the beginning
"Buying a second-hand vinyl album of percussionnist Airto Moreira, in the 70s, litteraly opened my eyes on this musical culture that was totaly unknown to me. Airto Moreira, whom I eventually met in New-York, advised me to go directly to Rio, at the heart of the culture, to study samba".
August 1980 – 1st trip to Rio and Salvador da Bahia. It was like lightning hit me. When I returned, I started the first samba bateria in Quebec, a group I called ‘TÁ LEGAL . Then in 1985, we created the first samba/batucada workshops which gave birth later on to the BLOCO LONGE DE LÁ, first iteration of the current LE BLOCO group. In 2015, LE BLOCO will celebrate 30 years of promoting Brazilian percussion in Quebec!
August 1980 – 1st trip to Rio and Salvador da Bahia. It was like lightning hit me. When I returned, I started the first samba bateria in Quebec, a group I called ‘TÁ LEGAL . Then in 1985, we created the first samba/batucada workshops which gave birth later on to the BLOCO LONGE DE LÁ, first iteration of the current LE BLOCO group. In 2015, LE BLOCO will celebrate 30 years of promoting Brazilian percussion in Quebec!