Music
Press
February 21st, 2008
Forrótimo - (Independent)
A festa já começou
Martin Siberok
Brazilian music has always been well represented in Montreal thanks to singer Nico Beki and percussionist Daniel Bellegarde. On their latest outing, the two team up with the talents of vocalist/guitarist Rodrigo Salazar, accordionist Francis Covan and percussionist Fabrice Laurent to form Forrótimo. Their focus is on forró (literally, "party"), a lively dance music featuring the accordion, triangle and zabumba (bass drum) that originated in culturally rich, yet impoverished northeastern Brazil. This collection of 14 covers includes four by the genre's pioneering exponent, Luiz Gonzaga, who popularized forró in the 1940s. The only non-Portuguese offering is a Brazilian-flavoured version of Les Colocs' La Rue principale, which does justice to Dédé Fortin's original. At times sounding similar to Cajun zydeco, this is an intriguing recording that tastefully showcases a little-known music.
- The hour
Palmarès World 2008-02-08
CS: Cette semaine | SP: Semaine précédente | NS: Nombre de semaines au palmarès
CS SP NS Artiste Titre Étiquette
1 1 5 Forrotimo* A festa ja começou... Indépendant
2 4 3 Du Bartas Turbo Balèti Sirventes
3 6 3 Saba Jidka (The line) Riverboat/World Music Network
4 2 7 Gadji Gadjo* Sur le toit des voisins Prod. Mange-ta-main
5 3 5 De temps antan* À l'année Indépendant
6 8 2 Fernando Otero Pagina de Buenos Aires Nonesuch
7 7 5 Skarazula* Litha Indépendant
8 5 4 She'koyokh Klezmer Ensemble Sandanski's Chicken ARC
9 0 1 Peru Negro Zamba Malto Times Square/Fusion III
10 0 1 La India Canela Merengue Tipico Smithsonian Folkways
- cibl
Monde - A FESTA JA COMEÇOU...
Forrotimo, Indépendant
Nico Beki et Daniel Bellegarde font partie de ces artistes qu'on voit partout depuis toujours et qui ont bien dû participer à une trentaine de disques en 30 ans: des enracinés qui sont de toutes les aventures brésiliennes, antillaises, afros ou même proprement «quèbes». De véritables pionniers d'un monde métis. On les connaîtrait davantage que la question des accommodements raisonnables ne se poserait même pas. Alors voilà, pour la première fois, ils ont leur disque à eux, avec leur quintette à eux, dans un genre à eux, le forro, splendide musique de bal populaire du Nordeste brésilien. Forro dans le sens de musique For All, joyeusement jouée avec l'accordéon, le triangle et des tambours à maillets auxquels on a ajouté la guitare et même l'hélicon. Ça rappelle parfois le two-step cajun. À cela, ils ajoutent le baiao, le coco et d'autres rythmes qui leur sont apparentés. Là-dessus, ils chantent de la poésie sociale et reprennent même en français La Rue principale du regretté Dédé. Ils ont enregistré avec les moyens du bord, mais ça ne gâche en rien l'écoute. Ils ont même reçu l'appréciation de Forro in the Dark. www.myspace.com/forrotimo! - Yves Bernard
***
- Le devoir
Td)
Forrótimo. Looking to Heat Up Your Holiday Season? This Montreal Group Plays Forro (Pronounced "Fo-Ho") the Accordion-Coloured, Country-Tinged Folk Music of the Brazilian Northeast. There Will Be Singing, Dancing and Lots of Laughter, Wednesday at La Sala Rossa, 4848 St. Laurent Blvd. Tickets Cost $10. for a Taste, Check Out Www.Myspace.Com/Forrotimo. Call 514-284-0122. (Td)
The Gazette (Montreal) 2007
- The Gazette
Discography
We had our first CD " A festa já começou..." released on december 2007.
Various medias ( CBC, CKUT, Radio-Mtl, Cinq FM, CJMT broadcast ) have already played our music and we have 3 songs on www.myspace.com/forrotimo
Photos
Bio
Forrótimo
A short history
Forrótimo is a new Brazilian music group. Its members have travelled the road of world music for many years...
The multitalented percussionist Daniel Bellegarde has spent over 25 years playing world music, touring and recording with artists from Quebec and around the world (Robert Charlebois, Paulo Ramos, Lilison di Kinara, Bïa and others). In 1984 he met Brazilian singer Nico Beki and joined the group M.P.B* that she had formed one year earlier.
As part of this group, Nico was invited to play in Morocco, the Azores, Western Canada (the Yukon, Winnipeg and Vancouver...) and at many events in Quebec, including Quebec City’s summer festival, the Jazz Festival and the Francofolies). She was featured many times on radio and TV and joined Daniel on other musical projects (Robert Charlebois, Paulo Ramos, Lilison di Kinara). In 1994 in Quebec City, at a concert in trio with guitarist Richard Léveillé (Fortin-Léveillé) they met guitarist, singer and bass player Rodrigo Salazar, newly arrived from Chile.
After conservatory studies at the University de Conceptión, Rodrigo honed his craft playing in the streets of Buenos Aires and Rio. After arriving in North America, he took part in an intensive workshop at Boston’s Berklee College of Music with Gary Burton. After two years in Quebec City, he moved to Montreal where he joined Nico Beki’s group and the groups of other Montreal artists soon after.
In the spring of 2000, Nico, Daniel and Rodrigo met accordionist Francis Covan. This flamboyant multi-instrumentalist has been touring as a violinist since the age of 14. With the traditional music group E Saquant Beyaus, he crisscrossed his native Belgium and Europe for 15 years. He got into jazz in his early 20s, which led to his crossing paths with Stéphane Grapelli and Didier Lockwood. After an American tour with Cirque du Soleil (Alegria), he settled in Montreal and worked live and in studio on a number of projects (Michel Rivard, Gilles Vigneault, Daniel Lavoie, Isabelle Boulay, Bïa and many others...).
Daniel, Nico, Rodrigo and Francis founded Forrótimo in 2007 and invited their friend Fabrice, a drummer and percussionist, to join the group.
Born in France, Fabrice Laurent studied drumming at the Dante Agostini school in Paris and at the A.I.M.R.A school of jazz in Lyon. He has toured in the United States with guitarist Rony Jordan and with a number of world music artists. Over the years, he has devoted increasing amounts of his time to Brazilian music, working with Paulo Ramos, Mônica Freire and Nico Beki, and spent several months in northern Brazil perfecting his technique with percussion masters in Belém do Pará and São Luís do Maranhão.
The group is now complete and the Forró bus hits the road, a road that holds many surprises. Hopefully, a few kindred spirits will board along the way…February 2009 : young and talented bass player Etienne Rocheleau joins the band.
* música popular brasileira
Links
