44th Annual Kent State Folk Festival begins Wednesday with "Night of Brazilian Music"

It’s time for the 44th Annual Kent State Folk Festival and this year’s edition of the multi-day music festival will have a night headlined for the first time by a Kent native, one Miss Jessica Lea Mayfield as well as the guy who plays just before her rootsy Americana singer/songwriter Tim Easton originally of Akron. There will also be a few return performers including Eddie From Ohio and Loudon Wainwright III as well as an appearance from indie folkers The Cave Singers.

But, first up at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Kent Stage will be a musical gumbo of international flavors dubbed “A Night of Brazilian Music.”

First up is Chilean born Luca Mundaca, who taught herself how to play guitar and one day decided that being a broke musician was better than tending the hot ovens in the soap factory at which she was working. A few years later after building a following in Brazil she moved to New York and started working the clubs. The singer/songwriter/guitarist makes smooth and sexy, mostly traditional Bossa Nova with a few modern touches. On her sole solo album “Day By Day” the singer applies her mellifluous, creamy, cool alto and tasteful guitar playing to some smooth grooves such as the lightly funky head-nodder “Cidades,” plays with a jazz trio on “Nao Se Apavore” floats over some bubbling percussion and ethereal electronica touches on the title track and some lite rock on “Me Faz Bem.”

Also on the bill is Cleveland based Brazilian bred singer/guitarist Moises Borges who has appeared on several local television shows. Heavily influenced by Bossa Nova legends such as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Antonio Carlos Jobim whose music he often performs Borges is a living encyclopedia of Latin, South American and Cuban rhythms with a focus on Samba and Bossa Nova.

Exploring Afro-Brazilian rhythms will be Samba Joia, a locally based drum group led by artistic director Marcus Santos another bona fide Cleveland based Brazilian. The group uses the Afro-Brazilian Rhythms, call and response vocals, dance and crowd participation to give Midwesterners a taste of a classic Brazilian Bloco (street band) and Bateria (percussion group).

Luca Mundaca

Moises Borges and the Band – Mas Que Nada

Samba Joia

CoolCleveland.com Features Samba Joia at Carnaval! from Cindy Hill on Vimeo.