There is a veritable renaissance of Brazilian-inspired music occurring in New Orleans. Arguably, guitarist Scott Myers is at the center of it. The latest iteration of his Brazilian organ group is making their debut at the Mid City club this evening. The music starts at 8:30 PM.
Myers is best known around town for his work with Chegadão, a group that he started along with a Brazilian guitarist named Marcio Pereira in 2008. Although Pereira is no longer in the band, they played a spectacular set at the 2014 Jazz Fest.
Organica takes the classic organ combo concept and adds elements of Brazilian funk as well as boogaloo and original music. The sound clip above features different musicians besides Myers, but it will give you a feel for what the music will sound like live.
Joining Myers is Charlie Dennard, the musical prodigal who literally left town to join the circus. After over a decade travelling with Cirque Du Soleil, the keyboardist is back with a deepened focus on Brazilian music due to influences accumulated on the road.
I recently wrote about Dennard’s latest project, an album that mines the deep connections between Brazil and New Orleans. He debuted From Brazil to New Orleans at Snug Harbor recently. Myers played on the record and appeared at the end of the late set at the Frenchmen Street Club.
Wayne Maureau is the drummer appearing with Organica tonight. His resume is vast, but he is best known currently for his tenure with Walter “Wolfman” Washington. He is well known for his deep knowledge of beats from around the globe.
The final piece of the puzzle of Organica is saxophonist/flautist Brent Rose. An instructor at the University of New Orleans, Rose also plays with a huge variety of bands. He is a member of Chegadão and readers with deep memories will recall his work with Quintology, a band which also featured Dennard back in the day. The above vid features Rose with Chegadão.
