Samba Society em Los Angeles

After many months of contemplating the state of samba in Southern California, I finally put my own group together to play some "vintage" sambas from the 1970s. Our debut performance was at the G2 Gallery in Venice, CA. In the video clip above we're playing the song "Incompatibilidade de gênios" (João Bosco / Aldir Blanc) with Mauro on vocals. I'm playing the repique de anél, an instrument which is much discussed in this here blog.

The lineup for the group is:

Colin "Capitão 7-cordas" Walker (7-string guitar)
Jean Pierre "Jotapê" Trapenard (cavaco/vocals)

Beto González (percussion/guitar/vocals)
Bobby "Samabaia" Easton, of Delta Nove (surdo)
Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro "The Golden Tambourine" (pandeiro)
Simon Carroll (percussion)
Kanami and Emina Shimanuki (vocals)
with special guests:
Mestre Amen Santo, of Capoeira Batuque (percussion)
Louise "Weezie" McCarthy (vocals)
and Mauro "Ô Poeta" Monteiro (vocals)

Most of the musicians are good friends from many years past and some new. It's amazing to have so much talent among my friends! Kanami Shimanuki and her sister Emina sing beautifully. I met Kanami at UCLA where we both study. They are of Bahian/Japanese heritage. Mestre Amen Santo is my capoeira teacher and an amazing percussionist. Bobby Easton is from the Long Beach funk band Delta Nove and also a dear friend. Louise "Weezie" McCarthy go way back from the old batUCLAda days and is also an avid capoeirista (also a student of Mestre Amen's). Colin Walker is one of the best 7-string players in Southern California (if not the U.S.) who plays in the traditional vein of 7-string greats like Dino. Mauro Monteiro and Jotapê are old friends and Clube de Quinta cohorts.

Below are photos from our second show at the UCLA Fowler Museum. Photos by Šara Stranovsky. (Since she took them with my camera, I took the liberty of doing some retouching to the photos!)

(Jean Pierre (Jotapê) Trapenard / Colin "Capitão 7-cordas" Walker)

(Jotapê / Capitão / Beto)

(Mauro / Louise / Andréa Ferraz: special guest / Emina and Kanami)

(Jotapê / Colin / Beto / Carlinhos / Bobby)

(The backup singers taking time out to bust some moves!)

(I love this photo)

(as moças)

(I think Kanami was pointing to the sky as we sang "Portela querida!" Nice...)

(Simon Carroll / Mestre Amen Santo: salve Capoeira Batuque!)

(Jotapê)

(Capitão / Beto / Carlinhos)

Brazil, the land of "racial democracy"

I had to post this image, taken from the blog of my favorite author, composer, and militant Afro-Brazilian, Nei Lopes. This was part of a guerrilla campaign to put a face on (no pun intended) racism in Brazil. The caption on the kids' shirts say: "If I looked like this, would you look at me differently?"

Seu Nei posted this to protest the annulment of the law that required quotas for Afro-Brazilian actors to have higher visibility in theater, movie and television productions. The law was supposedly repealed in part due to pressure from the democratic party (DEM) and the evangelical christian movement that demonizes Afro-Brazilian culture and religion...

When will Brazilians admit that they have a "racism" problem?

Bambas do Samba (1979)!

I just came across this amazing video posted by my favorite YouTuber, calulinho! The clip is from the popular show Fantástico in 1979. There are so many heavies in this video, I don't even know them all, but to name a few that I could pick out: Monarco, Dona Ivone Lara, Cartola, Aniceto do Império, Elton Medeiros, Xangô da Mangueira (who just passed away in January), Clementina de Jesus, Dominguinhos do Estácio, Wilson Moreira... (I have linked to past posts on these legends). The drawings in the video are by the singular Italian-born-turn-carioca artist Lan.

I am almost speechless when I watch this video. To me, the 1970s was the true "golden age" of samba recordings, though many consider the 1930s-40s to be so. I disagree. It was not until the 1970s that samba recordings began to really capture the essence of samba in its most traditional format (as opposed to the highly polished and orchestrated 'radio-era' sambas of the 30s and 40s), with many revered samba composers and musicians recording their debut albums already in their old age... It was at this time that you began to hear partido alto, batuque, ijexá, samba de terreiro, samba de roda, atabaque... interpreted by the artists and composers themselves, rather than "interpreters" and pop stars.

It was also during the 1970s that many of the artists you see in the video began to feel alienated from their beloved samba schools as their commercialization was in full swing. Then, with the 1980s came another significant movement with the Cacique de Ramos generation, and by the 1990s, the recording industry had usurped all-things-good from samba and began to churn out cookie-cutter boy bands.

Watch the video, visit my previous posts on these amazing artists and legends, listen to the music I have posted, and tell me if you aren't as moved as I am...

