Adriana Giordano was born in Porto Alegre, one of Brazil’s southernmost cities, and raised in São Paolo, but she’s devoted to the style known as forró, working class dance music from Brazil’s sertão, the semi-arid northeastern interior. As the vocalist and triangle player for the Seattle sextet Foleada, she delivers the stomping music with rhythmic authority, powered by accordionists Jamie Maschler and Gabe Hall-Rodrigues, percussionists Jeff Busch and Sam Esecson, and bassist Michael Catts. Much like zydeco, forró is social music that draws on many styles, particularly Afro-Brazilian samba and baião rhythms. Transporting audiences to the vibrant streets of Brazil, Foleada pays homage to forró’s northeastern roots while adding their own Pacific Northwest flavor via salsa, jazz and funk. 

This program is supported in part by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and the National Endowment for the Arts.