Trio Ginga

Trio Ginga was born in 2006. It was then that I decided to start a Brazilian music trio after many years of being a side musician in several wonderful Latin and Brazilian groups. At first we grounded ourselves in the music of the Brazilian Bossa Nova masters: Jobim, Moraes, Mendes, Menescal, and some of the Rio de Janeiro Samba masters. Steadily working towards our dream to explore and play music from other parts of Brazil, Trio Ginga  now features music from all major regions of Brazil. We play Samba Reggae music from Salvador Bahia, Maracatú from Recife, Forró & Baião from the Sertão and songs from the Samba Choro repertoire. It’s an infectious sound, great to listen to, even better for dancing. You’ll understand when you hear our music clips and see the videos.

Trio Ginga plays in several different configurations but the core group is always a trio of three virtuoso Brazilian music fanatics.  Regardless of the configuration our mission is to play Brazilian music with authenticity, proper swing and fire!

The configurations are:

• Trio Ginga instrumental trio featuring accordion, nylon string guitar and percussion.
• Trio Ginga instrumental trio featuring nylon string guitar and bass.
• Trio Ginga with nylon string and electric guitar, bass and a featured vocalist.

Some of the places we’ve played are: 12th and Porter club in Nashville, 12South Taproom, 4th and Union Bistro and Bar @ Doubletree Hotel, The African Street Festival, The  Festival of the Nations, Celebration of Cultures Nashville, Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, The Summer NAMM Show, Tusculum College, Jackson State Community College, Pellissipi State Community College, Motlow State Community College. Transylvania State University and many more.

For Brazilian music played with soul and authenticity look no further. You found it!

Words of Praise about Trio Ginga

“I did want to once again express what a wonderful experience Trio Ginga gave our students during our International Education Week with your gorgeous Brazilian music and the fantastic drum circle. After seeing the introductory video of Kenya singing and the group playing, we were looking forward to hearing your music, but your live performance far exceeded our expectations. The musicianship exhibited by your entire ensemble was phenomenal, and the information you provided about the different musical traditions in various parts of Brazil was a wonderful addition for our students. The positive comments we received from students regarding your performance are too numerous to count. We loved having you on our campus and look forward to future visits during our upcoming events.”

“Thank you for being such an important part of our 2013 Spring International Education Week.”

• Mechel Camp, PhD
• Dean, Communication and Humanities, Jackson State Community College, Jackson, TN

“Having Trio Ginga perform for our annual International Night was awesome! They sounded amazing, and Kenya”s energy on stage was irresistible. She is a true talent, and her strong voice was only enhanced by the smooth sounds of Trio Ginga. The drumming workshop during intermission was also educational and entertaining and got everyone involved in the performance. We will definitely invite Trio Ginga back to WKU and recommend them to anyone having an event that needs some Brazilian soul!”

• Trinity Gonzalez
• Western Kentucky University

“Trio Ginga, a swinging Brazilian outfit. The Trio is tight, spare and very danceable while avoiding the same old samba cliches.”

• P.J Tobia – Nashville Scene

“When Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd, Herbie Mann and a host of other jazz musicians made the pilgrimage to Brazil in the early and mid 60’s, they began a series of collaborations that have helped make that nations numerous styles an influential part of the American popular and improvisational fabric. Nashville’s Trio Ginga have been offering their own variation on the Jazz/Brazilian mode over the last four years, in the process skillfully mixing elements of familiar American fare (R&B, Jazz and the Blues) with everything from bossa nova and samba to forro and even MPB, Brazil’s own mixture of traditional rhythms converging with rock and pop.”

• Ron Wynn – The Nashville Scene