Banana da Terra

by Alli Marshall on 09/25/2007

I had high expectations for Boone-based jazz-fusion trio Banana Da Terra. I figured they’d be skilled musicians, that their Latin jazz would be atmospheric, that they’d leave me wanting to dig out my Astrud Gilberto CDs.

The band delivered, and then some.

“This tight and colorful group brings forth a groove and feel unlike anything heard in the Southeastern area,” says their website. I admit, I’m a bit of a cynic when any band starts laying claim to unchartered territory. And while Banana Da Terra isn’t exactly pioneering, they are doing something that no one else around here is: Bossa Nova.

The great thing about the sounds of Samba, Bossa Nova, Baiao, and Musica Popular Brasileira is how they’re all simultaneously vintagey-cool and totally modern (which is why Astrud Gilberto is listed at the top of the list of must-have music in the Hipster Handbook). But Banana Da Terra actually transcends hipsterdom. They seem oblivious to their own suave sound, completely caught up in musicianship, tight grooves and a palpable on-stage chemistry.

And Bobo Gallery is one place where transcending hipness is tricky. Just hanging out in that place, with the earth-toned paint, stripped brick, abstract art and black-garbed scenesters elevates one to a new level of breezy chic. Add red wine and Bossa Nova to the mix you could walk out of the place and pen the next “Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” Or whatever.

But I digress.

Singer-guitarist Jimmy Griffith, a native of Brazil, opened the show with a solo set of intricate finger-picking and sultry vocals. By using loops, he creates a one-man band with such an intimate, immediate feel that it seems the addition of the rest of the band will be a disappointment.

Only it isn’t. Percussionist Joel Lancaster plays a miniature kit, pushing the group with tasteful rhythms and edgy — occasionally rocking — flourishes. Bassist Tim Salt’s style leans more toward the melodic, using his instrument more as a lead than a bass is usually allowed which lends an earthy, funkiness to the sound.

While it seems that Banana Da Terra is the culmination of influences and styles, it’s ultimately Griffith’s immense talent as guitarist and singer than pushes the band over the top. Where they could be an experiment in Latin fusion and jazz technique, they prove themselves, instead, as a tour de force. Now, if only they had a CD ...

— Alli Marshall, A&E reporter

- Mountain Xpress Asheville, NC

Story by David Brewer
Thinking back through all the wonderful bands and musicians that performed on stages all around the High Country during 2006 is a mind-numbing task, but a wonderful one nevertheless.

While I might have missed one or two, here’s a comprehensive list of nearly every band and performer featured in the pages of the High Country Press in 2006. I even picked a few favorites. If you didn’t catch them last year, make another new year’s resolution to see more live music. It sure beats working out.

...Banana da Terra—
Progressive Brazilian Jazz from Boone
From less-than-glamorous dinner gigs to packed shows at various night spots around town, Boone’s Banana da Terra further cemented their reputation as a unique and exciting live act. In the Brazilian-flavored jazz trio, fans found irresistible grooves and beats summoning them to the dance floor time and again. The band’s mesmerizing, syncopated sound only stands to get even tighter behind the group’s dynamic interplay.



- High Country Press

by Alli Marshall in Vol. 14 / Iss. 16 on 11/14/2007

“My whole life, I’ve been kind of an outsider because of this dual citizenship,” says Jimmie Griffith, front man of Boone-based bossa nova-influenced trio, Banana Da Terra.



Easy listening: This Boone-based trio makes groovy Latin music for the masses.
Just imagine: As the child of a Brazilian mother and an American father, the musician grew up in a South American country whose dialect does not include the prominent “th” at the end of Griffith’s name.

But Griffith’s dual citizenship proved beneficial in the long run, allowing him to move to the United States for college. He followed in his older sister’s footsteps, landing at Appalachian State University. There, brother and sister formed the first incarnation of Banana Da Terra.

“I didn’t sing then,” Griffith explains. When his sister graduated and moved out of town, the musician—noted for his supple, delicate, Latin-flavored guitar work—had to brush up on his vocal stylings.

The result? Sweet, soulful lyrics delivered in a hushed, unhurried fashion reminiscent of João Gilberto. Griffith knows (and it shows in the solo sets he sometimes uses to open for Banana Da Terra) the secret to pulling in an audience: Don’t jar them with volume; compel them with quiet panache.

Banana Da Terra, on the other hand, packs more of spicy wallop than elegant murmur. With Joel Lancaster on a small drum set and Tim Salt playing bass, the band boasts a rhythmic, bottom-heavy sound where the bass line often provides melodic backbone to Griffith’s vocals and classically tinged guitar work.

