A Espetacular Charanga do França - The Importance Of Being Espetacular

A Espetacular Charanga do França is a São Paulo-based carnival collective and brass band who combine retro horns with cumbia, baile funk, jazz, Michael Jackson and much more as demonstrated on The Importance of Being Espetacular a compilation of their signature songs collected together for their debut worldwide release.

The group is the brainchild of saxophonist Thiago França, best known as a founding member of Afro-punk explorers Metá Metá, and one of São Paulo’s most in-demand horn players, with credits on influential albums by Criolo, Elza Soares, Céu and Lucas Santtana.

The Importance of Being Espetacular collects the group’s signature songs from digital-only releases plus two new exclusives. The album opens with a cumbia clarion call on “Hasta La Cumbia”, a clear indication that there are no borders in this band whilst “Cadê Rennan” has a rhythm inspired by baile funk, a trick Thiago learnt playing nightclubs in the 90s when his group would throw in what was then an emerging new music from Rio. This is a group that can go from a traditional carnival march (marchinha) such as “O Trombonista” to a bombastic cover of Metá Metá’s “Obá Iná”, their only concern being the energy any song can generate. The two exclusives are a breath-taking cumbia version of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (retitled “Não Para”) and their take on Raça Negra’s "Cheia de Manias", a 90s pagode [a commercialised subgenre of samba], which again highlights their irreverent approach.