Kassin +2 at the Cedar

We went to hear KASSIN + 2, a great Brazilian group that plays distinctive Brazilian music based on Samba and Bossa-Nova, and at the same time infussed with a lot of modern music. The music goes from almost cool-jazz-like music to more agressive pieces. Kassin +2 is made principally of Moreno Veloso, Alexandre Kassin, and Domenico Lancelotti;three collaborating composer-musicians. The group was assisted by two more musicians, one on percussion and one on guitar.

The great thing about Kassin +2 is that you get to basically hear three concerts in one, as each musician takes center stage. Tonight it started with the music of Alexandre Kassin. Kassin interspected songs with little narrative (as he was the one who knew more English) . His music is cool, laid-back cool. He played the guitar with moreno also on guitar and Domenico on drums. After that came the music of Domenico which is much more agresive. Domenico uses more club music and electronica. Finally, it was Moreno's turn with a lot guitar and elements of Samba.

The space was set up with two areas for sitting to the left and right of stage and an empty space in the midle for people to dance. We sat on the first row to the left of stage (Olga Viso and her entourage was just left of us). But once Kassin was done and people were up and dancing in the middle, we also got up and went to the floor to dance.