Releases by macumba

From the band's own website http://www.macumba.com: MacUmba are a unique group of musicians based in Scotland who mix the traditional sounds of Scottish bagpipes with the infectious rhythms of Brazilian percussion. Starting as a batucada (or drumming group) in the early 90's, MacUmba grew out of a series of drumming workshops held at the Glasgow School of Art. Soon after, MacUmba added various combinations of flutes, guitars, bass, voices etc. to the batucada, and performed at many events throughout Scotland. The inception of the current MacUmba formation happened when they were asked to play at a major Scottish football cup final. It was decided to add bagpipes to the batucada in order to be more in line with the football tradition of pipe bands. This combination proved hugely popular, and as a result MacUmba was born. Having played at many events and festivals all over the world, MacUmba continue to develop their unique sound, entertaining audiences where ever they go. The normal instrumentation of the band is three pipers and five percussionists, although they may also be augmented by the addition of Scottish and/or Brazilian dancers. On the origin and meaning of the name, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macumba tells us: Macumba is a word of African (Bantu) origins. Various explanations of its meaning include "a musical instrument", the name of a Central African deity, and simply "magic". It was the name used for all Bantu religious practices mainly in Bahia Afro-Brazilian in the 19th Century. Later (20th century) these practices re-aligned themselves into what are now called Umbanda, Quimbanda and Omoloko. "Macumba" became common in some parts of Brazil and this word is used by most people as a pejorative word meaning "black witchcraft". The word "macumba" is frequently used in Brazil to refer to any ritual or religion of African origin (as slang), and although its use by non-practitioners remains largely pejorative in intent (referring to all sorts of religious (or otherwise) superstitions and luck-related rituals and beliefs), and is considered offensive, its use among actual practitioners is not viewed negatively. In Brazil one can find expressions such as "chuta que é macumba" ("kick it out, for it is witchcraft!") to show disagreement with bad luck. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.