Geneseo B.P. – Saturday, the final post before flying

We are in the airport in Rio.  I’ll make one more post before we fly.  Last night we played at the Samba School in the favela.  Actually, the building was on the very edge of the fevela.  We were first taken into an adjacent building that is an actual school that has music classes.  While there, we received a short demonstration performance by a group that was most like a jazz band.  Drums, piano, two trombones, two trumpets, two alto saxes, two clarinets and a flute.  Again, a wide age range from high school to mature adult.  Their music was jazz that was very much like what any American jazz band might play.  They had four or five people improvise solos, and a couple of them were very good.  They played well and were rewarded with generous applause from our band.  There drummer was late getting there, so our four college percussionists filled in and improvised on drum set and latin hand percussion.

Next, we went next door to the samba school.  As expected, it was a huge warehouse type building.  There was a stage and a thrust with kind of a catwalk out to a round platform area.  The center of the building was big and clear and flat.  Along the sides were facilities, concessions, and elevated boxes and platforms for observation.  I snooped around a little and found rooms with drum shells stacked very high.  Another room was so full of costumes there was no room to move.  It was clear that Carnival just got done a month ago, and these items are stored for the off-season.  One of the guys I talked to explained that each Samba School has to have a story that they tell with their performance.  There are main characters that promote the story.  Since the one group can have as many as 5000, they practice in groups that will become sections in the parade.  I have to go.