Receita de Samba

Receita de Samba, taken from Jacob do Bandolim's choro of the same name, means in Portuguese "recipe for samba", an apt name for a group who's focus is to showcase the many flavors of Brazilian music in their simplest from with no artificial additives like drum machines or electronic sampling. The chefs de cuisine are husband and wife duo Anna Borges and Bill Ward, who draw from Boston's vibrant Brazilian music scene to cook up only the finest Bossa Nova and samba, and well as regional specialties such as Forró, Ijexá, and Coco. Collaborations have included: Alfredo Cardim, Amir Milstein, David Rumpler, Fernando Brandão, Fernando Huergo, Fernando Michelin, Fernando Saci, Fabio Saffi, Gabriel Meireles, José Pienasola, Mark Walker, Mike Turk, Rebecca Cline, and Vinícius Pienasola. Anna, originally from Recife, Pernambuco, began her career in Brasilia singing in bars, clubs, and theaters, accompanied by some of Brasilia’s finest musicians, many of whom she met during her studies at the Escola de Musica de Brasilia. In 2004 when her father was assigned to a post as vice-consul at the Brazilian consulate in Boston, she saw an opportunity to pursue a musical career in the US, following in the footsteps of many other Brazilian musicians who have left Brazil in order to further their musical development. Soon after her arrival in Boston, through mutual friends she met singer/multi-instrumentalist Bill Ward, with whom she discovered a great deal of musical and personal affinity (the two would be married a couple years later). Bill had recently left Oberlin Conservatory, where he had been studying jazz piano. During his time there, he became increasingly focused on Brazilian music, ultimately making the decision to explore the language and music of Brazil to the exclusion of all other pursuits. He soon found himself in Boston where he was surprised to discover a thriving community of Brazilian musicians, with many of whom he and Anna would later collaborate. His most notable collaboration at the time was with pianist Alfredo Cardim and harmonica player Mike Turk, with whom he performed on WGBH’s “Eric In The Evening.” It was around this time that Anna and Bill met and began to embark on a project that would have traditional brazilian music as its focus.

Medford, MA