En Canto with Gabe Hall-Rodrigues

Doors at 6:30pm

Tickets: $10 adv/$12 dos

Gabe Hall-Rodrigues is an Arizona-native accordionist, pianist and vocalist. He began playing the piano at age 7 and quickly realized his love for music and performing. In 2010, after only studying the accordion for a year, Gabe won the American Accordionists’ Association’s Virtuoso Solo Competition. In 2011 he graduated from Arizona State University with his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Therapy. In 2013, Gabe graduated from ASU with a Master of Music in Jazz Piano Performance under the award winning pianist, composer and professor, Mike Kocour. During his time at ASU, Gabe received the Special Talent Award and Jazz Bird scholarships. He was a frequent guest vocalist with the ASU Concert Jazz Band and Jazz Repertory Band. Gabe was also fortunate to study with world-renowned professor and tubist Sam Pilafian during his time on accordion with the traditional jazz ensemble, the ASU Dixie Devils.

A multi-ethnic, female-led seven-piece, En Canto’s world pop music—a combination forró, samba, and choro-inspired originals and reimagined covers of classic Brazilian hits—commands attention and inspires movement. “We love this music because of its compositional brilliance, its original grooves, and its revolutionary nature ... its roots in post-colonialism, in cultural battles for class and racial equality,” Accordionist Jamie Maschler, explains. "Why wouldn’t it also inspire gender-equality?"

Playing primarily in North American venues, En Canto currently channels its fierce independence into challenging stereotypes while also helping audiences expand their comfort zones. “We make people dance,” as drummer Adam Kozie puts it “We routinely open our concerts to a room full of shy, awkward faces, and we close them to a sweat-drenched melee of bodies and smiles. We experience real joy when we play these songs, and people feel that, and they respond in kind, regardless of whether they understand the words or know the ‘right’ dance moves. It was the same for each us at one point when we first heard Luis Gonzaga or Gilberto Gil—we were provoked and then captured by the music, and we feel honored to be able to offer our own interpretations of it.”

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Please note: Tickets do not guarantee seating during shows at the Royal Room. For sold out shows standing room may be the only available space. Please come early to ensure you get a table. Reservations can be made for those who are coming for dinner as well as the show. The Royal Room is All Ages until 10pm.