Curumin

Originating from Spanish and Japanese parents, Luciano Nakata Albuquerque—better known as Curumin—passed his formative period in São Paulo, Brazil, absorbing the music of Jorge Ben, Tim Maia, and Bebeto. He assembled his first rock group at age eight, and by sixteen he was already working as a percussionist and keyboardist in the city’s leading clubs. Later he entered Gaviões da Fiel, the distinguished Brazilian conservatory, where his studies deepened his knowledge of MPB while outside hours he explored Run-D.M.C. and the B-52’s. Performing with his band Zomba took him across continents, where they opened for the internationally recognized Brazilian artists Arnaldo Antunes, Andrea Marquee, and SP Funk. Those eclectic influences surface throughout Achados e Perdidos, Portuguese for “Found and Lost,” the album issued in the U.S. by the Quannum label in September 2005.