To judge, however, by the group’s MySpace page, YouTube videos, and an enthusiastic review of their New York City debut earlier this month, one can get a picture of what the combo will offer tonight. This is not quiet, pretty bossa nova. Featuring two vocalists, a horn section, two percussionists, guitar, bass, and a trap drummer, Orquestra Contemporânea blends upbeat Northeast Brazilian frevo brass-band bleats and bursts; rock, ska, and maracatu rhythms; and sing-songy, carnivalesque melodies. There are also traces of jazz, funk, and afrobeat. The vocalists sing in counterpoint and offer backing harmonies for each other. Some songs feature frantic, speedy percussion; others move at a more traditional, loping, Brazilian pace, or a skittering Jamaican one. I’m not sure what their Portuguese lyrics mean, but the music feels exuberant.
Orquestra Contemporânea de Olinda performs for free from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday night at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F. St. NW (202) 467-4600 (The show will also be streamed live and archived at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage website )