Kings of Macumba… a name that resonates deep within my heart and conjures up all sorts of weird, wacky, happy, frustrating memories.

We were a samba band,  although we took part in lots of community events we weren’t a community samba band, we were a group of friends who all got together to play samba. Marco got us into it, he had taken part in a few samba work shops and regularly gave work shops to children. He took his besto, Shaun, on a samba workshop in Sardinia – and that was it. Shaun was hooked. He spent his savings on all of the equipment to kit out a starter band – timba’s, surdo’s, bells, caixa, tamborims, repiniques.

The original band was small, a few friends tried it out but didn’t stick with it. The main culprits who were there from the start were Marco, Foo, Shaun, Rodgie, Fergie. Davy and Jamie also…