En Canto

Biography

A multi-ethnic female-led sextet, En Canto is Seattle’s only Forró band. Forró music is a combination of multiple Brazilian rhythms including baião, xote and arrasta-pé. The word refers to both the musical genre and the accompanying partner dance party events where it is heard.

En Canto shows are exuberant sonic journeys, the band driving the dance floor with swirling Brazilian rhythms and irresistible melodies. The sound is fueled primarily by twin accordions and tinged with the jazz backgrounds of several of the musicians. Anchored in the classics and contemporaries of their genre, they pay tribute to influences Luiz Gonzaga, Mestrinho, Dominguinhos, Sivuca and many others. The group brings the Pacific Northwest a rare link between old and new Brazil.

En Canto presents monthly forró events at Studio Current on the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and performs regularly at music and dance festivals around the US and Canada. In 2018 En Canto was featured at the New York Forró festival alongside Forró In the Dark, Luic Da Silva, Vitor Goncalves and Felipe Hostins.
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The members of the band include a mix of Seattle veterans and skilled imports from Brazil, with an assortment of music degrees and decades of playing experience: vocalist Adriana Giordano; accordionists Jamie Maschler and Gabe Hall-Rodrigues; bassist Mike Catts; flautist Meese Tonkin; pianist Mike Withey and drummer Adam Kozie.

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