*BOCA DO RIO*
The San Francisco band Boca do Rio takes its name from the Portuguese “mouth of the river” – the place where myriad streams and sources converge into one powerful, flowing, physical energy.
Kevin Welch, Boca’s leader, composer, guitarist, and vocalist, embodies this concept by virtue of his personal and musical history, having lived in the Amazon and become fluent in Portuguese as well as immersed in – and transformed by – samba. In the mid-1990s he started the group Vivendo de Pão, which became a mainstay on San Francisco’s club and festival scene and opened for touring acts like Macy Gray and Los Van Van.
For Boca do Rio, Welch has assembled a superb team of Brazilian and American musicians to give voice to his vibrant compositions, which he terms música organica – music that is explicitly influenced by his connection to Brazil but filtered through the sensibilities of his California base, which he shares with his versatile accompanists and musical partners in the band and on the new CD.