Mandinka Afroreggae fusion drinking from the juice of musical diversity

TERRAKOTA
Ambassadors of Portuguese multiculturality


BIOGRAPHY

If one says Lisbon, one thinks fado. Well, one should think again, because here comes Terrakota, the leaders of the worldfusion scène that is developing in Lisbon. Terrakota and tens of young bands form the up-and-coming ‘musica mestiça’ scene are coming along with the rising cultural diversity influenced by immigrant populations, and musicians, from the ancient Portuguese colonies Angola, Cape Verde, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Lisbon is changing. The ‘cidade do fado’ is being more and more open and multicultural, and no one better represents that cultural diversity than Terrakota.

Terrakota was born in 1999 after a three month journey in West Africa that brought Junior, Alex and Humberto to a small neighbourhood of griot musicians and dancers in the town of Bobodioulasso, Burkina Faso. Everything was there: the vibrant colour of terracotta, the houses, the roads, the earth... Back in Lisbon, they recorded a demo and added three musicians: Davide, a drummer, Francesco, an Italian bass player, and Romi, an Angolan singer and dancer with great potential.

Right away the band made a big impact on the musical scene in Lisbon. They managed to organize and produce their own concerts in the culturally small-minded Lisbon. The obstacles to face where numerous, but nevertheless their live power and energy captivated the public’s attention thanks to their dedication and perseverance, winning the respect of the public. A new musical seed had been planted, in fertile African ground, bathed in Jamaican, Arab, Brazilian and Indian sunlight.

Music without borders
With a growing fan base and experience, the singers Romi and Junior became more and more confident on stage and were able to captivate the hearts of the crowds wherever they’d go. Every concert would attract a bigger audience, resulting in a musical celebration without borders.

Next step in the development was the addition of percussionist Nata, who along with his fascination for percussion-instruments of the Black continent brought along his Caribbean, Brazilian and North African (gnawa) instruments, opening the way for a musically more mature sound.

In 2001 they went off to Spain, France and Italy. Back in Portugal, they received various proposals from labels and agents. Convinced not to sign with a big agency or multinational, they released their first album “TERRAKOTA”(2002) with an independent editorial, Zona Música. By doing so, they where able to exclude themselves from all lobbies and to do everything their own way.

The album had a major impact and took the band all over Europe during the next two summers. Their amazing power and positive energy was wildly received by the audiences of summer festivals, giving Terrakota the opportunity to travel through new musical landscapes, expanding their borders, both physically and spiritually. The show got richer and new idea’s came up, resulting in their second album “HUMUS SAPIENS” which was recorded in March 2004 at Youssou N'Dour's Xippi Studios in Dakar, Senegal. A new maturity resulted in a clearly recognisable Terrakota sound. With more balanced lyrics in ten different languages and dialects. The albums took them back all over Europe to play for many different audiences, from big festivals to little villages, learning the tricks of the trade and meeting many musicians and positive people.

Whenever possible, the musicians also took their time to travel to places far away, recharging their batteries and searching for new sounds, new musical expressions, new smells and feelings. The past ten years, they ended up travelling through Burkina Faso, India, Senegal, Cuba, Guinea, Brazil, Mali, Argentina, Turkey, Morocco, Mozambique and Mexico.

Breakthrough
In 2007 their completely self-produced third album “OBA TRAIN” saw the light, distributed all over the world by Felmay from Italy. On this album, Terrakota’s musical vibrations makes us travel the world insistently, even trying to make it turn the other way around. Sliding on the trails of life, the Oba Train points the finger but also drinks the joy and happiness of people, never stopping, not even on the border controls.

“Oba Train” is unanimously considered Terrakota’s best album because the sound and energy gets so close to their live power and the positive feeling they irradiate during concerts. The album took them on a powerful ‘Oba Train tour’ trough Europe’s biggest summer festivals, like Etnosur (Spain), Esperanzah (Belgium), Exit Festival (Serbia), Amsterdam Roots (Holland) and Mercat da Vic (Catalonia), becoming one of Europe’s leading worldfusion bands.

The video clip of the single ‘É Verdade?’ (Is it real?) won the MTV Music Video Awards in Portugal and the Special Prize of the Vimus International Music Video Festival. A great victory for an militant song about media manipulation and how the crowds are falling asleep while watching the news on TV, news that in reality is just there to deviate the people’s attention from serious topics.

