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We were first drawn to São Paolo’s Curumin when we learned of his electric ukulele. We had to see it in person—and possibly steal it. Then we thought about buying one on eBay instead because stealing is wrong. No matter that we can’t even play a regular ukulele—we’d learn if we had an electric one.
After hyping up the uke so much, it came as a cruel surprise to see Luciano Nakata Albuquerque (Curumin is a nickname given to precocious Brazilian children) sit down at the drum kit for the opening song on Tuesday at the Cedar Cultural Center. However, the relaxed, tropicalismo that began the set melted the lack-of-ukulele bitterness and the sub-zero temperatures away. By the end of the song, we had all but forgotten about that diminutive guitar.
The best part about the Cedar (aside from the the chai) is people watching. Curumin fit right in to the motly crowd with his oddball hip hop and reggae magnified through an electronic lens. The spectators included a handful of Brazilian expats (noted because they could actually samba), a dancing baby and a couple of gentlemen in their Golden Years shifting their weight from one foot to the other in step with the South American beat.
Curumin shared the stage with a bassist and a bearded Renaissance Man who managed some off-kilter sound play with his voice and all sorts of toys. Between Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley covers, “Caixa Preta” (from his latest album Japan Pop Show) was one of highlights of the show, representing the ultra-modern, discotequero end of Curumin’s spectrum of influences including funk, pop, electronica, reggae, jazz, hip hop, dub hop and basically all the other genres in existence. This variety feeds into the new Música Popular Brasileira (aka MPB) which is an urban revival of the Bossa Nova and samba styles that put Brazil on the music map in the 1960s and is putting Curumin and his compatriots CéU, CSS and Bonde Do Role on that map now.
Even though we were enjoying the show without it, it was a Christmas morning moment when Curumin suddenly appeared with his mini guitar. After the show Curumin explained to us that the instrument is not technically a ukulele—it’s a cavaquinho. It’s one of the common samba guitars but the electric version is just as rare as an electric ukulele. We couldn't bear to steal it, knowing we would only be robbing ourselves of the final moments of the performance (and probably getting caught 'cause we're not that sneaky). The floating cavaquinho tones coming through the amp lived up to our hype and Curumin ended the show on a high note.
Annie D'Souza is the brains (and brauns) behind Metromix's 24 Hrs Notice. She is also the editor of local culture blog, The Suggestion Boxer. She lives in Minneapolis, works on the Internet and usually picks "What Would You Do?" by City High for karaoke.
