Arts and Entertainment

SpokFrevo Orquestra to infuse Brazilian sound into big band jazz on Oct. 21

SpokFrevo Orquestra brings a fiery combination of Brazilian frevo and American jazz to Eisenhower Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Brazilian band sensation SpokFrevo Orquestra draws inspiration from frevo, the vibrant music of Carnival in its home city of Recife, and the improvisational freedom of jazz to bring its festive sound to the stage at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium.

Awarded the Prêmio da Música Brasileira in 2009 for best instrumental group of the year, the orchestra is led by saxophonist, arranger and musical director Maestro Spok. The 17-musician band boasts saxophone, trumpet, trombone, rhythm section, bass and guitar.

“Someone once described the SpokFrevo Orquestra being as if Duke Ellington fell into the Carnival at Recife,” said a reviewer for htpp://WorldMusic.co.uk. “However as tight, as smooth, as sophisticated, as undeniably accomplished as this band is, the description in no way prepares you for the shockwaves of acoustic energy that roll over you and sweep you away on a tidal wave of joy.”

Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $45 for an adult, $20 for a University Park student and $35 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online or by phone at 814-863-0255. Outside the calling area, dial 800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at four State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk (weekdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Bryce Jordan Center (weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.). A grant from the University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State student prices possible.

The big band’s sound is built on frevo, the spirited music of Carnival in the northeast Brazilian state of Pernambuco. The orchestra has crossed musical boundaries taking the once-only street festival music on international tours of France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland.

“A kind of hyper-caffeinated polka, frevo is the northeast’s answer to samba, usually played for the umbrella-wielding dancers who draw on elements of capoeira acrobatics,” noted a reviewer for The Times of London.

Watch SpokFrevo Orquestra perform music from its album “Ninho de Vespa.”

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring a visiting artist, is offered in Eisenhower one hour before the performance and is free for tickets holders.

WPSU is the concert media sponsor.

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Last Updated October 3, 2014