***UPDATE 4/18/09:
Thanks to a wonderful visitor, samba "connoisseur" and filmmaker Fábio (he's still anonymous!), I have learned that also in the video are Geraldo Babão, Dona Neuma da Mangueira, and Manacéia... He's still spotting others! More to come!
Valeu Fábio, meu querido!

o som de "apala" de Haruna Ishola

Eu estava escutando o álbum Lagos All Routes: Juju & Highlife, Apala & Fuji (2005) e encontrei um som que me fascinou, e queria compartir com meus amigos sambistas. Não quero tentar fazer comparações ou conexões místicas entre o Brasil e o continente africano. Simplesmente quero que curtam esse som de "apala" do músico nigeriano Haruna Ishola (nasc. ? - morreu 1983). Apala é um gênero musical dos iorubá da Nigéria que desenvolveu na década de 1930, quando era usado para acordar os muçulmanos no fim do longo jejum de Ramadão.

Nascido em Ijebu-igbo, Haruna Ishola foi um dos mais conhecidos músicos de apala, gênero que também influenciou muito o fuji.

Dizem que a voz de Haruna Ishola era tão potente que seu canto de louvo, se não entregado com cautela, podia matar o recipiente... Mas, morrer com os cantos de louvo desse homem não era a pior maneira de ir... (tradução minha - Andy Frankel, liner notes de Apala Messenger [IndigiDisc 2001])

Lembramos que, começando na década de 1830, muitos brasileiros e negros das Américas foram "repatriados" ao continente africano. Muitos desses imigrantes foram morar na delta do Niger, e nas cidades de Lagos, Aba, Owerri, e Onitsha.




"Pariboto Riboto" by Haruna Ishola
from the album, Lagos All Routes: Juju & Highlife, Apala & Fuji (2005)

Dona Edith do Prato passes at 94

I only heard today that Dona Edith (Edith Oliveira Nogueira) has also passed away this month. Dona Edith was from Santo Amaro, Bahia and she became very well-known for her playing of the prato e faca ("plate and knife") and her vast knowledge of traditional folkloric tunes. She sang samba de roda, a rural style of samba from the northeast that was brought to Rio (and other parts of Brazil) by migrants and contributed significantly to the urban samba that I speak so much of in this blog.

Santo Amaro is a colonial town that is also the hometown of Caetano Veloso, who produced her 2003 album. The video above show Dona Edith with the lovely Bahian singer Mariene de Castro. There's a rough start at first, almost as though Dona Edith was not too comfortable on stage. I would like to feature the recorded version of the song from her album. I would also like to feature another tune with the bloco afro Cortejo Afro from Salvador. It's almost a bit strange hearing the powerful sound of a bloco subdued in the recording behind Dona Edith's voice, but it's still a great song.


"Casa nova - Raiz" with Mariene de Castro
(traditional folkloric - public domain)


"Samba numerado" with Cortejo Afro
(traditional folkloric - public domain)
Both songs are from the album Vozes da Purificação 2003.

PRI's The World featured a nice piece by reporter Sylvia Maria Gross on January 15th.
Global Hit (4:00) | PRI's The World

Salve o samba da Bahia, salve a Dona Edith!

Tia Doca (Jilçária Cruz Costa) passes at 76...

I am getting weary of the sad reality of writing this blog as more and more of the legends of samba are passing on. Today "Aunt" Doca, the legendary matriarch of Madureira, pastora of the Velha Guarda da Portela, hostess of one of the best and longest running pagodes in town, passed away at 76. The great samba school Portela will cry for a long time to come.

I am almost speechless in writing this post...

When I arrived in Rio in August 2007 to spend a year doing my research, one of the first places I wanted to experience was the pagode in the backyard of Tia Doca's place in Madureira. However, it was not until November of 2007 that I finally did. I called a number to get information about the feijoada event that they were having with special guest Dudu Nobre. A very sweet lady answered the phone, giving me easy directions on how to make it all the way out to Madureira. She continued to talk casually about the place and how this particular pagode has been happening since 1975. After a few moments on the phone I realized that I was talking to Tia Doca herself! I arrived later that afternoon and immediately went to see her. She was incredibly warm and welcoming, as was her son Nem. I instantly felt like I was at home.

Needless to say the feijoada, prepared by her daughter and some assistants, was one of the best meals I had during my time in Rio. The pagode was also one of the best. I have written extensively about the Pagode da Tia Doca in posts past. Please click on the various links here, or use the navigation on the right to see videos and music.

I will leave you with a poignantly appropriate song, written by Arlindo Cruz, Sombrinha and Luiz Carlos da Vila (also recently passed in October 2008). The song "The Show Must Go On" was recorded live at the pagode in Tia Doca's own backyard.


"O show tem que continuar"
from the live album Pagode da Tia Doca 2000.

Salve o pagode da Tia Doca, salve a Velha Guarda da Portela, e salve Madureira...

felicidade!!!

(photo source: The Kitchen Table)

PRESIDENTE Barack Hussein Obama e família!!!