Forro In The Dark

Updating beloved folk traditions to reach broader contemporary listeners poses real challenges. Push the changes too aggressively and the result risks becoming a diluted imitation that merely sprinkles a few foreign flavors over conventional pop fare. Hold back and the project often collapses into the familiar shortcut of draping drum loops and synthesizers across archival field tapes in the name of modernization. Forro in the Dark sidesteps both pitfalls. Mauro Refosco assembled the group in 2002, initially for a single performance marking his own birthday celebration. The ensemble starts from the core elements of forro—the percussion-driven, accordion-centered, rhythmically hypnotic dance music of Brazil’s northeast that functions there much as samba does in Rio de Janeiro—and folds those elements into a broader mix shaped by jazz and rock. While live appearances frequently include additional collaborators, the touring and recording lineup centers on Refosco playing zabumba, guitarists Smokey Hormel (who has also worked extensively with Beck and Tom Waits and records as half of the bossa nova duo Smokey & Miho) and Guilherme Monteiro, reed player Jorge Continentino, and percussionists Gilmar Gomes and Davi Vieira. All six members contribute to the frequently chanted vocals. The band’s first release, Bonfires of São João, appeared on Nublu Records in November 2006; the small imprint is tied to the Lower East Side venue that hosted the group’s extended residency. David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, and Miho Hatori appeared as guests on that album. The 2009 follow-up, Light a Candle, continued the ensemble’s distinctive balance of traditional forro authenticity and eclectic expansion.