bit nonplussed at first during the chorus, but once the solos came about he let rip, and he could sure play that horn. The combination of the sax and trumpet worked very well too, both being rather typical in samba.
The fifth number they did was an old Brazillian tune written, according to Bosco, in 1897. This was by far the most enjoyable piece of the night, as it sounded the most authentic and really got the musicians playing to the best of their abilities. Notably David played the clarinet for this piece, and the low, throaty sounds he achieved worked very well with the piece.
The foyer itself, around where the stage was situated, was packed! There were dozens of people squashed in around the stage, and at least as many standing around and above in the mezzanie. Still goes to show you how popular this sort of stuff is. I suppose a lot of it had to do with the fact it was free, but that's beside the point....
All in all a good night, and a very good deal considering the gig was free!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
hmmm... i suppose its one of those things where u had to be there..
Post a Comment