Dendê Macêdo is a percussionist, singer, composer, bandleader, teacher, and multi-instrumentalist.
He’s been a professional musician since the age of 14, when he appeared in the frontline of Timbalada, Carlinhos Brown’s superstar percussion ensemble. Since 2001, he’s been developing his solo career, splitting his time between the US and Bahia and working with his folkloric group Ologundê and his flagship band Dendê & Band.
Dendê & Band have recently performed at venues such as the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles; the KW Latinfest in Ontario, Canada; the Penang World Music Festival in Malaysia; Summerdance in Chicago and the Chile Pepper Fiesta at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.
His folkloric group Ologundê has performed at major performing arts centers and festivals throughout the US and toured Greece as part of the Cultural Olympiad, appearing at the Kalamata Dance Festival and at the Athens Festival at the Acropolis.
Recycled Sounds is a project that developed out of world-renowned percussionist Dendê Macêdo’s interest in making instruments out of found materials. Over the years he has created a trove of instruments including a bucket shekere, a golf club berimbau, a tire drum, and the Trash Snare that was incorporated into a line of instruments manufactured by Latin Percussion.
He has provided workshops, clinics and residency programs throughout the US and Brazil at such esteemed institutions as Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory among many others. Dendê currently teaches regularly in the Philadelphia area.
Dendê endorses Latin Percussion© and recently developed the RAW Series Trash Snare in collaboration with them.