Samba under the almond tree

Yesterday I went "across the pond" to Niterói for the Samba da Amendoeira. The almond tree (as so many sambas, you might notice, are associated with trees!) sits outside of the Toca da Gambá bar. The light was fading fast so we went outside for a quick shoot. Unfortunately the light inside was almost nonexistent so I don't have any "live" shots.

The group is led by a (young) veteran of samba, Mingo. I posted a bit of an interview with him back in March. Mingo is a talented composer and he has had some of his songs recorded by several of the new generation of samba artists like Batuque na Cozinha and Galocantô.


(Mingo)


(Yuri Portella)


(Phelipe Ornellas)



(Rafael Lagoas)


(Monem)


(André 7 Cordas)


under the almond tree

After the samba, which ended early at around 10pm, I made my way back across the 14km bridge by bus accompanied by Baiaco, another incredible composer and skilled improviser. You can see him dueling with Bananada and João Martins in a past post about partido alto here. We were already in a "slightly" altered state, yet we headed to Lapa and ran into more bohemian friends, and more beer.

I finally made it home a few hours ago...