CD Release Party at SOB's NYC 7/15/08
(For booking inquiries, contact Mondo Mundo: [email protected] )
BREAKING NEWS: Arriving July 15th in stores everywhere, Legends of the Preacher brings Nation Beat's trademark maracatu-rock to the next level. This cutting-edge, 21st century fusion between Brazil and New Orleans second line rhythms, Appalachian-inspired bluegrass music, funk, rock, and country-blues required just the right sort of band. Conjuring the spirit of powerful and liberated carnival queens, rising Brazilian star Liliana Araujo, a recent finalist on Brazil’s “American Idol†spin-off program FAMA now fronts the ensemble with her soaring powerhouse vocals.
Legends of the Preacher also features three mesmerizing collaborations with 2007 GRAMMY award winners The Klezmatics. The work with The Klezmatics further extends their work as world groove excavators and mad scientists. As if blending the roots music of Brazil and America seamlessly were not accomplishment enough, with The Klezmatics they have added a third layer -- Eastern European roots. Recife has been established as the very first landing point of European Jews in the Western hemisphere, and Kettner and Klezmatics co-founder Frank London have spent years exploring possible musical connections between northern Brazil and the Jewish community that planted roots their nearly 400 years ago. The two groups connect sonically and spiritually to provide elegance, whimsy, charm, and soul to these groundbreaking fusions.
Inspired by the Afro-Brazilian rhythms of maracatu, the foremost diasporic band of the Mangue Bit movement of Northeast Brazil, NATION BEAT has created an incredible, fresh new sound. Which nation, and which beat? What makes this group special is that it offers no simple answers. They are rhythm gatherers, harvesting the fruit of 500 years of cultural cross-breeding, which is why the sounds of the northeast of Brazil and the southern United States blend together so seamlessly; NPR music writer Banning Eyre calls them "the most original and alluring fusion group I have heard in years." In 2005, Nation Beat became the first North American group to collaborate and record with an authentic maracatu "nation," the legendary Estrela Brilhante of Recife led by Mestre Walter and rhythm master Jorge Martins.
At their high-energy live shows, musical director/drummer and US Latin Jazz Ambassador Scott Kettner keeps the rhythms sizzling. Meanwhile, lead singer Liliana Araújo of Fortaleza, Brazil's soaring, enchanting vocals have been stunning audiences since her starring role on "Fama," Brazil's "American Idol." Nation Beat recently stole the show at GlobalFEST, 2008 in New York City winning them the praise of concert presenters around the world. Their highly anticipated sophmore release produced by Modiba Productions and featuring three mesmerizing collaborations with 2007 GRAMMY award winners The Klezmatics is due out in July, 2008.