Samba’s in the air at Fuller Lodge

Get ready to let the music move you. A piece of Brazil is coming to Fuller Lodge Friday night in the form of The Samba Project.
Los Alamos High School graduate Johnny Finn, along with Laura Ann Singh, Paul Lucas and Manny Brito, bring their diverse genre to Los Alamos residents.
Based in Arizona, The Samba Project is a group that Finn co-created approximately two years ago with a Brazilian singer and guitarist, after he returned from spending a year in Brazil. During his time there, Finn conducted research in cultural geography for his doctorate. He focused his research on national identity, music and race.
“I’m also a professional drummer and percussionist, so naturally I was also taking in as much Brazilian rhythm and groove as I possibly could while I was there,” Finn said.
Finn describes Samba as a diverse style of music.
“It’s only one of many different genres of Brazilian music,” he said. “It can be performed by single individuals or bands of literally thousands of drummers, singers and dances during Brazil’s carnival. As a quartet, we play a lighter version of Samba and bossa nova that is influenced by the long history of cross-pollination between jazz and Samba since the 1950s.”
The Samba Project originally started out as a duo, with Finn on drums and percussion, and Amanda Soares singing and playing guitar. However, bass player Manny Brito from Tucson was added to the mix, followed by the addition of guitarist Paul Lucas, from Phoenix.
However, Soares is not on the tour because she could not make the dates, so instead, Laura Ann Singh will perform with the group. She is also a  Richmond resident and has worked and performed with bossa nova and jazz guitarists Gene Bertoncini and Oscar Castro-Neves, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band leader Jon Faddis, bebop trombonist Curtis Fuller and Trio de Paz members Romero Lubambo and Nilson Matta.
“She has performed with Ray Charles and has sung at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York,” Finn said, “and in several locations in São Paulo, Brazil, including All of Jazz and the Espaço Zimbo Trio.”
Singh’s debut album, “Summer Samba,” with the group Quatro Na Bossa, was released on Venus Records in May 2008.
Finn said depending on the gig, the size of the group can “shift from the core quartet all the way up to a 10-piece band.”
The group released their first full-length album, featuring a live concert, earlier this year.
Though the group is still based in Arizona, Finn lives in Richmond, Va., where he teaches at the University of Richmond.
“I travel every couple of months to the Southwest to perform with various groups, including The Samba Project,” Finn said. “While we’ve played all over Arizona, some of our bigger performances include our Dec. 2010 live concert recording at the Madcap Theatre in Tempe, Ariz., and multiple performances at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, including an appearance on the main stage during he 2011 Scottsdale Arts Festival.”
Finn said the Northern New Mexico tour is The Samba Project’s first time out on the road. They decided to come to Los Alamos because Los Alamos is Finn’s hometown.
“During high school I was always involved in music. I spent four years on the drum line of the ’Topper Marching Band,” Finn said. “I was in the Santa Fe Youth Symphony for three years and I was a member of the Santa Fe Community Orchestra for two years and I performed my senior recital at Fuller Lodge. But since graduating from high school and leaving New Mexico, I’ve not performed back in Los Alamos.”
Finn said he’s very excited to be playing in Los Alamos, in a concert presented by the Los Alamos Arts Council at Fuller Lodge.
The Samba Project will perform at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets, $15, or $10 for students, are available at CB Fox or at www.thesambaproject.com.
The group will also perform at El Mesón in Santa Fe and at the Guava Tree Café in Albuquerque.

Los Alamos High School graduate Johnny Finn returns to his hometown to perform with The Samba Project Friday night.

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