Samba Drumming

On a rather hot day, I headed to the Centro Cultural Dragão do Mar for a coffee — hoping to catch the Santa Clara Cafe when it opened.

As I approached the entrance to the cultural centre I could hear strong drum beats coming from two different directions — almost competing with each other for air time.

When I walked over Buoni Amici’s, a restaurant we passed on the previous evening, I could tell that one drumming group was inside here and I had to see them play.

Upon entering the building I could see a small group of people with drums and shekere gourds playing a samba beat. They finished their practice as I entered and everyone was congratulating the new people for sticking through the practice. More experienced players were pulling junior players aside to show them proper shekere technique.

I had barely gotten a taste of drumming and wanted more so I headed towards the next building where the noise was much louder. This was the Orbit, a place where Unidos da Cachorra play every Saturday at 2pm.

I can’t even begin to describe how amazing the experience was… you have to hear and see for yourself. Somehow the samba became a part of this odd roofless and floorless building.

I couldn’t pull myself away until the practice was over. By this time the building was humming with activity and I’d long forgotten about grabbing a coffee from the Santa Clara Cafe.