3/12/11 Mississippi Pizza Pub 9pm

[z' Bumba]

Pirates, poetry and puritans: the funky, funky accordions of Northeast Brazil

Saturday, Mar 12, z'Bumba performs the rootsy, raucous, and rebellious forró (fo-HOh) music of Northeastern Brazil at Mississippi Pizza Pub (3552 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $7, 21+)

Like the love child of zydeco and salsa, this irrepressibly danceable music is a sensory experience, a fresh, tropical aural fruit salad, a gorgeous mixture of impossibly delicious sounds like juicy mango accordions, peppery percussion, and the passion-fruit portuguese poetry sung by scintillating São Paulo songstress Gabriella.

Forró dancing starts simple, like  a two step. In fact, some say word itself comes from the English "For All." As the music quiets the monkey mind and moves bodies, however, we're soon reminded that Brazil is not a puritan culture. Come find out.

z'Bumba endorses Fair Trade Music PDX