Luiz Ewerling was born in 1958 in Southern Brazil and started playing the drums at age six, making his first television appearance two years later. What took him so long?

 He moved to the U.S. In 1984, bringing his roots with him, and possibly his drums, though he may have upgraded since then, judging by how good they sounded in the park.

The group was a joy to hear. As I know nothing about Brazilian music, I recorded a little on my phone and sent the recording to a knowledgeable friend, who gave me the following soundbite:

“The music is of a style called MPB, for Música Popular Brasileira, which first emerged at the end of the 1960s and mixes bossa nova with pop and so-called Tropicalista tendencies. I could also hear certain influences from Milton Nascimento and his crowd. Nice vocals too.”

As to those vocals, the singer was not Amada (which means beloved or loved one in Portuguese), but rather Ana Everling. As far as I know the similarities of her last name and Luiz’s is coincidental, as she is from Moldova, which is about 6500 miles from Brazil.

I found a good video of her with the band at the Old Town School of Folk Music that is very representational of their performance in the park. I have no idea what the translation of the lyrics might be, but they can’t possible sound as good in English.