Zé Ramalho

The fusion of genres to create something new is an aspect of a musicians talent that I’ve always admired, and Ze Ramalho’s combination of rock and roll influences with traditional Brazilian music is something that totally captivated me. He walked very casually onto the stage when the lights went up, with his guitar in his hand, and launched straight into a guitar solo. Throughout his improvisation the rest of his band came on stage and took up their positions behind their instruments, before they all launched into O Gosto da Ciracao. I was unsure what the show would be live, since he has been performing for so many years, and it’s almost 40 years since he debuted in the industry, but I must say I was incredibly pleasantly surprised.

As well as playing his own music, Ramalho played a few famous guitar rock pieces to which the crowd went crazy screaming and jumping around. Although the songs aren’t written in English, they’re so catchy that you find yourself singing along regardless, and it was an incredible fun show from start to finish. The talent was so high, and the band members worked so well with Ramalho like they’d been playing together for years, really complimenting each others sound.