Considering the varying influences of the band members, Griffith notes that “some rhythms are quite old.”

“We’re dealing with influences from the 1960s,” he continues. “We’re using bossa nova as an influence, but we’re not sticking to it.”

Still, as a bouncing-off point, that influence is a reach for some listeners. The bossa nova movement originated in Brazil and lasted only a short time—from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. The style evolved from samba, is often linked to American “cool jazz,” and was introduced to the world in part through the 1959 film Black Orpheus. Half a century later, multinational Banana Da Terra continues that tradition.

The trio’s sound is also classified loosely as Musica Popular Brasileira, the post-bossa nova catchall. But, even as the term sums up the current trend in urban Brazilian music, it’s a world away from the musical tastes of many Western North Carolina concertgoers.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to play in Boone and Asheville because those are exceptions to the rule,” Griffith reveals. “Other places, people have to adjust to the fact that it’s not in their language.”

Luckily, bossa nova, with is suave grooves, modern tones and tasteful beats, is one of the most crossover-friendly genres out there. Robert Lanham’s The Hipster Handbook lists Stan Getz and João Gilberto’s Getz/Gilberto among the top “must-have” albums.

However, there’s nothing about Banana Da Terra that radiates pretension or even studied cool. This is a trio of family men, based in a small town, with aspirations to relocate somewhere slightly larger when the time is right—there’s no rush. At the moment, Griffith has his sights set on Banana Da Terra’s first studio album, adding to the group’s concert calendar and slowly widening the radius of Brazilian influence, one venue at a time.

But ultimately, Banana Da Terra remains rooted (if not tethered) in tradition. “The name of the band came from a place in Brazil where my sister and I both went: Cultural Space Banana Da Terra,” Griffith recalls. “A place for college kids to enjoy and be exposed to new art and music. They played very nonmainstream music.”

As those places tend to do, the art space closed. But Griffith’s trio is a tribute to that early influence.

Interestingly, the name banana da terra, or banana-to-earth, also refers to a plant of African origins in the musáceas family, renowned for its stress-reducing properties—something hipsters, world-music aficionados and fashion-forward Brazilians already know to be true of eternally cool bossa nova.



- Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Kevin DeLury - Entertainment Beat

The third annual Battle of the Bands saw four competitors, all equally as talented as they were diverse. In the end though, only one band walked away with first place: Banana da Terra.

The trio, consisting of Appalachian State University students Jimmie Griffith on guitar and vocals, bassist Jordan Meyer and drummer Joel Lancaster, won over the audience and judges alike with their unique style of jazz fused with world music.

The members describe their sound as a combination of jazz and a style of music known as musica popular Brasileira, or MPB.

“It was the music for the people,” says Griffith of MPB. “It was a mixture of bossa nova, samba, plus some jazz. That’s where the majority of our sound comes from.”

The unusual combination makes for an appealing sound and is furthered by Griffith’s vocals. On all songs, he sings in Portuguese.

A Brazilian native, Griffith has been attending Appalachian State for the past two years. After meeting Meyer and Lancaster, the three began to jam and have been playing as Banana da Terra for the past six months.

The formation of the band took a very handpicked lineup. Since the style of music wasn’t one most Appalachian students were accustomed to, Griffith had to help Meyer and Lancaster in getting a feel for MPB.

“I was the only one here raised listening to that kind of music,” says Griffith. “For them, they got it pretty well and fast too. I was very impressed.”

Banana da Terra, meaning “Banana of the Earth,” is not only an actual banana, but also pays homage to Griffith’s upbringing.

“It was inspired by an underground club that used to play very cultural music in Brazil,” said Griffith. “They had to close down because they played not-mainstream music, so it’s a tribute to them.”

Although the band has no CDs for sale yet, audiences can still catch their amazing stage shows throughout the following two months.

The band’s next show is Thursday at 9 p.m. at Beanstalk Specialty Coffees on King Street. Banana da Terra will also be performing at the Earth Day Fest on April 22 at the Duck Pond.

- The Appalachian

You don’t need to speak Portuguese for Boone-based trio Banana da Terra’s Brazilian grooves to creep into every corner of your body. The band’s music is its own sensual language that communicates to listeners through intricate and exotic melodies coupled with syncopated rhythms and muted, hypnotic grooves.

The band will perform at Black Cat Burrito on Saturday, September 23, along with Triad-based indie rockers The Royal Sun.

