MATA-BICHO
Mata-Bicho was born in 2015 as a minimalist busking quartet on the streets of Bologna: Elena Policki on voice and güiro, myself on melodica, Gabriele Laghi on double bass, and Alessandro Fabbro on trumpet. Rooted in the Afro-Cuban, Afro-Colombian, and Afro-Brazilian popular traditions, our repertoire carried a groove too infectious to stay on the sidewalk: soon it took us from the streets of Europe onto real stages, and the band grew with it, expanding into a full Latin ensemble with piano, percussion, and a brass section.
I founded and led Mata-Bicho from 2015 to 2018. The video featured here is a teaser weaving together footage from the streets, the stages, and the studio, set to our arrangement of a cumbia titled "Pepe”.
Afro-Caribbean