It is carnival week, and every Brazilian in London seems to have descended on Guanabara for the first ever UK appearance of Samba de Rainha, an eight-piece from Sao Paulo credited as Brazil's first all-female samba band. Those expecting feathers and bikinis will have been disappointed, for this is a group of impressive young musicians who have their roots firmly in the samba tradition, but come on stage wearing jeans and street clothes. Only singer Núbia Maciel looks like a potential pop star, in her boots and sleeveless glittery top. Samba is back in fashion with young audiences in Brazil, but while Rio's Orquestra Imperial revive lush big-band styles, Samba de Rainha are influenced by the early, rootsy samba de roda - though with a whole batch of later influences added.

The band feature five drummers and percussionists, banging away at everything from a conventional kit to a series of hand drums, along with guitar and the tiny cavaquinho. They start with their own percussive, good-time songs, dressed up with some impressive vocals, before moving on to prove that they can handle almost anything else, from a gloriously rousing treatment of the Stones' Satisfaction to a beefed-up version of Ary Barroso's standard, Aquarela do Brasil. There is little need of the subtlety the band display on their yet-to-be released CD. The Guanabara crowd want a carnival party, and Samba de Rainha deliver just that.