Batala is a form of Samba drum music which originates in Salvador de Bahia in North Eastern Brazil. Batala was formed by Giba Gonçalves in Paris in 1997. 

Giba is the maestro of the Batala sound, which he composed after the style of his home town Salvador, in Brazil. Samba-reggae compositions with noted African influences beaten out on four different types of drum. The music has its roots in African traditional music which found its way to Brazil and has been incorporated in to Brazilian culture ever since.

Using this influence, Giba formed a 60-piece drumming band, called it Batala, and encouraged anyone with an interest in his music to form their own Batala group under his name. There are now at least 25 groups across Europe alone playing the same funky rhythms. The result is a raw, hypnotic combination of emotion, beats and rhythm.