Also discover 12 songs that show how African culture has shaped Brazilian music
the master of Bahia Milk litter (1959-2021), creator of Rumpilez Orchestra, stated that “all Brazilian music is Afro-Brazilian”. In fact, the influence of African rhythms has been fundamental for the formation of Brazilian music. It could, therefore, be classified as another MPB – Brazilian black music.
Historian and ethnomusicologist Rafael Galante agrees with Letieres. For him, the influence of the African diaspora on music making deserves a broader and less stereotyped understanding. “Our vision is Eurocentric. We analyze what catches our eyes (or ears), as the percussive universe. However, since the beginning of the colonial period in Brazil, in the clash between European and African civilizations, what has happened is It was the African and Afro-Brazilian protagonism that prevailed in any type of musical activity. Music was essential in the transmission of knowledge.”
This means that the African influence occurred in different ways and, according to Galante, cannot be analyzed from the point of view of the present. According to him, what happened with the end of drug trafficking in the second half of the nineteenth century was an effort orchestrated by the state, especially in urban environments, to whiten musical practices in order to enhance European culture. adapted to this process, taking this reference to Western music for himself. Pixinguinha, Joaquim Callado And Chiquinha Gonzaga🇧🇷
The resistance then took place in the quilombos, which still exist today in communities scattered throughout Brazil. It is in these examples that the singer draws inspiration net jamelao – nephew of jamelaogreat interpreter of Brazilian and mangueira music.
Gone for him is the time of “hard-haired denial” and the “nigger taking off his hat”. “It’s a calling. Today I am aware of what I was doing unintentionally. Samba is resistance. I don’t want to do it just for fun anymore,” he says.
Drumming
Singer, songwriter and educator Luana Bayò, 30, remembers the samba circles he frequented as a child, taken by his father, a railwayman who worked on the construction of the São Paulo subway. The amateur musicians were all black and lived on the outskirts of town. Workers on construction sites, artisans of the samba.
Years later, Luana broadened her experience in the terreiros of the city and in the communities of jongo and maracatu and batuque de umbigada. He wanted an answer to the attraction of her that her drumming had on her. She discovered something that connected her to her ancestors. “It was understanding what it meant, above all that we had, here in the city, this bond with the Bantu culture (linguistic trunk that gave rise to many other languages in the African continent). We talk so much about Brazilian samba that we sometimes forget that it has its roots in Africa”, says Luana, who has also found her religiosity in Angolan candomblé.
On November 25, Luana will present the show Tambu – Uma Homage to the Batuques Paulistas at the Sesc Belenzinho in Sao Paulo. The tambu is a drum made from tree trunks that has roots in African religion and is often used in jongo, umbigada and in the so-called batuque of São Paulo. “The show praises the black roots of São Paulo. It is a scene that still exists in the quilombola communities. It is something of resistance. We must continue this tradition. We must look back and move forward.”
Dialogue
Jamelão Netto, in turn, has a new project, The Guardians of the Samba and Afrofuturist technology. “It is black music that dialogues with samba and its subgenres, such as jongo, maculelê, samba de roda, samba rock, samba jazz and maracatu. A jamelão session”, he defines.
Netto is preparing a biography and a documentary about his grandfather, who will be 110 in 2023. As far as audiovisual production is concerned, he is still studying proposals. He fears losing autonomy over the history of his ancestor. “I won’t give up. We’ve been submissive all our lives. Now the protagonist has to be black,” he says.
in the handwriting of Where Rio is more Bahian, Caetano Veloso traces the relationship between Recôncavo samba and urban Rio, through the role of Tia Ciata, a baker from Bahia who emigrated and opened her own terreiro for bambas in Rio. Bahia, by the way, is a fundamental space in the formation of Afro-Brazilian music. For the journalist and researcher Marcelo Argôlo, the Bahian percussive universe is identified with the touches coming from Candomblé, a religion of African origin – and are present in the ijexá, samba-reggae, afro samba of Ilê Aiyê, in the hard samba, in the the Bahian pagoda, in the groove of the Psirico band and in the electronic music of the Àttooxxá group.