Formed in 2000 by the brother and sister team of Jimmie and Angela Griffith on guitar and vocals, respectively, Banana da Terra has survived a number of lineup changes through its six-year tenure. With the departure of his sister after graduation in 2003, Griffith eventually settled in with drummer and percussionist Joel Lancaster and bassist Tim Salt.

Over the past three years, Banana da Terra has progressed from Griffith’s uneasy transition into the role of lead vocalist and the others finding their Latin music voices to a lean, rhythmic machine with Salt and Lancaster propelling Griffith’s cascading guitar lines and smooth vocals to passionate new heights.

“This trio is the most solid formation of the band,” said Griffith, noting that the group’s dozens of performances together have allowed them not only learn the parts of songs, but also to gel as a group and express themselves with nuance and creativity.

According to Griffith, the music of Banana da Terra is derived from a number of Brazilian influences including bossa nova, samba, baião and MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira). However, the ASU graduate is quick to point out that the music of Banana da Terra doesn’t singularly subscribe to any one of these elements. Rather, the band blends them into a sonic collage relying on the syncopated jazzy guitar elements to create “music for the people.”

Stating his love for music as different as John Coltrane, Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After, Griffin noted that the eclectic tastes of both Lancaster and Salt constantly shape the direction of Banana da Terra. The drummer and bassist, who performed together in Lady Love Black, have also done stints in such bands as Hope Massive and Las Cabriolas.

As most of the elements of the band’s instrumental makeup are Brazilian in origin, so too are the lyrics to Griffith’s songs. Though it can be assumed that there aren’t a bevy of Portuguese speakers in the High Country, Griffith, a native of the largest nation in the South American continent, wants to keep a traditional element in the band’s blend.

“I cannot express myself in English too well musically speaking,” said Griffith. “I’m trying to keep it as authentic as possible while moving in other directions. It’s more natural in Portuguese.”

Griffith also noted that lyrics are not the first thing on his mind when composing for the band. While the bulk of his writing is lyrically circumstantial, his love of melody and rhythm is paramount when original material is concerned. Some songs toy with the words and sounds and how they relate to the music, but Griffith said that he tries to avoid being cheesy and romantic at all costs.

After a recent jaunt in the studio, Banana da Terra is hoping to release their first full-length CD in the coming months. While the band is excited to have their first official CD in the works, Griffith said that the financial strain of independently releasing the CD would play a factor in the completion of the project.

While the band has grown to include Asheville and Winston-Salem in their regular live performance rotation, the band’s music is also featured in this month’s Global Rhythm Magazine. A track from their previously self-produced and recorded EP will also be available on the publication’s sampler disc alongside several signed bands. Copies can be obtained at Espresso News in Boone.

Opening the show for Banana da Terra will be Greensboro’s The Royal Sun. Producing an eclectic mix of smart, modern indie rock that also noticeably nods to their backgrounds in jazz, electronic and royal folk music, the less-than-a-year-old band has been garnering high praise for their efforts.

To sample music from Banana da Terra or get more info about the band, click to www.bdtmusic.com.

- High Country News

Sonic bids song contest winner- Banana da Terra combines Afro-Brazilian rhythms with modern musical trends to create soulfull, syncopated compositions on mostly acoustic instruments. - Global Rhythm

Banana da Terra & Speedsquare
@ Black Cat, Boone N.C. February 9, 2008
by Matt Davis

Banana da Terra have been honing their craft up and down Western North Carolina over the past few years. The Boone, NC trio, featuring Jimmie Griffith on vocals and guitar, Joel Lancaster on drums and Tim Salt on bass have turned into one of the most consistently popular and talented acts on the Boone/Asheville circuit. A blend of samba, jazz, bossa nova and experimental acoustic, each time these guys play it seems easier and easier to say that they’re the best unsigned band in the state and in all honesty probably one of the best in the country. On February 9th, The Village Idiot was at Black Cat in Boone, NC to catch these guys along with up and coming Asheville duo Speedsquare.

...Banana da Terra began their laidback mastery and the crowd turned attentive down to the last drunken yahoo. Jimmie Griffith’s smooth vocals flowed nicely over his acoustic grooves and were accompanied perfectly by the talented bass-work of Tim Salt and the equally-talented drumming of Joel Lancaster. Flowing seamlessly from English to Spanish, Banana da Terra kept the crowd entranced during their entire 90 minute set. If I’m not mistaken, they’re in the process of recording, so get ready for what will no doubt be a fantastic album.

Catch both of these bands up and down WNC throughout 2008.

- The Village Idiot