Masamba's Director, Simeon Smith, reflects on the year just gone.
The beginning of a new year is always a good time to look back, take stock, celebrate the successes and learn from the failures. 2024 was a special year for us in Masamba, as we celebrated our 30th anniversary. So, we are not just looking back at 2024, but at 30 years of promoting Brazilian carnival culture in Ireland.
Planning for the celebrations started in mid 2023, and our preparations were massively assisted by our ‘super-intern’ Grace Allard who worked with everyone in the organisation to design not one, but two new logos for Masamba. We even got a special ‘Masamba30’ variant of the logo! The new logos were utilised on a range of materials including new T-shirts, hoodies, badges, stickers, a new flag, and used extensively on our website and social media channels. Grace really embraced her time with Masamba joining us for rehearsals and even accompanying us on our St. Patrick’s Day adventures in Malahide and Swords.
Of course, every party needs a budget, and Dublin City Arts Officer Ray Yeates generously supported our work plan with a once-off grant of €7500. We had hoped to attract some additional funding from the Arts Council, but we weren’t successful and had to scale back our ambitions somewhat. As it turned out, the samba gods looked favourably on us, and several opportunities came up that allowed us to achieve more than we could have imagined with the resources we had available.
The first lucky coincidence was that the producers of the Ilê Aiyê European tour contacted us to offer us a workshop with the band. Our relationship with the band begainin 2006, when I was lucky enough to participate in a workshop with them as part of the Africa Oye Festival (Liverpool). In 2010, Ilê Aiyê’s Musical Director Mario Pam visited us, and delivered an excellent workshop, so there was no hesitation in taking up this offer. The plan was for two members of the group to visit our rehearsal space and lead a two-hour workshop for the Masamba crew. On the night though, the entire band showed up, and treated us to an impromptu mini show, before delivering a jam-packed intensive session, packed with new information and technical tricks.
As part of the deal, we were asked to provide instruments for the Ilê Aiyê show at the Button Factory, and for a workshop at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It was a pleasure to help our heroes, and it also meant that we got to hang out with the band for the duration of their stay in Dublin. The show at the Button Factory was an amazing event, full of energy and passion. Several times during the event I had to pinch myself – was Ilê Aiyê really playing in Dublin? This would have been an impossible dream when we first heard their music in the mid 90s. Sometimes, dreams do come true.
Hot on the heels of the Ilê Aiyê visit, we collaborated with ex-Masamba member, Tom Duffy (RhythmRiot Music) to host a workshop with esteemed musician and composer Alexandre Garnizé. Alexandre led us on a day-long journey through the complex and compelling world of Maracatu. There was so much great information and insights from this master drummer, but also so much of what he said tallied with our own experiences in Olinda and Recife over the years. We definitely plan to visit Alexandre’s project in Rio, ‘Tambores do Olokun’ when next in Rio! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tambores%20Do%20Olokun/526903034150769
Dudu has been a friend and mentor since 1996, when we attended a workshop he delivered in Manchester. Since then, we have collaborated numerous times in Dublin, Drogheda, Belfast, Berlin and Salvador, Bahia. Dudu always brings new insights and new material, and much of Masamba’s core repertoire is based on material we have learned from him. Importantly for us, as well as musical repertoire and technique, Dudu always gives us insights into the rich culture of Brazil that has created this wonderful music and dance. Dudu’s visits are always massively popular with the band, and it was a no-brainer to ask him to return to Dublin, to help us celebrate our 30th anniversary.
Dudu arrived in Dublin on Friday 12th July, and was immediately in the thick of it, working with members of the Masamba Youth Project, to develop new material and having a few laughs (and cakes) along the way.
Saturday and Sunday were an opportunity for members of the Masamba Community Band and invited guests from throughout Dublin and as far away as Kerry and Cavan, to participate in a drumming masterclass with Dudu. Over the weekend, we developed three new pieces of music, as well as receiving inputs on instrumental techniques. It was so heartening to see so many old friends who are still playing and also meet so many new converts to the samba beat!
A Brazilian celebration is not complete without a barbecue, and our friends JP, Luciano and Kelly organised an amazing Brazilian food for the musicians, with several other members of the extended Masamba family joining us for picanha, linguiça and ice-cold beers – heaven!
