Series generously supported by Merit Medical Systems
Sambaguru brings balmy Brazilian jazz to icy SLC
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 9, 2004
By Hilary Groutage Smith
Plan on dancing.
Plan on dreaming.
The Brazilian beat of Katia Moraes & Sambaguru promises to transport freezing Utahns to a warmer, upbeat place during a performance of Jazz at the Sheraton on Monday. It's summer in Brazil, after all, Moraes notes.
"There is snow there? Beautiful," she said during an interview while vacationing in Florida.
Singer, dancer and backbone of the band, Moraes emits pure energy onstage, and it's all about love.
"We love so much the music," she said.
And it is nearly impossible to sit still while listening.
"I guarantee there will be more people in the aisles than in the seats," said Sambaguru percussionist Kevin Ricard in a telephone from Los Angeles.
Moraes is known for smooth Brazilian dance moves onstage. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1984, singing with a rock band called The Spirit of the Thing in Brazil. After moving to Los Angeles in 1990, she worked in films and television and eventually organized Sambaguru in 1998. She also teaches Brazilian dance classes in Los Angeles.
"It's not like, just, Katia and five guys. We're all friends. We all have a voice in what happens in the band," Ricard said. "It's collective, a group."
The band has survived and thrived because of its perfect musical blend. It's all the music Ricard loves -- jazz, funk, samba and rock.
"This music lends itself to fun," Ricard said. "There is no other place where I can blend all of the music I love."
In Salt Lake City last summer, Sambaguru played in the middle of a stifling heat wave, but even in 100-plus degree July heat, the audience grooved.
"It was hot. Really hot. But people still enjoyed it," he said.
Besides the summer performance, Ricard has traveled to Salt Lake City several times -- for the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Games and again with Stevie Wonder for the 2002 Special Olympics.
In addition to Moraes and Ricard, Sambaguru includes guitar player Sanjay Divecha, a native of Bombay, India; Sri Lankan bassist Hussain Jiffry; percussionist Tony Shogren; and Bill Brendle on piano.
