On Saturday, November 29, 2014 the Northern Portugal Cultural Centre celebrated the launch of our Rancho’s (dance group) debut CD.
Since forming in 1980 the Rancho do Minho de Oshawa, which has performed throughout Southern Ontario, has had the good fortune of being the home to many talented concertina players including the late Antonio Barros, Avelino DeSousa, Adelino Pinto and Eric Matos. Our Rancho’s choreographer Albert Fernandes said, “The past 34 years have been filled with great memories and achievements but this is the greatest of them all.”
“The concept of this project was simple – record a piece of our Rancho’s history,” said David Ganhão, the group’s guitarist who organized the recording. “We missed the opportunity to record two great concertina players and we were determined to make history with our current band which is led by concertina player Henrique Pereira who is accompanied by Arnaldo Pais and Davy Neves. As a bonus, we also have 2 songs recorded by our Junior Band led by (then) 14 year old Anthony Araujo.”
With regards to funding such an expensive project, we were very fortunate to have the generous support of great people like Cosmo Mannella from LiUNA OPDC, Tony do Vale from LiUNA Local 506 and Jose M. Eustaquio from Alliance Of Portuguese Clubs And Associations Of Ontario (ACAPO). We could not have completed this project without their help.
The CD which contains 22 songs, including 2 by our Junior Band and a hidden dance remix of Cana Verde do Henrique was recorded at Midi-Tech Studio and produced by Hernani Raposo. “This was my first recording of a Portuguese Rancho and I am very proud of the results. I believe the DJs will love it.”
CDs are on sale at our Centre or to order online, please send us a message and we will make arrangements to ship a CD to you.