Who are we?
- A Banda,
which in Brazilian Portuguese, simply means "the band," was formed in 1982.
It was a splinter of an ensemble at Copenhagen's Rhythmic Evening
School, and its 50 or so members knew each other quite well.
This is perhaps the basic reason for the band's rather raw but nonetheless hearty tone.
The vast majority of A Banda's founder members had their roots in '68 -- thus the anarchic
touch. Some of the original members are still around today.
A Banda's first public performance was at the 1982
Whitsun Carnival in Copenhagen.
The number of active musicians in A Banda has been
around the 40-50 mark throughout the years. Our practice rooms have been simple ones in
the Vesterbro and Nørrebro districts of Copenhagen and in neighbouring Frederiksberg.
These days we hang out at the Free High School in Nørrebro.
In addition to the great variety of jobs on Danish soil,
village fetes, harbour parties, carnivals and other festivals; parties at schools and in
kindergartens, for clubs, associations and companies, A Banda has regularly performed
abroad, e.g. at various festivals in Sweden (Gothenburg, Karlshamn, Uppsala, Norrköping,
Hälsingborg, Landskrona, Nybro, Falkenberg and Malmö), Germany (Köln and Braunschweig),
Switzerland (Biel/Bienne), Italy (Viareggio) and by no means least, at the famous
carnivals in Olinda, Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil (in 1990, 92, 94 and 96), in Salvador
(Bahia), 1998, 2000 and again in Pelourinho, Salvador (Bahia),
February 2002.
A Banda has frequently appeared in the media: Danish
Broadcasting Corp. DR, DR2, Danish TV2, TV3, Copenhagen 'Kanalen' and the main daily
newspapers Berlingske Tidende, Jyllandsposten, Aktuelt and Politiken. In Brazil, A Banda has always been
given excellent national coverage by TV Globo (Fantástico), TV
Educativa, TV Bandeirante and TV Manchete as well as the
newspapers.
Day-to-day leadership
Although authority is not exactly popular in A Banda, we
do have an Executive Committee, consisting of seven full members and two substitutes, all
elected for one year at a time by the October AGM. The Exec meets every six weeks or so
and takes care of formalities such as hiring and firing group leaders, the accounts,
bookings, practice rooms, newsletters and variety of other arrangements.
Other functions can be fulfilled by all members, such as
Boogie-man, food buyers, drivers, The Address List, cleaning up after festivities and much
more.
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The season
- The season starts in September, with practice every other
Sunday evening, supplemented by extra practice sessions as necessary. We don't normally
have that many jobs during the Autumn and Winter, but we do try to arrange three or four
jobs to keep our spirits up. But it is during this period that we prepare ourselves for
all the fun of Spring and Summer!
The year has
many climaxes. Just to mention a few of A Banda's Very Special Traditions: The Annual
General Meeting in October, Christmas Dinner in December, the Medal Presentation during
the Whitsun Carnival and the Summer Party at Palle's Poolside.
Summer Party, September 1997
The High Season, from March to August, is when we play
the most jobs. Village fetes, carnivals -- many of them outside Copenhagen, and many in
Sweden.
In even years, the high Season already gets going in
January-February, when A Banda sets off on its three week Brazilian Tour, which culminates
at the illustrious Carnaval de Olinda, in the North-eastern state of Pernambuco or in
Salvador in the state of Bahia.
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Members and formation
- A Banda
consists of three groups:
The rhythm group, made of the
drum section: Surdo, Repinique, Caixa and Timbau, plus percussion: Tamborim, Ganza,
Agogô, Cuíca and Triangulo. Pandeiro is still on our wish-list...
The Wind Section boasts Alto and Tenor saxes, Trumpets, Trombones,
Clarinet and a Sousaphone!
Last and by no means least: The (Lovely) Dancers.
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Our music
- What do we play?
A Banda plays Brazilian
street music, as close to the original as possible.
To begin with we only played Samba, the dominant style in Southeast
Brazil, centred on Rio de Janeiro. Nowadays we also play Marcha (classical carnival
music), Frevo, Baião and Maracatú from the Northeast, plus Afro-inspired Afoxé and
Samba Reggae from Bahia, also in the Northeast.
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