Forro in the Dark

For those who don't already know, forró is the hip-swiveling, dancefloor-filling, rural party music of Brazil's northeastern states. And Forro in the Dark is the collective of four New York-based Brazilian expats - Mauro Refosco (zabumba drum and vocals) Davi Vieira (percussion and vocals) Guilherme Monteiro (guitar and vocals) and Jorge Continentino (pifano flute, sax and vocals) - who are updating this traditional sound for the 21st century.

"In Brazil, forró literally means party," says Mauro. "It's a gathering, a good time. The objective is to make people dance." Which is exactly what Forro in the Dark have been doing since 2005 at their weekly residence at East Village nightspot Nublu, where their signature blend of down home forró and urban cool have made them one of the city's must-see buzz bands.

The skeleton of the band's sound is the syncopated rhythms of forró, - xote, baião and arrasta-pé - which are familiar to Brazilians as the toe-tapping backdrop to a long workday, a folk party in the Northeast, and the sound spilling out from dance halls in the wee hours. The upbeat tunes contrast with the lyrics' serious themes: Forró songs romanticize the harsh and unforgiving sertão of Brazil's northeast, giving voice to the migrant's melancholy lament and the country bandit's ballad.

"Forró is so much a part of Brazilian life that you hear it everywhere growing up, in soap operas, on TV, everywhere," says Jorge. "It's all over the country, not just the Northeast It doesn't matter where you're from. If you're Brazilian, then you know about forró."

Forro in the Dark pays homage to this playful and emotional genre's rich history, while also making party music for today's global village. They update the traditional accordion, zabumba, and triangle instrumentation popularised by the great forró artists like Luiz Gonzaga and Jackson do Pandeiro. Abandoning the accordion, they've added Jorge's pifano, a wooden flute from the Northeast of Brazil, Guilherme's twangy guitar, and Davi's timbau, a Bahian drum. The new additions float between the beat of Mauro's zabumba, a drum with both snare and bass pitches, and the tweet of Davi's triangle.

"All the traditional elements of forró are there. We respect the tradition," explains Guilherme, "but that's just the starting point. We're open to all styles. Forró creates the space, but our imaginations and our creativity are our only limit." "Our instruments, our way of writing songs is very connected to those roots," Mauro adds. "But our approach to playing and our attitude and energy comes from rock and roll. Living in New York helped us break the rules a little. We like to play loud."

The result is a musically omnivorous signature sound that grafts dub, indie rock, funk, jazz and even country & western swing onto forró's sturdy roots. It's a sexy, globalized groove that's entirely their own - and which has been seducing New Yorkers onto the dance floor for years now.
(Biography supplied by artist management 2009)