New Samba Percussion Course starting January 2010.

The course entitled 'Pure Samba' is run by Roddy Dickson, latin percussion tutor and director of sambayabamba.

Tuesday evenings 19th January - 29th June (24 weeks)

Places on the course are limited to 40 so it is important to register in good time.

Course Details:

This 24 week course will focus exclusively on Rio samba – the music played in Rio de Janeiro’s famous samba schools during carnival. We will be dealing with the infectious rhythms played by the ‘bateria’ (drum) section of the samba school. This kind of music involves large numbers of people and the baterias in Rio often have up to 300 players! Because of this, samba is a very social activity and a great way of meeting new people while learning a new skill.

For previous participants, this is an opportunity to develop your skills further, or tackle a different instrument.
Instruments used will be: 
Surdo – Tuned bass drum
Caixa – Brazilian snare drum
Repique – High pitched drum played with one stick & hand
Tamborim – Very high pitched hand-held drum played with a single stick
Chocalho /Ganza – Different types of shakers
Agogo – 2 tone bells
We will also be learning some songs and how the bateria supports and interacts with the melody.

There will be lots of attention given to technique and how to get the best sound from each instrument. The total lesson time will be divided between specific instrumental workshops and full band sessions; this will allow for a more in-depth teaching approach, with more one-on-one attention where required. Several arrangements will be taught, representing different styles of samba.
During the course, participants will learn not only how to play at least one instrument in the bateria, but also about the attitudes and values needed for a large band to play well together. To support this, some performances may be organized throughout the year. Participation in the performances is completely voluntary.
Recordings will be provided to aid practice etc. Participants are also welcome to record classes themselves.
While some sort of musical experience is obviously an advantage, it is by no means necessary.
 
About the Tutor: Roddy Dickson (Sambayabamba)

Roddy has been studying Brazilian percussion since 2000 and has been the musical director of Sambayabamba since 2002. He is also a member of the pan-European samba group ‘Bloco X’. Roddy has studied percussion with some of the best players and teachers in Europe and Brazil including: Joe Hanson, Barak Schmool, Jean Christophe Jacquin, Jerome Boumendil, Monobloco, Serrinha Raiz (Tijuca/Estacio), Mestre Jonas de Oliveira (Mocidade) Mestre Marivaldo Paim (Ile Aiye), Dudu Tucci, Ravin ‘Raz’ Jayasuriya. He has studied rhythms from all over Brazil, with a particular focus on Rio samba. During a recent 3 month trip to Rio, Roddy paraded in carnival with the samba school Academicos da Rocinha and performed with Monobloco.

Dates: Tuesdays – 19th January until 29th June 3rdth  -  24 lessons
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 (Start time will vary depending on instrumental workshops)
Cost:  See ‘The money bit’ below.
Venue: 12 Payne St. Port Dundas, Glasgow.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=g40lf&ie=UTF8&ll=55.866859,-4.252374&spn=0.009102,0.027809&z=16&iwloc=addr
 

The Money Bit
The course costs £150 to complete and should be viewed as a whole. It is not available on a weekly or monthly basis (except the first week).
The first night will be an opportunity to come and try it out and decide if you want to commit to the rest of the course. If you do, the remaining balance will be payable as shown below.
 
19th Jan - £6 (Introductory session)
26th Jan - £60
9th Feb- £21
9th March - £21
13th April - £21
11th May - £21
June – nothing to pay.

