Saboroso Brings Tasty Brazilian Music to Café Zoma

The music scene in Madison is fairly saturated with rock, hip-hop, folk, metal and even reggae bands. Quite a few of them are really good. We are a surprisingly musically diverse city for our size. That’s not to say that it’ll be easy for a person to find whatever obscure genre they might prefer. But a happy coincidence brought me to Café Zoma this last Friday night to discover a fairly rare creature: Saboroso.

Organized by percussionist John Driscoll and lead by the earthy, smooth vocals of Kelly Mella, Saboroso (“tasty” in Brazilian Portuguese) spent the evening playing everything from bossa novas to sambas to a type of music rarely heard outside of Brazil called “pagode” (pah gaw dgee). Think of that last one as a sort of backyard party music, a blend of traditional samba and more modern influences. It grew out of the working-class neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro and has since come to nearly dominate the Brazilian music scene. Or so I’m told by the very enthusiastic Driscoll, who spent some time in the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro learning not only the pagode style but also furthering polishing his percussion skills in general.

Since then, Driscoll has come to Madison and gathered a band of talented musicians who used to play for groups like The Prole, Smokin’ With Superman, Lorenzo’s Music and Little Blue Crunchy Things. On vocals is Mella, who moonlights as a professor of communication arts at Edgewood College. Guitar and cavaquinho (a very small, 4-string guitar) are played by Bob Beaverson with Matt Olson on bass and Bryan Elliott on saxophone and tan tan (a great big hand drum).

On the night I saw them live at Café Zoma, they were keeping things relatively low-key. It is, after all, a coffee shop and not all that conducive to big sounds. I’m told, however, that Saboroso does the full samba set-up with large, loud drums whenever the venue allows, so if you’re looking to get your dance on, I’d recommend finding them in such a place.

They adapted well to the smaller setting and, to their credit, the place was packed to the point of being standing-room-only by the time they started their first set. I’ll admit, it was a different audience than I’m used to—a different demographic. These folks were there to listen to the music, not drink beer and talk loudly over the band. While that absolutely has its place, it was nice to sit back, relax and take in the sounds with little distraction.

Each musician proved their skills in turn. I was most impressed by Elliott’s saxophone solos, which were complex but grounded. Driscoll proved his pagode chops by stepping out from behind his drum kit and wielding the diminutive “pandeiro,” a tambourine-like instrument played not by slapping it on your ass or shaking it in the air, but rather by using the palm and fingers to tap out a rapid fire pattern of beats. Too, Mella proved herself a worthy front woman with solid vocals and a good level of comfort at being front and center, even when not singing. There were a few missed notes, some minor wobbling, as the band still seems to be finding their footing with one another. But they’re damn close and it was hardly distracting from the overall great sound.

It was a very pleasant variation on what I’m used to hearing around town. I love just about every genre that’s ever been thrown at me, but that’s not to say that I’ve heard it all. Saboroso is a welcome addition to Madison’s musical soup, some warm southern rhythms to drive away the cold Midwestern chill.