Sesc Pompeia opens the stage to the dimensions of black music

The Zunido Festival, which begins today, brings Jazz das Minas, Marcos Valle with the band Azymuth and the group The Last Poets

Singer and composer from Rio de Janeiro Maira Freitas she speaks with emotion of her visit to Angola in 2019. In the African country she came across a huge baobab tree where, the story goes, slaves used to tour before boarding the ships that took them away from their homeland.

Maíra had gone to the countryside to do a show. Even before embarking – or returning, as she says – to the African continent for the first time, she already felt that something would definitely change in her life. She carried a daughter in her belly and her family history in her heart. Maíra is the daughter of the singer and composer Martinho da Villaconsidered a king in Angola.

Maíra then dismantled the gang that accompanied her and called only women. Thus the sextet was born Jazz das Minasgroup with which he performs at the Buzz partywhich will premiere this Thursday, 9, on Section Pompeia. The mission of the festival is to highlight black music in different dimensions, especially urban ones.

In addition to Maíra, the singer and composer Marco Valle with the gang azimuththe American hip hop group The last poetsor Canadian DJ Kid Koala accompanied by his daughter Lealanithe drummer Pupillo with the project Sonorado presents short stories and the beatmaker from Bahia doctor Drumah in connection with the rapper paulista Rodrigo Today.

“Brazilian music is the fruit of the diaspora. It exists only because of slavery. It’s important to show the black artists playing this music,” Maíra warns. She recounts that, once, a friend from the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro told her that jazz was “a white thing.”

“When only white people start making black music, people forget where it all comes from. It gets a little confusing. Jazz is essentially black. It can’t help but be ours. We have to name a spade,” he says.

Feminism

To occupy all possible spaces, Maíra and Jazz das Minas play with musical genres. In the repertoire, in addition to author’s songs that speak of themes related to women, there are songs such as samba The show must go oncomposition by Luiz Carlos da Vila, Umbrinha and Arlindo Cruz, played in jazz. I have no / I have liferegistered by Nina Simonetakes the arrangement of jongo.

“If we’re talking about the diaspora, let’s get everyone talking, right?” shouts Maíra. Jazz das Minas is in the studio to record its debut album. The launch forecast is still for this first semester.

The Zunido Festival, which offers shows until March 19, will take place at the Sesc Pompeia brewery, an address that has a large dance floor where the public can watch the shows standing up and dance.

“Africanity must have a place to dance. A place in an African celebration is essential”warns Rodrigo Brandão, curator of Zunido, about the choice of location.

Brandão explains the connections he made among the festival guests, including the inclusion of a non-black in the lineup, musician Marcos Valle, with music that dialogues with jazz and soul funk.

“The music that makes a difference in the world has, in some way, a link with its African roots, whether it is more or less explicit”, says the curator.

He mentions, most clearly, the American group The Last Poets and Marcos Valle, with the most indirect influences. Incidentally, tickets for the Brazilian musician’s show with the Azymuth band were the first to be sold out.

from Harlem

Although veterans, The Last Poets arrives at the festival for its first performance in Brazil. Born in Harlem, New York, the group released their first albums in the early 1970s and are considered one of hip hop’s pioneers. Brandão says the group has influenced artists such as The Notorious BIG, Public Enemy and De La Soul.

Poet and teacher, Abiodun Oyewole, one of the founders of The Last Poets, says that rap and hip hop have brought a youth-friendly form of creation, which he defines as a kind of cultural stronghold. “You can talk a lot and not worry about singing,” he explains.

Abiodun says he doesn’t follow the Brazilian hip hop scene, but that he wouldn’t be surprised if a Brazilian artist has already tried The Last Poets. “Because we are considered the foundation of hip hop, many people are interested in listening to us. What we have said on many of our albums has been sampled by rappers from all over the world. We have paved the way for beat poetry to have a platform “, he concludes. .

On racism, an issue that affects both American and Brazilian society – and which is inevitably debated in the group’s songs – Abiodun says that one of the primary functions of an artist is to highlight the ills of society and propose solutions to them. “Poems, songs, plays, films and dances should highlight the good things we share with each other and expose the bad things we do to each other. We should point out the problem and offer a solution,” he says .

ancestry

The musician ratifies a perception commented by Maira Freitas: that ancestry creates indissoluble bonds, even if erased by time or suffocated by the hands of the oppressors. It is possible to recognize it from a distance or in its various forms, especially those in which it embraces it with respect.

Try it: Abiodun says he’s been to Brazil before and is very curious about the candomblé here. He is also a lover of Tom Jobim’s music. The sovereign maestro, one of the fathers of bossa nova, a relative of jazz, also has an African touch in his songs. Just listen to the recitative that opens Samba do Avião or the first chords of Águas de Março.

Buzz party

Sesc Pompeia (Rua Clélia, 93, Água Branca)

Thursday to Saturday, 9.30pm and Sunday, 6.30pm. Tickets: R $ 50 / R $ 25 / R $ 15. Opens on 9 and lasts until 03/19.

Source: Terra

Earl

Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.