Timbalada

• country:Brazil
• region:Bahia
• style(s):Percussion
• label:not signed
• type:Band
• instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
• artist posted by:Janela do Mundo

Timbalada

Strong colours, tribal motifs, a mixture of references and the unmistakeable rhythm of the timbaus. Timbalada is all of this - a group straight out of Candeal, a musical storeroom in the city of Salvador and whose mentor is artist Carlinhos Brown.
With 18 years on the road and their own rhythm and energy, Timbalada started in 1990, through a series of meetings promoted by Brown in order to select new talent. The creator consolidated this project and created the band, which then had approximately 400 student-musicians.
The group decreased in size with time and became professional. Their fame started to grow at the rehearsals that took place in Candyall Guetho Square, a now extinguished space for shows where the stage was in the middle and the audience all around it. It became a traditional party in the city of Salvador, attracting both more and more people from Salvador as well as tourists. This is how the band triumphed in Brazil, being just a question of time for them to also gain international fans. An example of this is the numerous shows held in other countries, including the United States, Japan, Holland and Spain, where they played to one million people in Madrid.
Their success is not surprising when you listen to the band's sound, which is strong and imposing. This is accompanied by a presentation with great aesthetic appeal, instrumentalists and singers' painted bodies, stage choreography and involving their audiences who do not stop dancing throughout the whole presentation. Nobody can resist Timbalada's drumming.
The band leads a carnival group marked by a multiplicity of tribes that is already one of the group's characteristics: thousands of tourists, people from all social classes and with different musical tastes, united by the contagious sound of Timbalada.

The Sound

Today the group's leader is singer and percussionist, Denny, who started his musical education through a social project in the city of Camacari, where he took part in a band which also had a percussive base. Carlinhos Brown, found this gem on one of his meanders and quickly hired him to participate in Timbalada.
Apart from the vocalist, Timbalada has a further 17 members: nine percussionists, four in the brass section, two backing vocalists, a keyboard player and guitarist.
Their registered trademark is the timbau. This instrument is used principally in Candomble, an African religion that has Orixas as its gods but were not used by musical groups until Timbalada surfaced.
The timbau's percussive force is to Brown's merit, who is the band's mentor: in African and African-American worships, the instrument was played horizontally and with just one hand, starting to be played in a vertical position and with both hands by band members and so completely changing its sound.
The timbau is a total highlight in Timbalada shows, where it is placed centre stage and surrounded by the other instruments. The way that it is played, added to the sounds of atabaques and surdos, mix with guitar chords, keyboards and wind instruments. This mixture excites crowds and awakens a passion for Bahian tribal music wherever it passes.

Recent Work

A DVD was recorded in Sao Luis, Maranhao, the Brazilian reggae capital, in order to commemorate the band's anniversary. This was Timbalada's first DVD, recorded in 2007.
This project brings the energy of the band's sound, thrilling more than 18,000 people with the group's special drumming rhythm. Apart from their great successes, the DVD contains new songs and participation from their creator and mentor, Carlinhos Brown.