En Canto” will perform a concert of Forró Music at The Royal Room Outdoor Ave venue in Seattle, Washington on October 1st, 2021 at 8.30 PM. Doors open at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $15 in advance. $20 at the door,

“En Canto’s sound is fueled primarily by twin accordions and tinged with the jazz backgrounds of several of the musicians. Anchored in the classics and contemporaries of Brazilian Forró, they pay tribute to influences Luiz Gonzaga, Mestrinho, Dominguinhos, Sivuca and many others.”

The group features accordionists Jamie Maschler and Gabe Hall-Rodrigues. Jamie is based in Seattle, WA where she studied accordion under three-time Latin Grammy Nominee, Jovino Santos Neto at Cornish College of the Arts. Her main projects are Seattle’s only Brazilian forró band, En Canto, with Gabe Hall-Rodrigues. They also perform together as Creosote.

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) has featured Jamie in their Museum of Making Music exhibit titled  “Accordions: Expanding Voices in the USA”. She recently accompanied the Seattle Symphony’s live scoring of “Lord of the Rings”, and played the accordion part in Tchaikovsky’s “Suite No.2” with the Seattle Philharmonic. In October 2019, Jamie was “Nellie Friedman” in Seattle Repertory Theater’s run of Paula Vogel’s Tony award winning play, “Indecent”.

Jamie is a frequent guest performer and presenter of stylized Brazilian and Tango music at numerous festivals. She works for accordion manufacturer Petosa Accordions, where she is able to share her passion and actively participate in the reinvention and face of the traditional Instrument.

Gabe also loved music from an early age. He started with piano lessons at age seven. “My teacher was perfect for me as he allowed me to play by ear as well as with music”. He studied with the same teacher from age 7 to 18. In school, he sang in the choirs and played baritone saxophone in the band.

Gabe attended Arizona State University (ASU) where he received his bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy in 2011 and his master’s degree in Jazz Piano Performance in 2013. He studied under the award-winning pianist and composer, Mike Kocour. Gabe taught in the Arizona school system and at a private school for ten years, spent a year in Recife, Brazil where he studied Brazilian music and performed with local musicians, and toured the US with the folk rock band “Jared and the Mill” as their accordionist.

While in Seattle touring with Jared and the Mill, he visited Petosa Accordions where he and Jamie met each other. Both loved Brazilian music and Jamie invited Gabe to open for her band EnCanto. They began a musical association and fell in love with each other.

A multi-ethnic female-led sextet, En Canto, is Seattle’s only Forró band. Forró music is a combination of multiple Brazilian rhythms including baião, xote and arrasta-pé. The word refers to both the musical genre and the accompanying partner dance party events where it is heard.

Attendees must bring proof of vaccination to enter the venue, masks worn unless actively consuming food or drink.

For further information: jamie.maschler@gmail.com