Sunday Jam By Isaías Alves

The drums resonate like voices from another world, powerful, deep, ancestral. They call, they gather, they open up a space of freedom where anything can happen. This is where Tambours Ancestraux – Jazz du Maranhão et du Brésil begins, an explosive jam led by Isaías Alves.

A native of São Luís, in north-eastern Brazil, Isaías is a percussionist and composer nourished by the popular traditions of Maranhão. He grew up to the rhythm of street drums, processions and festivals, before taking his sounds to Europe. With him, tradition meets improvisation, jazz takes root in the territory and rhythm becomes language.

Inspired by the greats of Maranhão – Tânia Maria, João do Vale, Papete, Josias Sobrinho, César Teixeira – and by the giants of the Northeast such as Letieres Leite, Sivuca, Hermeto Pascoal and Naná Vasconcelos, Isaías builds bridges between memory and invention.

Here, every jam session is unique. It is a living celebration, a collective playground, a moment when sounds circulate, ignite and meet. Maranhense jazz asserts itself as a genre in its own right: hybrid, inventive, rooted.

Come and listen, improvise and let yourself be surprised. The drums have already started to speak.