Batucada Sound Machine and the Hot Grits
Safari Lounge 18th October 2008
Doors approx 8:30pm

Batucada Sound Machine are forging new paths in global music. Their massive mix of brazilian beats with afrobeat, funk and hiphop has taken them throughout Australasia and the UK including gigs at the WOMAD Reading Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They received rave reviews and left the 10,000 strong crowd at WOMAD wondering what had hit them!

Based in Auckland, the 13-piece group has evolved from the impromptu “batucada” sessions back in 2003 to become one of NZ’s most sought after acts. Their tasty concoction of styles is given a hip hop front courtesy of MC Hazaduz (Che Fu and the Krates). This kingpin of the rising local hip hop scene lays solid rhymes over the massive samba-reggae percussion while the talented band adds rich pacific soul, reggae and funk flavours.

Their recently released debut album ‘Rhythm & Rhyme’ has been drawing praise from around NZ and abroad – with 13 solid tracks that range from afrobeat to samba-reggae.  The album quickly jumped onto the top rungs of the IMNZ chart.

This debut of Latin music, with its related funk family of samba, hip-hop, salsa and dub – all the time laced with a Brazilian spice – should propel BSM into the spotlight; where they belong.
Peter Thornton, Rip it up Magazine.

The rapidly rising popularity of BSM has resulted in the band making the bill at numerous well respected events over the past 18 months, alongside global heavyweights Damien Marley, Michael Franti and Alpha Blondy. Punters at the Sydney Festival , Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival, Raglan SoundSplash and WOMAD Taranaki (NZ) have experienced the explosiveness of a Batucada Sound Machine performance. Their recent, hugely successful debut tour of the UK saw them perform 20 gigs in almost as many days, taking them from London to Wales and to Northern Scotland. The reviews spread quickly and led them to play main stages at WOMAD Rivermead (UK) and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Their debut album “Rhythm and Rhyme” is out now in NZ and they are discussing subsequent releases for Aus, UK and the US .

Ay Muleque!

BSM are incontrovertible proof that the cutting edge of Latin music has reached the Antipodes.”
Nige Tassel, WOMAD International