AKSamba is a percussion group based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. While predominantly inspired by Brazilian rhythms, the group's music also incorporates global rhythms such as

drum'n'bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

. Formed at the end of 2002, the group has around 50 members covering a wide age range and from many different nationalities. Its mestres are Darren Cottingham and Jo Odds. Band affairs are coordinated by several committees. AKSamba regularly works with visiting percussionists from around the world such as Mohamed Bangoura,

Cabello The spider genus ''Cabello'' consists of only one species, ''Cabello eugeni'', found in Venezuela. It is a small yellow-white spider, with females 2 mm long, and males 1.6 mm. The eye region is reddish with a dusky median longitudinal ...

Monobloco Monobloco is a Brazilian Blocos, bloco, or street band, that plays during Brazilian Carnival, Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro and is also a professional touring show. Unlike most of Rio's blocos, which tend play one type of music (typically samba), ...

and Ricardo Ó Rosinha. AKSamba performs in a variety of settings including festivals, parades, and community and corporate events around New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It also runs workshops and introductory percussion courses aimed at the public. AKSamba is one of eight large samba groups in New Zealand, the others being Unidos de Aotearoa (Auckland), Wellington Batucada, Tauranga Samba, Samba De Sol (Nelson), Sambatron (Hamilton), Samba ao Vento (Palmerston North) and Bay Batucada (Napier). There are also smaller, informal

pagode Pagode () is a Brazilian style of music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with food, music, dance, and party. In 1978, singer Beth Carvalho was introduced to this music, like ...

groups and Brazilian-influenced groups around New Zealand that incorporate the instruments of the larger Rio-style

bateria The term ''bateria'' means “drum kit” in Portuguese and Spanish. In Brazil, the word is also used for a form of Brazilian samba band, the percussion band or rhythm section of a Samba School. ''Baterias'' are also used to accompany the B ...

External links

AKSamba's official home pageAKSamba on FacebookAKSamba's photo library on FlickrWellington Batucada
Musical groups from Auckland {{NewZealand-band-stub