After a night of pagode the Monobloco advance party set off early to WOMAD, ‘World of Music And Dance’, in Charlton Park, Wiltshire. The minibus followed having picked up dancer Mariana and assistant Rita.

The first engagement was at the Little Sicily Stage for an interview with Jan Fairley then off to the Siam tent.

Interview (38mins)

iPhone test

“There were surprises over at the Siam Tent as Brazil’s thunderous Monobloco let loose with their battery of percussion, playing the Jorge Ben Jor riff that Rod Stewart nicked for Do Ya Think I’m Sexy along with a stellar version of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition.”
WOMAD review - by Jane Cornwell.
Monobloco had met, Senegalese Sabar master drummer, Modou Diouf at Drum Camp in Bungay and were delighted when he joined them for their last number.

An enjoyable workshop was given at the over crowded drum tent ….

….. while Mariana put a huge dance class through it’s paces.

Photos from WOMAD

The guys visited Dorking twice and stayed at the fantastic Juniper Hall which is on the side of Box Hill and surrounded by country side.

The, mainly French but also Portuguese, staff at the hall played football with some of the guys. France 10 - Brasil 7

Thanks to all involved.

Local group Bloco do Sul invited surrounding sambistas to join a workshop with Monobloco, it was great to meet some friends that they’d met during their tour and some had travelled a very long way! A fun time was had learning how the xote & quadrilha rhythms were combined to form ‘Tropicana’.

Between the 3rd Guanabara gig & WOMAD Monobloco dropped by Dorking again. This time to play some pagode in the smallest pub in town, The Star. Local group Choro Bandido opened the evening with some sweet chorinho & some of the guys joined in. Monobloco then played a fantastic pagode set with some choro thrown in. Most of the audience had to dance on the pavement outside as the temperature inside went up & up. An hot & memorable evening was had by all.

Photos from Dorking

On the last day Monobloco’s cavaquinho player Cachaca kindly gave a very productive choro lesson to Choro Bandido who learned how much they need to learn. :o)

This was MB’s third visit to Ireland in two years, so the guys knew what to expect and were looking forward to meeting up with some old friends.

The mini tour started in Dublin at a venue called the Sugar Club, which is a converted cinema which used to be used by the censor’s office! Things there are a little more relaxed now, and the Monobloco team soon had the place rocking and steaming hot!

The Saturday was the longest day, with an early start to get to Sligo in the North West. Luckily, the lads had a comfortable bus and an interpid driver in the form of Larry! Larry had actually visited Rio in the past, and got on famously with the Monobloco team.

In Sligo, Monobloco delivered an excellent four hour workshop with samba percussionists, some of whom had travelled serious distances to take part!

After the workshop, there was time for a quick soundcheck, and then some well-needed rest for the team, as they weren’t on stage until midnight. This show was another huge success and the band were joined by the workshop team for the last couple of songs – there must have been seventy drummer banging away at the end of the show!

Sunday, the band travelled even further into the West, to an area called Belmullet in Co. Mayo, which is one of the most rural areas in Europe. The band only had an evening gig to worry about and took a leisurely cruise from Sligo, stopping at Strandhill Beach and the famous Musical Bridge on the way.

The gig in Belmullet was very small, but the audience was delighted to have a chance to see a band from Rio on their doorstep! We even had a visitor in the form of Mary Smith from Toque Tambor! Mary has family in the area and decided to use co-ordinate a visit home with the Monobloco show, that’s dedication for you! - Simeon Smith

Photos from Ireland

Many Thanks to Peter Crann, Stephanie Pawuli, Tony Conway, Jennifer Egan, MaSamba Samba School and everyone else who helped out with the Irish dates.

The 2008 tour began with three days of rehearsing in a Sikh temple in Hitchin. There was also a rehearsal with local bloco Toque Tambor in preparation for the Rhythms of the World festival on the 13th. A fantastic time was had at the barbeque, muito obrigado! Thanks to everyone for their help in making our visit very enjoyable.

Then off to the first gig in Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich where MB headlined at the Lord Mayors Celebrations. MB got a hot receiption from the audience. For the end of the show they were joined by Norwich Samba & their dancers for a fantastic finale.

Click on the photo for more …..

The week was spent working with music students & young blocos from several schools which ended with a great performance outside Norwich’s Forum.

While in Norwich a couple of tracks were recorded in the studio at the NR5 project and MB performed for the second time in the Arts Centre, NORCA. The first half of the show was a pagode session and the second half was the Monobloco Show.

A warm thank you to all the kind folk we met in Norwich and special thanks to Marcus & Anna for all their hard work in organising everything.

LUCY BOLTON
Norwich Evening News
10 July 2008 12:30
Music pupils from Norfolk schools have been given the rare opportunity to perform with an internationally renowned samba band.
After a crowd-pleasing performance by the famous Brazilian hot funk band Monobloco at Saturday night’s Lord Mayor’s Celebrations, members of the band stayed in the city to work with keen musicians from three Norfolk schools.
Around 240 pupils from Sprowston Community High School and Arts College, The Hewett School and Dereham Netherd School in Norwich Road spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in day-long workshops with the band leading up to Wednesday night’s open air performance outside The Forum.
Marcus Patteson said: "I had the idea of doing a big project and was lucky to get funding to make it happen. The guys from Monobloco have worked with youngsters only a few times before and they said they found it an amazing experience because they don’t really do that."
Mr Patteson said the Sprowston and Dereham schools have developing samba bands and are familiar with instruments such as surdos, large bass drums, agogo bells, tamborims, shakers or ganzas and repenique.
He added: "Samba is all about listening skills and team work. The workshops have also meant experienced musicians in the school have joined in but also people who don’t know music and who have picked up an instrument for the first time - it’s a good entry point."
"It’s also been a cultural experience, meeting and working with Brazilians - who are very amenable and great teachers."