The initial payment of £60 will act as a deposit to secure your place until the end of the course as no registrations will be accepted throughout the rest of the year.
No classes can be attended unless the payments are up to date.
To sign up for the course or for any questions, contact Roddy on 07861293819 or roddy_dickson@hotmail.com

This year saw a lifelong ambition of the band fulfilled with a glorious weekend performing in the Hebridean metropolis of Stornoway at the 2009 Homecoming Hebridean Tattoo. The weather and the people treated us well as we got kilted up and did our bit alongside the many pipe bands from the islands and even Canada in the grounds of the imposing Lews castle. The following day we paraded through the streets balanced precariously on the back of an artic with the crowds smiling and throwing coins... which is apparently a good thing up there!! The black pudding was flowing, seals obligingly played in the harbour, the standing stones at Callenish sparkled in the sunlight and Uig Sands, the biggest beach any of us had ever seen, exposed it's full golden expanse out to the Atlantic. Half the band then went home the long way, through all the islands down to Barra and then to Oban. SambaYaBamba is obsessed with islands as it is but this was certainly a wonderful experience and we dearly hope to be invited back next year.

Half the Summer may be gone but there is still very much half left! SambaYaBamba will be at Eden Festival (4th-6th Sep) in the Forest of Ae in Dumfries and Galloway. A new venture by the crew who were behind the Eden tent formerly at the Wickerman, looks like a nice little well run and friendly festival that will be here to stay. Also look out for SYB's evil cousins, Glaswegian dub reggae extravaganza; Captain Slackship's Mezzanine Allstars. And we're pleased to say Knockengorroch: The Hairth (16th - 20th Sep) at Knockengorroch Farm. A little further afield, we're very excited to announce that we will also be playing at the Homecoming Hebridean Tattoo in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis on the weekend of the 8th of August.

This July SambaYaBamba represented Glasgow and Scotland for the 5th time in the biggest Samba event outside Brazil, Coburg International Samba Festival in darkest Germany.

After being tormented and not-so-politely robbed by Satan's very own Ryanair we'd got somewhere in Germany, 6 hours away from our destfination in fact. However as always the Autobhan pagode session and the random hollering of 'Phoenix City' made it seem like fünf minuten. We arrived in the early hours and received a glorious welcome at the Hungry Highlander pub - our second home for the weekend.

The Friday weather was changable. The traditional meet and greet pagode at the Turnerschaft then we opened the main stage in the Marktplatz in light rain to a sea of umbrellas. Everyone went to see Houba-Samba's opening gig on Albertzplatz which for me remained the gig of the festival, then the french feast continued with Muleketu on Marktplatz and the official evening ended with Aquarela on Schlossplatz. Needless to say the party went on a little longer at the highlander with Walter from Bloco X leading a roasting hot bateria in the street. When the Police could tolorate no more, Houba continued indoors till god knows when.

Saturday we had 3 gigs on 3 different stages punctuated by big sausages in wee rolls and frothing tankards of beer. The punters certainly took our kilts in their stride, not quite so the french ladies, or so i'm told. By this point the meaningless phrase 'Phoneix Ciiity' had really taken hold and the band took great delight in convincing the compare to announce us as such. It was a pretty gruelling schedule playing not only our own gigs but joining both Muleketu and Bloco X/Suco Legal bods whenever possible and trying to squeeze in gigs from LSS, A Bunda and Swiss maniacs - Quastenflosser dressed as along the lines of robocop. One of the highlights of Saturday was Tarragona's Samba da Praca on the Marktplatz with their wonderful singing and generally brilliant show. Saturday night SYB rocked the back court of the Highlander with what felt like every ritmista in Europe in attendance. Aquarela and LSS led a mammoth and amazing pagode session in to the early morning.

Sunday, SYB were excused from the parade to play on the Albertsplatz stage. Samba City Coburg congested to a halt as the throngs strained to see the parade of 100+ bands and dancers. You would swear it was carnaval in Bahia if it wasn't for the occasional Bavarian remindeg glimpse of big tashes and belted gents shorts. After the parade, Highlander John made us one of his famous curry pots and half of Coburg settled into the usual caiperinha party with the wee band blasting the brazilian equivalent of my old man's a dustman and donald where's yer troosers till the cachaça ran out. Meanwhile the german efficiency made short work of dismantling the 9 or so stages and attachments that had covered the city for the last 3 days, ready for the next festival.

