Folk Show host Tom Beebee has brought a number of world music traditions to the attention of Folk Show listeners,  and I thought you might enjoy a story NPR ran this morning that featured one of those traditions: Forro.

Here’s the lead to the story,  and you can read or listen to the entire piece with this link:

Brazil has a reputation for its music. Just mentioning the country’s name can evoke images of samba bands and glittering dancers at Carnaval, or the swaying beat of “The Girl From Ipanema.” But Brazil is home to plenty of other styles and genres, including forro, a musical amalgam that’s been compared to zydeco, the Texas Two-Step and even mazurka.

If you ever have the chance to talk to Clay Ross, guitar player for the April Verch Band, he is an absolute encyclopedia of Brazilian music, genres, instruments and styles. His Brazilian music band is Matuto; check it out at http://clayross.com/

Some of Verch’s newer material incorporates Brazilian influences thanks to Clay, but I’m not sure any of it is recorded yet.

-jim