Batucada Sound Machine

SAMBA STARS: Batucada Sound Machine are heading for Nelson

The boisterous sound of the Batucada Sound Machine will be heard in Nelson for the first time this weekend. Alice Cowdrey finds out about the 13-piece Auckland band.

The rhythms of a Brazilian carnival will be heard on Saturday night, when the Batucada Sound Machine (BSM) brings its fusion of percussion-heavy beats to the Nelson Arts Festival.

BSM combines Brazilian, Cuban and afro-beat rhythms and even hip-hop, with MC Hazaduz of Che-Fu contributing solid rhymes over the mix of samba-reggae, Pacific soul and funk.

Made up of a troupe of 13 musicians from around the world, the band's percussive fullness is layered with keyboard, sax, trumpet, trombone, guitar and vocals, creating a sound you would not sit down to watch.

"It's going to be rocking, that's for sure. People can expect dancing, a lot of great solos and interesting musical pathways," says the founder of the band, James Hughes.

Hughes says the group got together in about 2003, after he got back from living in Argentina and travelling around Brazil.

After he met up with some musicians for jam sessions, an enthusiastic group quickly gravitated towards the addictive beats he was playing.

"So it's all sort of been a flow of good contacts and meeting the right people. It's been really great."

Hughes is the band's musical director and says performances are reasonably structured, but can also take on a more improvisational style.

"We have an arsenal of little tricks we can pull out at any time to change the direction of songs," he says.

With influences from bands such as Manu Chao and Chico Science, batucada translates loosely as "percussive samba jam". The band has earned a solid reputation for delivering energetic live performances, fine musicianship and an impulsive vibe, and the band's festive nature has resulted in the musicians playing alongside the likes of Damien Marley, Michael Franti and the Cat Empire.

Born in Paihia, Bay of Islands, Hughes has studied Cuban and Brazilian rhythms and has travelled extensively in Latin America.

Those influences, combined with an appreciation of groove-based music, led to the creation of BSM.

He is one of the main songwriters for the band, but says they all get to contribute during the creative process.

"It's like a big family getting on a bus. We all jump on and away we go."

Hughes says that the band has been busy of late extending their profile in Australia, recently releasing their 2008 album, Rhythm and Rhyme, there.

The band recently played at the Brisbane Arts Festival and is ready to go back to Australia in November to play at a world music expo in Melbourne.

The festival is a showcase of the top bands that fit into the world music genre. BSM recently released a new single, and are working away on a video clip. The new song, He Said She Said, is getting more commercial play, which has not really been the aim of the band in the past, but it will be good to build up their profile, Hughes says.

BSM are next looking at recording an album in March or April, which means it would be due for release later next year. Hughes doesn't know why it has taken the band so long to get to Nelson, but he is positive the night will be a blast.

"Nelson has a good summer vibe, so I am sure the shows will be really good.

"It's a big band to get on the road, but we have had a great response."

• The Batucada Sound Machine will play at the Founders Mainstage as part of the Nelson Arts Festival on Saturday night, from 9.30pm. Tickets cost $38 and can be bought from Everyman Records. Also catch BSM and Nelson's Mojo Funk Orchestra playing as part of the More FM Carnivale, which will be held after the Port Nelson Masked Parade on Trafalgar St tomorrow night.

- © Fairfax NZ News