Batala’s Creator – Batala Mundo

Batala's creator

Giba Gonçalves

Giba Gonçalves was born in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, and began his career as a dancer and percussionist in several groups, such as Ilê Aiyê, Olodum, Muzenza and Tupi Nago. He joined the band KAOMA and toured the world for two years before performing at concerts around Europe with a variety of other bands.

In 1997, Giba moved to Paris where he became leader of Tambourlode, and also founded Batala, a batucada style band playing samba-reggae with more than 80 percussionists. Giba composes all the music for Batala, which has since grown around the world to almost 47 bands and over 1500 drummers worldwide.

While Giba was in France, his friend Alberto Pitta, the ex-artistic director of Olodum, started the educational project Instituto Oya de Arte e Educaçao in Salvador de Bahia. This project included Bloco Cortejo Afro, a school for dance, percussion, printing, textile design, fashion design and capoeira. Giba Gonçalves is the musical director of the band Cortejo Afro, who play a distinct mixture of African rhythms and electronic beats and pop, known as the “Afro-Bahian musical revolution”.
Giba Gonçalves has also composed music for film/documentary “Code Unknown” by Michael Haneke, starring Juliette Binoche (MK2 Productions). In 2000, he was assistant musical director of “Festival Latitudes Villette Brésil,” and the show, “Solstices, Carnavalcade de St. Denis” (France).
Nowadays, Giba Gonçalves is busy developing the Batala project around the world and contributes to advancing all forms of Bahian culture.