NYC Forro Times Two

Something I've been remiss on not reporting to you guys sooner is the fact that there are now TWO different forro bands playing in NYC on Wednesday nights. That's right, two. Which I find to be kind of crazy when you really think about it. I mean, here you have this regional, "country" music from Brazil that is hardly known outside of Brazil (in comparison to bossa nova, samba, and even MPB). This music "of maids and taxi drivers". This music that, even in Brazil, is seen as fun but not particularly important.

And yet, in New York City, you now have two different options for dancing (or just listening to) live forro music on Wednesday nights.

This head-to-head competition stems directly from the split of one original band (Forro in the Dark) into two bands (Forro in the Dark and Forro SoXote). Rob Curto, who had played accordion with the original band, left to start the new one after a falling out with with Mauro Refosco, the percussionist who founded Forro in the Dark.

Before the split occurred, Forro in the Dark had built up a raucous Wednesday night following at Nublu that included DJ Greg Caz providing old-school batucada-style sambas to keep everyone's feet moving. I only went to the Nublu parties a few times because they were so late-night (starting around 11:30pm) and so unbelievably packed that I found them to be a bit too overwhelming for me. But lots of my friends loved the party and would encourage me to go more often. DJ Greg always tried to sucker me in by telling me how later in the evening the full-on crush of the crowd would die down a bit into a nice vibe of a party. "When does that happen, Greg?" I would ask innocently. "Oh, around one in the morning," was his reply. Unfortunately for me, my need for sleep trumped my desire to party at Nublu, and so, I didn't get to go too often.

Once the new Forro SoXote party started up at Guernica, I decided to check it out because (1) it started earlier (10pm) and (2) my friend Pedro Ramos (their guitarist) personally invited me. I'd never been to Guernica before (though I'd wanted to check it out for a couple of years, as I'd always heard good things about the place), so the first time I went, I didn't know quite what to expect. Would the Nublu crowd have all migrated over to Guernica? (At the time, Forro in the Dark was on break from Nublu, so Forro SoXote had no competition and could attempt to build up a loyal following.)

Turns out that the true die-hards, those who love to dance forro--and are damn good at it--were there. But the place wasn't packed, or even full--not quite. You could feel the potential for a great party, but it wasn't there yet. DJ Claudio Medusa was spinning vinyl (and CDs) of a Brazilian-Beat variety, but it wasn't the full-on batucada assault that Greg threw down at Nublu.

A few months went by and I didn't get a chance to return. Chalk it up to laziness on my part, not an indication of what I thought of the band or the venue.

Now recently it has come to my attention that since his return from a European tour with David Byrne, Mauro Refosco has gotten together a new line-up of Forro in the Dark and the crowds are returning to Nublu. What this will mean for Guernica's Forro SoXote, I'm not sure. The truth is, I wish that both these bands could succeed, even while going up against each other on the same night. But I worry that even in the amazing city that is New York, that there aren't enough forroistas to support both. I wish there were. But it's kind of like with TV programming, when two medical shows or two cops shows go up against each other--the audience gets divided, and either dilutes the ratings of both, or one wins and the other loses.

Chances are, we won't have two winners in the Battle of Forro. But I wish that it could be so.

UPDATE: Be sure to read Greg Caz's comment (in the comments section), as he provides info on what the future may hold for both of these parties.