Carlos Heleno da Silva
In Sweden, country he chose to live, Mr Da Silva became a real ambassador of the Brazilian music. Together with his group (all selected musicians) Mr Da Silva has gained respectable reputation. After almost a decade of intensive work he still holds the distinction of being the only "Latino" to command an orchestra only by a fine international mixture of professional artist's, with the heart in the music.

He was born in 1950 nine month after Carnival in the suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a child he was already fascinated with the "batucadas" (based on percussion instruments and clapping of hands) - which evolved into the most tune of Brazilian popular music - The Samba, a word of African origin (Angola and Congo).

At 10 he could understand the "Samba de Morro", created by the "Samba schools" which were more or less confined to the people from the slum areas, that is, of the lowest income level and which capture the preference of the majority of the people-music which was composed for carnival.

At 14 he could play the "pandeiro" as a professional and before completing 20 he was already working in Washington and Los Angeles together with artists with international reputation.
His way to Sweden is a love story, as he put it; "A question of destiny". He is probably right.

Under his command the Swedish Bananas Samba Show is a reality, representing today a blending of all types of Brazilian music to perfection - ask whatever you want and they play.
Based in liveliness and "natural magic", Bananas Samba Show is coming from real life, the group also deals with dreams and fantasies, which tends to bewitch even the most agnostic audiences. But the basic idea behind the Bananas Samba Show is to have fun, to enjoy pleasure of music of all senses.

Thus, walking into a night club or dance hall in Stockholm, Madrid or London and find that the music is right on the same plane as you, its "natural magic". It´s the "natural magic" of the Bananas Samba Show.

The audience according to Mr Da Silva should always be part of the musical experience. Otherwise there is no success. Otherwise there is no magic. And judging from the audiences exhilarating response, it becomes quite evident that the diatonic innovative melodies are in perfect zinc with the rhythms of the percussion's and the pulse of the band's rhythms section.

by João Lins de Albuquerque, journalist, Journal do Brazil
and Harry Sumrall, music critic, Washington Post.