Nation Beat's Carnival Caravan ft. Cha Wa (Album Release Party)

The heartbeat of Nation Beat’s sound lies in a deliciously original 21st century fusion between thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming and New Orleans second line rhythms. It is also the vibrant force of their explosive live show, which is frequently known to burst into crowd-wide Carnival-style drumming and singing. Nation Beat’s audacious energy seamlessly bridges folkloric Brazilian maracatu with classic NOLA roots music attracting an ever-growing legion of fans from across a wide demographic. Nation Beat plays the best kind of fusion in the world, the kind that doesn’t try to fuse anything. An American/Brazilian collective, Nation Beat belongs to both sides of the equator.

Nation Beat artistic director/founder Scott Kettner, a graduate of The New School University (NYC) and a former Latin Jazz Ambassador, is at once following the path of such Brazilian luminaries as Lenine and Chico Science, and forging new trails with a distinct, contemporary interpretation of the traditional 19th century Pernambuco-born rhythm. Kettner’s partners in the endeavor include front woman Fabiana Masili, a soaring powerhouse vocalist and rising Brazilian star with a commanding stage presence and raucous guitarist Jules Belmont whose singular style effortlessly encompasses a wide range of musics – funk, blues, soul and a bit of twang. The band is further propelled by fluid animated bassist Chris Venditti and Brazilian percussionist Fernando Saci.

Multiculturalism isn’t another bland buzz word in the hands of Nation Beat. Borrowing, mixing and adapting musical traditions is at the very heart of Music, and it is the creative and animated pulse of Nation Beat.

Which nation, and which beat? What makes this group special is that it offers no simple answers. They are rhythm gatherers, harvesting the fruit of 500 years of cultural crossbreeding, which is why the sounds of the northeast of Brazil and the southern United States blend together so seamlessly; NPR’s All Things Considered music writer Banning Eyre calls them “the most original and alluring fusion group I have heard in years.”