BRATTLEBORO-Sambaganza invites everyone to join them in the lively percussion rhythms of Brazilian Carnival. Those who love samba, drumming, joyful music, and the occasional parade, will find it all here.
Sambaganza has been together since 2016 as a class at the Vermont Jazz Center, with a steady core of what event promoters describe as "friendly samba fanatics." Samba "is an infinitely expandable style of music," they say; "the big groups in Brazil have hundreds of drummers - so the more the merrier."
The class meets every other Sunday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Vermont Jazz Center in the Cotton Mill building. Within hours, participants will be playing samba rhythms on agogo (bells), tamborim (small drum), ganza (shaker), surdo (bass drum) and more. The next session begins Jan. 12.
Sambaganza is co-led by Julian Gerstin and Ron Kelly. Gerstin is a percussionist who has been performing and teaching Caribbean and Brazilian drumming for nearly 50 years. Kelly is recently retired as head music teacher at Leland & Gray and leads the old-timey jazz combo The Woodpeckers.
As a Jazz Center class, there is a fee of $160 per semester (which officially begins Sunday, Feb. 16), but participants may sample a class for free. They do not need to be seasoned percussionists. All instruments will be provided. The class is for adults and responsible teens; no children, please.
For more information, email [email protected].
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.