Mario Bakuna and Brazilian Landscapes
November 30 & December 1 @ 8:00pm

Mario Bakuna - acoustic guitar and vocals

Roberto Occhipint - bass

Mark Kelso - drums

Juan Carlos Medrano - percussion
Jeffrey Faffard - Drums

Mario Bakuna is a Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and guitar player currently  based in London-UK. Mario's study focuses on the development of a music repertoire  inspired by the greats of Afro-Brazilian Music, Samba, Jazz and Bossa Nova. Over  the past few years, Mario has emerged as a leading figure and a reference in the  Brazilian Jazz Music scene in England. Bakuna has extensively performed in Europe  and beyond, playing at distinguished venues and festivals across 18 European  countries, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, Madagascar, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. 

Following his first album ‘Where Rio de Janeiro Meets Bahia’, Bakuna’s most recent  project is 'Brazilian Landscapes' which is a tribute to the culture and memory of  Brazilian people and it's the result of years of inspiration Mario Bakuna drew upon  while travelling through Brazil, experiencing its rhythmic and harmonic richness. From  the arid landscape of the northeast, which is reflected in the chorus of songs of Forró,  Baião and Xaxado, to the African influence found in Ijexá, the popularity of Samba  and the sophistication of Bossa Nova, Mario Bakuna and his musicians celebrate the  most musically rich territory on Earth.  

“Mario Bakuna, a sparkling guitarist, plays with palpable feeling - his virtuosic  fluency on the fretboard is controlled and flourishes are perfectly placed. His voice  has a texture like heavy cloth”. Songlines Magazine 

“Mario Bakuna, a man who exudes music. (…) ‘vocals’ doesn’t begin to do him  justice: his expressive range and the precision with which he was able to deploy it  was truly the band’s fifth instrument. (…) And he did this while playing guitar with  precision and finesse. (…) his solos were a further source of amazement, his  technique somewhere between finger-picking style and classical. His solo introduction  to a Baden Powell number made a hash of any attempt at a definition.” The Whitman  Review, Wakefield Jazz