Mendes Brothers

From the musical hotbed of Cape Verde, brothers Ramiro and Joao Mendes dish out a tasty serving of bandera (Cape Verde's festival music) fused with rock, hip-hop, reggae, and funk that is infectiously danceable.

Bandera, an old and sacred Cape Verdean music style, is the title of the Mendes Brothers' third release. It is a bluesy and undoubtedly West African music tradition which has been preserved in Cape Verde Islands for over 500 years, performed exclusively during the saint festivals. Traditionally bandera is performed using two or more drummers (kacherus), an entourage of chanters (coladeras) alternating between the call (cola) and response (baxon), and several masqueraded dancers (kaninzadis) wearing their scary African masks and hand-made costumes.

Unlike other Cape Verdean music expressions such as coladera, morna, funana or talaia baxu, which are set on a 4/4 rhythmic pattern, bandera is set on a beautifully syncopated 3/4 rythmic pattern with a very simple and repetitive melodic structure.

It is also a tremendously flexible music form which can be easily fusioned with samba, reggae, blues and many other African music expressions.

In addition to their own albums, the Mendes Brothers have helped to promote the music of their homeland as owners of the MB record label. Artists that have released albums on the label include Mirri Lobo, Djosinha, Waldemar Bastos, Saozinaha and Cesaria Evora. —Courtesy Calabash Music