Sophisticated jams: a Q&A with Funqquestra

From Brasilia, Funqquestra — an eight-piece ensemble (including two drummers) — unpacks sophisticated jams, intersecting funk, jazz and Brazilian pop rhythms. Their lively performances spread the message of instrumental music across borders, genre, and, on Friday, Nov. 4, to the Clifton Center for a performance hosted by the International Jazz Series. LEO spoke with the drummer and voice of the outfit, Bruno Gafanhoto, who formed the band while completing his master’s degree in jazz performance at the University of Louisville in 2013. Still fresh from the release of their debut, self-titled album in December last year, the band has big plans for its first run of shows in the United States.

On their debut album.

Funqquestra was released in Brazil [in] December 2015 and this is the first time we are going to the U.S. to play. And, actually, we are negotiating to maybe record all of the concerts in the U.S. or maybe this one concert [at Clifton Center] and release a bootleg or EP from this concert. So, it will be nice because we released this album — it’s already there. But, we are trying to also record the concerts from this tour. The live experience is super different. Our music flirts a lot with pop music and dance. So, the live experience of our concerts is way more complete than the album, you know. That’s why we’re also trying to film and record this.

On the last song on the album, ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven.’

I’ll tell you what. This is my least favorite music from the album. I don’t like it too much, but it’s like an alternative part of our band. I think the the core of our band is the rest of the tunes and especially the most danceable ones like ‘O Canguru,’ ‘O Gordinho,’ ‘Muito Obrigado.’ This tune showcases another part of the band — the most complex and the most intricate, so it’s a part of our concept. All the tunes are composed by me. All of them are part of me, but my favorites are the most powerful.

On the covers they perform live.

At our concert we perform a lot of Brazilian pop as well. We want to showcase a couple [Brazilian pop songs] in the U.S. because it’s a couple tunes that you guys don’t even know what it is — they are not famous outside of Brazil. They are really popular here, so on the concert in the U.S. we’re gonna play 70 percent of the original tunes but 30 percent will be covers — new arrangements from Bruno Mars, Pharrell Williams, Beyoncé, Michael Jackson and a couple of Brazilian funk and pop artists.

On how they blend different styles.

Our major groove is funk, and this is an American style. At the concerts and on the tunes you can see a couple of Brazilian styles merging with that. But, what is nice is, it’s not objective. It’s not a clear way — we like to mix it. It’s like a funk band, like an American funk band, but with a Brazilian flavor. So, we’re not going to play a samba, but on the groove we’re gonna play a couple elements of samba — we’re gonna bring percussive elements from sambas. It’s not a Brazilian group, but it’s an American/Brazilian group.

This article appears in November 2, 2016.