In 2008, a new member was incorporated into the family, Marc from Catalonia, who plays sitar, oud (Arabic lute) and keyboards, adding a new dimension to their already wide musical horizons.

In October 2009, Terrakota will celebrate its 10th birthday with a big concert in Lisbon with a battery of guests. And 2010 is already smiling, awaiting the birth of the band’s fourth album. Until then, Terrakota’s musicians wish to stretch their arms towards other countries, taking their music to even wider audiences and spreading their message of changing our world into a more positive, equal and balanced planet, where an optimistic and vibrant humanity can exist in harmony, TOGETHER.


Terrakota are:
ROMI ANAUEL: lead vocals, dance
JÚNIOR: lead vocals, guitar, balafon, percussions
ALEX : guitar, n’goni, kissange, percussions
DAVIDE RODRIGUES: drums, percussion, flute, backing vocals
NATANIEL MELO: percussions, steel drum, balafon, backing vocals
MARC PLANNELS: keyboards, sitar, oud, percussions, backing vocals
FRANCESCO VALENTE: bass, flute


Discography
Oba Train (2007), Humus Sapiens (2004), Terrakota (2002)


CONTACTS
Management and international booking: terrakota.management(a)gmail.com
Contacts for Portugal and Spain: aterrakota@gmail.com


www.myspace.com/terrakota

Terças á noite no ONDAJAZZ....
KOTA SESSIONS

8 noites mestiças condimentadas com TERRAKOTA  e convidados.
cada terça uma viagem, cada viagem uma música ...

Nestas noites, os TERRAKOTA vão abrir a porta a vários tipos de artistas residentes em Lisboa ... que na maioria dos casos desenvolvem um trabalho ligado ás novas musicas do mundo mas não só ... São essencialmente pessoas com as quais o grupo gostaria de experimentar algumas ideias ao nivel da música, dança  e teatro num ambiente leve e despreocupado .
No Onda Jazz , reuniram-se as condições necessárias para por em prática este conceito de TERRAKOTA SESSIONS.
Assim, cada terça feira ...exotic e com sabrosura... acontecerá uma KotaSession na qual estarão presentes alguns elementos dos Terrakota e outros artistas ou banda para entrar numa viagem diferente e experimental que, em cada noite, remete a nossa imaginação para diferentes latidudes, cheiros e paisagens. Ao longo de dois meses, a iniciativa vai viajar por várias atmosferas africanas ( Burkina Faso, Cabo verde, Senegal, Guiné, Nigeria e mais ), passando pelas Indias, Arabias, Brasil, Jamaica e Cuba, mas numa abordagem musical aberta e sem preconceitos, na procura constante da inovação através da mistura de sons de raiz com as nossas referências mais modernas.

programa em constante Mutação

6 janeiro- MIRAGENS DO SAHARA
Fusão Afrojazz de Lisboa
com Korasons e alguns kotas

13 janeiro- CATXUPA CALABRESE
Sonoridades de Cabo Verde, Brasil e mais com tempero italiano
, Romi, Junior, Davide e projecto Duonde

20 janeiro- CHOCOLATE COM LARANJA
Dança Afromandiga e Soirée senegalesa
Romi, Djili, Dauda, Nata, Junior, Alex, Galissa

27 janeiro- DEUSAS DE RÁ
Musica e dança da India
Marc, Rita, Elsa, Romi, Alex, Nata, Baltasar

3 fevereiro-AFRICANISM SOUL
Afro Beat from Nigeria
com Cool Hipnoise, Alex, Junior, Romi e Davide

10 fevereiro- ALMAS NOMADAS
Flamenco fusion com Romi, Thierry e Pulga

17 fevereiro- YEMANDJA E OXUM
música suspensa a fazer ponte para danças do Mundo e Teatro
Alex, Romi, Mark, Diana e Maria João Luis

24 fevereiro- CORES DA ABISSINIA
Reggae Roots ina Tugalandia
Junior, Romi, Alex e convidados One Love Family

3 março - O CANTO DAS SEREIAS
versões de TERRAKOTA só com vozes femininas
Romi, Anastacia, Sara Tavares, Jô, Celina, Celeste e Teresa Gabriel