Coburg has one of the finest swimming pools in the world. If Carlsberg made swimming pools... it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as this one! It's outdoor, sunny (always), with grass, loungers, spashy bits, volleyball nets, flumes, diving boards and ice cold german bier! Monday was spent firmly dug in there. Yet another successful festival, no wonder it's the highlight of the samba year!

click here for more videos of SYB at Coburg

Needless to say the 4th Scottish Samba Showcase was a resounding success with monumental performances from Edinburgh Samba School, Muleketú and hosts SambaYaBamba. Photography by Becky Duncan - beckyduncanphotography.com 

 

SambaYaBamba

After a huge mess in the run up the West End Festival has passed back to the community. This year's parade will take place in leafy Kelvin Way and Kelvingrove Park and promises to be better than ever (weather permitting). As usual SambaYaBamba will be playing host to some wonderful guests. This year's highlight is Paris's Muleketu, Almost certainly THE best samba-reggae outfit outside of Salvador and winner of the 2009 Concours de Paris beating off competition from big name multiple winners Aquarela and Sambatuc. In it's 4th year now, the Scottish Samba Showcase will be in full swing the night before the parade with a triple bill of Muleketu, SambaYaBamba and Edinburgh Samba School. Muleketu are a must see item on this their first uk appearance, with their unique Baiano coreography and drum flailing acrobatics. QM Union, Sat 13th June 9pm-2am Tix £7adv/£9door tickets-scotland.com. 

2008 was a great year for the band with fantastic shows from Departure Lounge in Edinburgh to Knockengorroch in the deep south and HydroConnect on the west coast to Perth and Aberdeen in the north. Not forgetting of course the amazing West End Festival and Stereo gigs right here in Glasgow. The Euro-Odyssey was a flying success with Glasgow's bateria playing in excess of 12 gigs in 12 days across France Italy and Germany. 

We've played host to Verde Vai from London, Houba Samba from Montauban and both Barulho and Carnival Collective from Brighton. We've been lucky enough have expert tuition in samba-jungle from Pat Power and in Afro-Samba from mestre Marivaldo of the world famous afro bloco - Ilê Aiyê. 

9 members of SYB have had the opportunity to practice and play with the German based pan-european bateria, 'Bloco X' making Scotland one of the most strongly represented nations. Roddy, (our musical director) is just back from Rio and playing with the Samba School, Academicos da Rocinha and Monobloco for a less traditional take on Rio samba. 

This year looks just as promising with Brighton confirmed for April and an array of very tempting offers from Europe.

Do not miss SambaYaBamba and Brighton Carnival Collective head to head in Stereo! Enough said. If you only see one SambaYaBamba gig this year, this is the one to see. Along with the outstanding CC who have sold out in the Riverside Club twice before. Edinburgh bods have a chance to SambaYaBamba on the Friday night at Departure Lounge in the Caves along with Chief and Dog from Bêbado on the decks.

www.bebado.co.uk

SYB vs Carnival Collective, Stereo, Glasgow Sat 29th Nov

SambaYaBamba are heading to Connect Festival off the back of an incredible european tour taking in Belgium, the South of France, The Italian Lakes and Bavaria. This is certainly the most ambitious escapade SYB has ever undertaken and indeed in all my years of samba i have never heard of any other European bateria taking on such a grand plan either. 30 sambistas, one bus, 14 gigs, 30 degrees, yaaaaas!

The tour took in the Samba al Pais festival in Negrepelisse near Toulouse and the infamous Coburg Samba Festival in Germany, easily the biggest samba festival outside Brazil. Both France and Germany have much healthier samba scenes than the UK but the drummers from Glasgow managed to delight punters, sambistas and critics alike with our unique drum'n'bass and breakbeat styles alongside our ability to play full and correct Rio style samba.

Now in our 4th year at Coburg, SambaYaBamba is becoming something of a local legend and it's clear to see we are getting better slots and bigger crowds every year. This year we had very well attended gigs on the two main stages which you can see on youtube by clicking here