Matuto brings their Appalachia-gone-Afro-Brazilian sound to Spearfish Jan. 2015

February 28, 2014

Matuto-blogpost

Look out January 2015 in South Dakota.  This band will warm us up because…It’s Carnival in Recife. It’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  On January 23, 2015, Matuto will take our stage with their music leaping beyond the fun of fusion, to express a bigger artistic picture. 

 This is a 2014-15 Subscription Series event. Tickets also may be purchased individually.

Show Details:
Friday, Jan. 23
7:30 p.m.
Tickets:
$25 for Adults
$10 for Youth

Matuto’s songs can sway hips just as easily as spark insights. Drawing on Northeastern Brazil’s folkloric rhythms like forró, maracatu, or coco, and on deep Americana—from bluegrass to spirituals to swampy Louisiana jams—Matuto uses unexpected Pan-American sonic sympathies to craft appealing, roosty, yet philosophical tales of love, self-discovery, nostalgia, and true peace.

Bluegrass and Forró — a spirited mix.

The mix of bluegrass and forró, of Mehta and Mardi Gras, has proven to have real legs, taking the band from club dates in the Deep South to diplomacy-minded State Department tours across Eastern Europe and West Africa. A showcase in Copenhagen got the band a gig at one of the most staunchly traditional festivals in Recife, the Feast of St. John, Brazil’s biggest forró event. The traditionalists get it: Matuto has distilled some of the spirit of the music, even as they have blended it with other sounds, and kept its steamy, sensual dance side intact.

“The devil is what’s keeping us from our best selves, which is the diamond we have the potential to become,” Ross explains, spinning the narrative thread that ties the album’s pieces together. “That dichotomy, that tension exists in all of us. In a loose way, this album outlines the journey we take, when we wrestle with the devil and find the diamond.”

What wide-ranging Americana and jazz guitarist Clay Ross and accordionist Rob Curto, one of the movers behind New York’s Forró For All (when not touring with folks like Lila Downs and David Krakauer) began as a curious exploration of their shared musical loves, Matuto (a Northeastern Brazilian slang term for “bumpkin”) has blossomed into a platform for expressing broad truths, ideas inspired by Buddhist sutras, personal epiphanies, and the musicians’ down-home upbringings. It felt like the perfect way to celebrate ten years for Motema, an open-eared and broad-minded label featuring music that crosses genres and takes listeners on a journey thanks to stellar musicianship, and wise and intriguing lyrics.

 

VIDEO

Meet the members of Matuto

Clay Ross
Like a true southern preacher, Clay Ross delivers colorfully satirical lyrics reminiscent of David Byrne, Tom Ze, and Caetano Veloso. A virtuosic guitarist, his unique style combines the flatpicking prowess of bluegrass legend Tony Rice with the sonic depth of jazz master Bill Frisell, plucking three chord folk melodies or sophisticated Brazilian Choros with equal ease.

Rob Curto
Rob Curto is widely regarded as forró’s foremost ambassador in the States. An early devotee of North American swing music, bebop piano, funk, rock, and blues, he has combined these influences with his mastery of their Brazilian counterparts forró, chorinho, samba, maracatu, and frevo to produce stunning new results. He spent years living and playing in Brazil, completely absorbing and interpreting the country’s musical traditions.

Ze Mauricio
Ze Mauricio grew up immersed in the percussive traditions of his homeland. He is an original member of “Cyro Baptista’s Beat the Donkey” and performs with an eclectic blend of NYC bands. He is a master of the Pandiero (Brazilian Tamborine) and his vast palate of percussion sounds give Matuto a deep swinging dance groove.

Michael Loren Lavalle
The son of two musicians, Michael Loren Lavalle was raised on all genres of American Music. Now, matched with a profound knowledge of musics from Brazil, he has become an in-demand bassist and percussionist on NYC’s creative music scene. He has worked with a vast and diverse array of artists and co-produced the album “Edge of Everything” by Greta’s Bakery which was released by Decca/Universal Music Group in 2009.

Aynsley Powell
Aynsley Powell has performed and recorded with a diverse group of artists including St. Vincent, Kaki King, Autre Ne Veut, Lapland, and Tigercity. At home and eager to explore the freedom of acoustic improvisation, global rhythms, or the discipline of electronic dance music, Aynsley also has a penchant for songwriting as credited on recent albums by 70′s rock band, Wishbone Ash.

Mazz Swift
Mazz Swift is a native New Yorker, who began playing the violin at age 6. She graduated from the High School of the Performing Arts, during which time she made her solo public performance debut on the stage of New York’s Alice Tully Hall, performing alongside members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She later attended The Juilliard School of Music, but left in the middle of her 3rd year to pursue a more organic approach to music making. Consequently, she has recorded and performed with a wide variety of artists including Whitney Houston, Perry Farrell, Kanye West, Com­mon, and Jay-Z.

Richie Barshay
Most noted for his work with the Herbie Hancock Quartet, Richie Barshay has established himself as a prominent musical voice of his generation and is regarded as “a player to watch” by JazzTimes magazine. On tour and on recordings, his eclectic resume so far includes Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, Lee Konitz, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Natalie Merchant, David Krakauer, Fred Wesley, Claudia Acuña and Pete Seeger among others.

 

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