Anyone in town interested in traditional Brazilian dance music has certainly checked out SambaDá, the seven-piece local band that does it amazingly well. It was founded by Papiba Godinho two decades ago, just a couple of years after he moved here from Brazil.

But Godinho has another project he started a few years ago called Papiba and Friends with bassist Etienne Franc and drummer Gary Kehoe, which certainly has Brazilian elements, but veers from the traditional.

“There is more space for the experimental elements of the music. We do a lot more blending of R&B, rock, blues and Northern Americana influences. I think this makes Brazilian music more accessible to our American audiences and opens them to exploring more deeply,” Godinho says