Samba Novistas are a five piece band that plays a wide variety of Brazilian and Brazilian-influenced music including samba, pagode, bossa nova, samba-reggae, lambada, sertanejo, coco and forro, as well as originals and our own interpretation of Anglo tunes. This is music that is emotional, sensual, irrepressibly danceable and reaches beyond language.
Samba Novistas is led and inspired by singer Ana Paula Johnson. Ana Paula is a Carioca – a native of Rio de Janiero. Her musical soul combines her grandmother’s macumba and the samba schools of Rio with her love of American blues and funk. She is also the singer for the Handphibians, - a Madison based Bateria (Brazilian percussion orchestra) that plays Samba, Samba-Reggae and Maracatu styles of Brazilian street festival music.