In August, we came full circle, by participating in the Big Bang Festival of Percussion, by delivering a workshop at the National Concert Hall. This was a collaboration with African master drummer Petit Mamedy Keita mixing African and Afro-Brazilian rhythms to great effect. It felt special to return to the event that spawned Masamba 30 years ago, and to collaborate with Brian Fleming who had also been in involved in the original Big Bang in 1994.
The July workshop weekend wasn’t our only adventure with Dudu Tucci this year. The great man returned to us in early November for a once-off show in the Sugar Club. When we first started discussing how we might celebrate 30 years of Masamba, many ideas were floated. One thing that everyone agreed on is that there would have to be a performance. We decided that we would tell the story of the band through music, from some of the earliest pieces we ever learned to play, to some recent compositions, with each piece representing a collaboration with a tutor, a master drummer, or group which has expanded our knowledge of and passion for Afro-Brasilian music.
This event was another opportunity to re-connect with some old friends and ex-members of the band, with friends joining us from near and far to cheer us on and share a story or two. We were especially honoured to be joined on the night by Ambassador – Designate H.E. Mr Flávio Helmold Macieira, and his wife Mrs Josiane Cotrim Macieira. This was one of the first duties His Excellency undertook, even before he had the opportunity to present his credentials to our own President Michael D. Higgins. The Brazilian Embassy in Ireland has been a great supporter of Masamba’s work for many years, regardless of who is in post, and we look forward to working with Ambassador Macieira during his tenure in Ireland.
Also, we would like to thank the management and staff of the Sugar Club for being so hospitable and making it such a special night.
Towards the end of the year, we had the opportunity to re-connect with our old friends from Monobloco. Our ‘friends from Rio’ returned to Ireland to perform for the first time since 2007, and there was huge excitement within the Masamba camp to see them play again. I was honoured to be asked to play a couple of numbers with the band, and Celso Alvim gave a lovely tribute to our collaborations from the stage. The show itself was amazing, with a very lively and knowledgeable audience singing along enthusiastically with every song. Also, this was another opportunity to connect with the samba community from around the country with members of Beat n’ Drum, Samba Cuisle, Morro 16, Ceol Batucada, Samboeire and many others joining us at the gig, and in the pub afterwards!
2024 had been a spectacular year so far, but there was one last treat in store. On December 12th, a delegation from Masamba was invited to Aras and Uachtaráin for afternoon tea with the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. The President is Masamba’s patron, and we had invited him to join our celebrations in the Sugar Club, but his schedule didn’t allow it. It was an honour to share the beautiful surroundings (and beautiful food) with so many artists, writers, journalists and community activists, all of whom have contributed to making Ireland one of the best places in the world to live. We made a small presentation to the President, not only in recognition of his support of Masamba, but his ongoing support for the Arts and particularly Community Arts in Ireland.
Of course, even with 30 years to celebrate, we also had all our regular activities to take care of. In 2024, we delivered a total of 746 workshops with over 4,000 people. This included significant projects with St. James’s Primary School, St. Vincent’s Boy’s School, The Central Remedial Clinic, the Sambanarden Project in Killinarden, the National Ploughing Championships, the National Concert Hall Music in Mind Programme and for the Big Scream Project in the North East Inner City.
There were plenty of performances too, most notably St. Patrick’s Day in Malahide and Swords, the Dublin Pride Parade with BelongTo and Cognizant and the aforementioned Big Scream Hallowe’en Spectacular.
We also welcomed two new Board members to the organisation. Karen Aguiar is a dancer, choreographer and event organiser who we have worked with on several highly successful projects in the past. Vinicius Oliveira is an ex-member of the band, who works in the technology sector, and volunteers with Associação das Famílias Brasileiras na Irlanda (AMBI).
We have many plans and ideas for 2025, which we will share at a later date. For now, I’d like to thank our many friends and partners for another amazing year:
The Community Services Programme, in initiative of the Department of Rural and Community Development, which provides our core funding, and facilitates our busy workshop programme.
Dublin City Council Arts Office for funding our Masamba 30 celebrations, and our ongoing creative projects in Dublin City.
The Community Development Section of Dublin City Council for their ongoing support of our work.
City of Dublin Youth Service Board, which has steadfastly supported the Masamba Youth Project for many years.
The Music Network/Arts Council Music Capital Programme which has part funded many of the instruments we use in our performances as well as allowing us to keep our workshop instruments in good order and available to thousands of aspiring musicians each year.
The Board of Management of St. James’s Primary School for hosting our rehearsals and masterclasses.
Our patron, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.
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