Based in Santa Cruz, California, we are Vivian Simon on flute and percussion, Pablo Riviere on guitar and vocals, Patrice Wallace on contrabass, and Jeffrey Hanson on drums & percussion.
We play Brazilian Popular Music as well as our original compositions (influenced by Brazilian Music, Jazz, Argentinean folk music, etc.) We have performed at many venues including the Capitola Art & Music Festival, First Night Monterey, Cabrillo Music Festival, Scotts Valley Garden Faire, and more. We have also performed as a duo at many Bay Area establishments, including Hedley Club at the De Anza Hotel, Vino Locale, Cinnabar, M4, CooperVino, Silver Mountain, Testarossa, Cooper Garrod, as well as private events. We take different forms under the name Samba Cruz, depending on the occasion (duo, trio, quartet, etc. for larger events).
The repertoire includes bossa nova, samba, baião, choro and other jazz-inflected Brazilian musical forms in the spirit of Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Elis Regina, Caet