OGANS, an eleven-piece Brazilian band based in NYC, is formed of Brazilian world-class musicians who plays Afro-Brazilian rhythms and a mix of Brazilian pop and samba, funk, hip-hop, reggae, salsa, and merengue. The band consists of percussion, drums, guitars, bass, keyboard and vocals.

The band brings to the stage the rhythms of the ecstatic Carnaval of Bahia playing an impressive variety of music. They perform music of Brazilian icons like Carlinhos Brown, Caetano and Gil, Olodum and Timbalada, including their own compositions.



Ogans was founded by Marivaldo dos Santos and Davi Vieira, two experienced performers who have traveled the world with several Brazilian groups, dancing, playing percussion, and performing Capoeira. They also perform with the hit off-Broadway percussion sensation STOMP. They play regularly at the SOBs, a top world music club in New York City and in national and international festivals.



Ogans plays twice a month at SOBs, Sounds of Brazil, the premier Brazilian Nightclub in New York City. This is the band description at SOBs website: “The band members of Ogans are from Bahia, the cradle of the Afro-Brazilian sound. They bring Bahia's ecstatic Carnival ethos to the stage as well as the mysterious and moving melodies of candomble, the African religion of Brazil. The band has recently expanded its repertoire to include impressive covers of Marley's "Natural Mystic," and Salsa hits from The Buena Vista Social Club, "Chan Chan," "Carretero," and "El Cuarto de Tula." The highlight of an Ogans performance is the full dance-floor participation of popular Brazilian dance moves as a leader creates the moves and all follow his/her movements. Of course, it's fun to participate and the moves are simple enough for even the novice to execute, but don't worry if you run out of steam it's just as fun to watch everyone on the dance floor move in unison.”



They have released a Brazilian hip-hop CD and music video under the name MD MCs (EMI), and appear on the Tommy Boy compilation CD Planet Rap. Their previous band, Lyakekere, played in several venues in New York City, including S.O.B's, The Club Tania Maria, The Village Gate, Indigo Blues, The New Yorcan Poets Café, Lincoln Center, The Museum of Natural History, and Symphony Space. The band is also very popular on the festival circuit of world music, having appeared in the International Festival of Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana, and the Boom Shot Festival in Seattle, Washington and other states.



Other Ogans talented performers are Paulinho Cyre, Mário Pereira, Olivier Glissant, Gustavo Remor, Gustavo Dantas, Leco Reis and Kevin Nathaniel. Paulinho Cayre, Olivier Glissant and Mário Pereira also contributed to the creation of the band. Paulinho, a Brazilian percussionist, dancer and capoeirista in New York, has played and recorded with Levada do Pelô, Chiclete com Banana and several other bands in Bahia, Brazil. Mário Pereira has performed for several years with Ballet Stagium in São Paulo, and today he works in New York as a choreographer, dancer and capoeirista.

Ogans performance of highly combustible mix of Afro-Brazilian rhythms – from the heaviest traditional to the hottest Brazilian pop – is electrifying and contagious.