A PANDA DO SOL
Brazillian Grooves/ Samba/ Brass Ensemble
A story of love for good music and soulful international rhythms.
The Brazillian samba and brass ensemble "A Panda do Sol" started its musical journey in 2016, led by guitarist, singer and composer Félix Huet. The band started composing its own sambas and blending them to the musical background of each musician, creating a unique language on a base of traditional Brazilian percussions.
"Panda" is a growing project which gathers today up to eight musicians from Brazil, France, Colombia, Germany, Italy & Spain, all living in Berlin, Germany.
The band's first Album "Fôlego" was recorded together with composer, singer and friend, Natasha Simon Safir and was released in September 2019.
Their new project "Homenagem" is a tribute to some of the greatest composers of Samba of yesteryear. It was recorded in Berlin in the winter of 2020 and will be released under the label of Sungroove records on the 13th of May 2022.
Musicians:
Félix Huet: vocals, guitar
Héléna Fontaine: vocals, cavaquinho
Oscar Buschinger: clarinet, vocals
Antonio de Siloniz: saxophone tenor
Yannick Mäntele: trumpet
Marleen Dahms : trombone
Raúl Gonzalez: tamborim
Camila Berrio: pandeiro, vocals
Marta Di Ronco/ Bruno Vezzaro : surdo
STATE OF THE ART(S) : LICHTENBERG
Episode 7 : A PANDA DO SOL
How are musicians dealing with lockdown?
A documentary by Björn Döring and Jim Kroft, episode 7 with A Panda Do Sol.
In the industrial area between Herzberg- and Josef-Orlopp-Straße, the new playgrounds and workplaces of culture in Lichtenberg are being built. New bars, rehearsal rooms, studios have opened here and the Dong Xuan Centre ensures that tram cars full of people keep arriving here anyway, discovering the area for themselves anew.
The NadaNadi studio in Josef-Orlopp-Straße is one of these places with new a appeal. The studio was founded and built up by the two Frenchmen Florent Chaintiou and François Perdriau, who can offer a residency artists and record new music.
Their French compatriots Félix Huet & Héléna Fontaine immediately identified the studio as their very special Lichtenberg location when we asked them where we should film them and their band "A Panda Do Sol".
The eight-piece band is currently recording their second record there, the album "Homenagem", which is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2022.
Filmed by Jim Kroft in November 2020.