Montreal’s best-kept secrets are the “rodas de samba,” or samba circles, a gathering of improvisational song and dance. These legendary evenings have traditionally been held for several years at Sans-Taverne, a brasserie in the heart of Building 7 in Pointe-Saint-Charles, but this time it was at Brasseurs Avant-Garde in Hochelaga.
The concept is simple: several musicians and singers sit around a table, and together they create magic around samba and other Brazilian rhythms, while the audience sings along and dances around the table. This concept is an initiative of Roda de Samba Sem Fim, a Brazilian collective masterfully led by Yussef Kahwage, himself a musician and singer. He is supported by the great singer and guitarist Lissiene Neiva and Bianca Huguenin, both part of the hard core of the roda, alongside Daniela Bertolucci, Bruno Lima, Gabriel Vacc, Márcio Rocha and Luís Santo.
It was often Yussef who started with his instrument, before the other musicians joined in, with different kinds of percussion and other traditional Brazilian instruments such as cavaquinhos. Otherwise, it was Tobias and his seven-string guitar who started, to get the music going.
As soon as I arrived, I noticed the presence of the great Brazilian singer Bïa dancing around the musicians, who sang a few samba songs before being sung “Happy Birthday” by the whole room. Another person who had come to celebrate her birthday that evening was Daiana Santos, from Bouchées Brésil.
A few minutes later, Thaynara Perí arrives, a bit rushed, before going to sit around the table, one of the singers that evening. This artist is a ball of energy, she is slowly becoming a must-see in Montreal, with all her involvements as a solo artist, but also in the collective Tamboréal Samba Bloco, or even as a guest artist during the samba rodas. As soon as she gets behind the microphone, the atmosphere rises a notch in the room, singing several old and more recent classics such as Banho de Folhas by Luedji Luna, or Figa de Guiné by Alcione.
Meanwhile, beers and cachaça flow freely, keeping this roda festive and interactive, and all around the table, the circle formed by the public becomes larger and larger.
These events are often sold out and this was the case this evening, with several people being turned away when they had not purchased their tickets in advance.
Among the classics mentioned were, among others, Mal Acostumado, Não Deixa o Samba Morrer and Serà que é amor, by Arlindo Cruz, which I particularly like. As the evening progressed, the audience sang louder and louder, letting themselves go completely.
A Jamaican DJ who was discovering rodas for the first time told me that he felt a strong sense of the spiritual side of this circle. He found it interesting that everything didn’t revolve around a single artist, but that everyone created together.
After a few minutes of break during which the famous DJ Tati Garrafa set the spacious venue on fire, the roda continued with even more intensity during the second part of the evening. Thaynara returned with more songs, as did Yussef and other singers around the table. The atmosphere was so good that I challenged myself to sing at my first roda de samba. Challenge accepted!
When I left the party around midnight, the dance floor was still packed. The event lived up to its name: the samba roda that never ends, or at least ends very, very late.
