Burlington Vermont's own samba street band is guaranteed to get you on your feet and moving to its pulsating carnaval rhythms. The huge sound of 20+ drummers playing our contagious brand of Afro-Brazilian percussion is irresistable to people of all ages.
Patterned after Brazilian Carnaval percussion orchestras with up to 300 musicians, Sambatucada! is a smaller scale version of the traditional community street bands found in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. Smaller to fit the scale of our Vermont home, the band still produces a BIG sound!
Sambatucada leads hundreds during a fundraising walk.
About Us
We are an all-volunteer street bateria and community of men & women from all walks of life, united in our love for Brazilian music and percussion. Based in Burlington, Vermont, USA, and founded in 1995 to play at Burlington's Discover Jazz Festival, Sambatucada! has developed steadily under the leadership of drummer extraordinaire Bruce McKenzie. Over the last 17 years, Sambatucada! has become well known all over northern and central Vermont for exciting performances at parades, festivals, celebrations and community events of every conceivable variety, including Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival, First Night, Magic Hat Mardis Gras clebration, Vermont Pride Parade, and many more.We play a variety of Afro-Brazilian rhythms, including samba, samba-reggae, baiao and maracatu, using traditional percussion instruments including:
Surdo - a large, low-tuned drum, the heartbeat of the samba
Caixa - a snare drum
Tamborim, a small frame drum played with a flexible beater
Repinique, a small drum, twelve by fourteen inches
Agogô - a double cow bell struck with a metal rod
Chocalho, a rattle, made up of rows of jingles
Triangle, Cowbell, and more.
A Sampling of Performances
Over the last 17 years, Sambatucada! has become well known all over northern and central Vermont for exciting performances at parades, festivals, celebrations and community events of every conceivable variety. Here is a sampling of the diverse events and audiences who have moved to the Sambatucada! beat.
Major Festivals and Events
Burlington First Night Celebration
Ringing in the New Year with Samba Rhythms
Burlington Mardi Gras Festival
Sambatucada! leads the Parade!
Vermont City Marathon
Running requires Rhythm, and who better to supply that beat at New England's second largest marathon event?
Vermont Discover Jazz Festival
Sambatucada! rocks the Magic Hat Block Party during one of country's premier week-long jazz events
Burlington Independence Day Celebration
Burlngton welcomes tens of thousands revelers each July 3rd for Vermont's best fireworks, and Sambatucada! warms up the crowd.
Call Bruce (802) 658-5924
Fundraisers with Rhythm
Burlington COTS Walk
Helping to shelter the homeless
Burlington MS Walk
Fighting Multiple Sclerosis Samba Style!
Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival
Raising money for breast cancer research and supporting local pledge partners
Cultural Festivals Galore!
Vermont International Festival
Sara Holbrook Center Festival of Cultures
Champlain Elementary School Cultural Festival
World Soccer Festival, Hyde Park
The Samba Beat at Other Community Events
Burlington College Commencement Ceremonies
Waterbury River of Light Parade
Essex Junction Winter Festival
Champlain Valley Co-housing Winter Solstice Celebration
St. Albans Health Fair
Workshops & Education
Brazilian Dance Workshop (2005) - Brazilian dancer/teacher Quenia Ribeiro and percussionist Cabello (backed by Sambatucada!) lead a workshop in Samba and other Afro-Brazilian dances in a informal relaxed atmosphere at Burlington's Memorial Auditorium Loft. That same weekend, Cabello and Queniawill gave exciting demonstrations of acrobatic Afro-Brazilian martial arts dance called capoeira, again accompanied by the rhythms of our home grown sambanistas.
Call Bruce (802) 658-5924
Private Parties & Events
Upward Bound Celebration 2007: 300 youths from Upward Bound programs throughout Vermont and upstate New York came together at Johnson State College for a the most electric (all-acoustic) performance ever!
McKenzie's Centennial Celebration: One of Vermont's most recognized (and flavorful) brands celebrated its 100th birthday with Sambatucada! providing the rythms at Centennial Field.
Burlington Health & Rehabilitation: Our rythms appeal to all generations. Residents of this long-term health care facility loved being outside on a beautiful day listening and moving to the Samba beat.
Brazil Fest Burlington: A celebration of Brazilian culture presented by Sambatuada! featuring authentic Brazilian food, dance lessons, and demonstrations by Capoeira master Fua Nascimiento.
Sambatucada on Burlington's Waterfront
Join Us
The all-volunteer members of Sambatucada! are always looking for new players to help spread the joy of samba. You don’t need a lot of percussion experience to join. We rehearse at the 8 Space Studio, 4 Howard St. in Burlington most Monday evenings from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. Visitors are always welcome. See map below for directions. For more information about joining the band, contact Michelle Holgate, mh(at)retrovest.com,or 802-343-7107. Join Sambatucada! and let yourself get swept up in samba fever!!
Carnaval is a pre-Lent celebration similar to the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. It is the biggest party in the world: a time to eat, drink, dance and be crazy. In all of Brazil’s major cities, the normal social order is turned upside down and anything goes! Carnaval begins on the Sunday before Lent and runs three days, until the Wednesday before Ash Wednesday.
In Rio de Janeiro, dozens of escolas de samba (samba “schools”) participate in the carnaval parade through the sambodromo -- a huge stadium built exclusively for samba. Each school -- really a neighborhood organization based in one of Rio’s low income slums, or favelas -- struts its stuff for 90 minutes in a parade that goes on around the clock for several days. The parade is the climax around which life in the samba school revolves for an entire year. It is not just a parade, but a competition in which entrants are judged on their music, theme and costumes.
Escolas can number up to 5,000 elaborately costumed dancers. Their percussion orchestras, or baterias, can include over 300 drummers. The experience of the bateria beginning to play has been called “the ultimate power percussion experience on the planet.” More info on samba.
Dedicated To all the samba greats - past and present - without whom this wonderful music would not be possible!
"Quem nao gosta do samba Bom sujeito nao e E ruim da cabeca Ou doente no pe!"