“Even if we look a little further back, as in the beach songs of Dorival Caymmi. In the musical keys there is always the touch for the orixás. It is the touch that refers to the heartbeat, which was the first that the humanity has come across,” says Argôlo, author of the book Pop Negro SSA and creator of the podcast Pop Negro BA.
For the researcher, Bahian music manages, at certain moments, to overlap with European music, as in the case of conductors who write arrangements for percussion orchestras. He also cites Letieres, who said that the scores were wrong because they did not contemplate some fundamental divisions of ijexá, afoxés and samba reggae. “Although there is a formal culture, there are creations drawn from oral traditions, such as the samba reggae of Olodum, the modified ijexá and electronic music that Gilberto Gil started making in the 1970s, or the pagodas of Bahia which collected the touches of candomblé festivals,” he explains.
Javaear
Other composers from the northeast also have their sights set on Africa. In a recent interview with Estadão, Djavan from Alagoas stated that, when composing his songs, he first starts with the melody, which is covered in African words, many of which he invented. Later they receive the final letters. “After going to Africa, I understood why my music is like that,” he said at the time.
Not long ago, the Paraíba Chicco Caesar album released dress of love, which he called “Pan-African”. Chico says he had help from his friend Ray Lema, a Congolese musician who appears on the album, to figure out that northeastern music is African. “You see forró has to do with Congolese rumba. I didn’t have that idea until Ray gave me that twist,” he says. The composer points out that his idols of lui forró are black: Gonzagão, João do Vale, Jackson do Pandeiro, Trio Northeast And bluebird🇧🇷 “I have always tried to emphasize the relationship between African and North-Eastern musicality”.
12 songs that show how African culture has shaped Brazilian music
From samba de terreiros to samba de roda. From the mix of candomblé touches to urban music. The influence of African culture is central to Brazilian popular music. Check out some examples below:
yao – Clementina de Jesus, Pixinguinha and João da Baiana
From the album Gente da Antiga, the artists sing the beauties and stories of the terreiros.
Pirapora percussion -Geraldo Film
The composer speaks of “samba de Pirapora”, a region within São Paulo, the birthplace of samba in São Paulo.
The Legend of Spruce Dorival Caimmi
In Dorival’s guitar playing and singing you can identify the touch of candomblé.
Gandhi’s children – Gilberto Gil
Gil wrote the song that salutes the afoxé block founded in Salvador in 1949, of which he is a member. In the lyrics, the composer salutes the deities of candomblé.
Umbanda Festival / Lock Street / Son of Zambi / Seven Arrows / Caboclo Clothing – Martin of Vila
In this medley, Martinho reproduces dots from the candomblé, with touches of atabaques and the choir of shepherdesses, typical of the terreiro.
cashangá – Milton Nascimento
The composition by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant was inspired by the work songs used by enslaved blacks to mark the rhythm of daily work and facilitate the long journey.
Nego said – Assumption of Itamar
The composer blended African culture with elements of urban music like no other.
Where Rio is more Bahian – Caetano Veloso
The composer speaks of the arrival of samba in Rio de Janeiro, at the hands of the “ciatas”, the Bahian aunts, owners of the terreiros that spread throughout the city.
shake – Olodum
Classic example of samba reggae created by Olodum that conquered the charts in the 90s.
Dandalunda – Margareth Menezes
The mix of African and pop elements, the trademark of the Bahian singer
Mariene de Castro – Potpourri Samba de Roda
The singer interprets songs such as Embala Eu, O Samba da Minha Terra and Senimbú Calolé, legitimate representatives of the samba de roda born in Bahia.
Pray hard – Baiana system
The touch of candomblé atabaques is precisely in the introduction of the band’s recording, which also brings elements of Afro-Brazilian religiosity
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Source: Terra
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.
