Pagode do Nézio e Negão - Clube Guanabara

So these cats have one of the best pagodes in town for the last five years. Nézio Simões and Negão da Abolição are the organizers of the event that happens every Wednesday night at the Clube Guanabara in Botafogo. I first started going to this samba about four years ago and have been a card-carrying member ever since.

This week I also thought I would start publishing some of my own photos, and adding to my log with still images (not just those "borrowed" from the internet!). I would also like to do a series on my favorite pagodes. Since this pagode was one of the first that I participated in when I began my fieldwork on the subject, I though I should start here.

To the right is Sinval on the cavaco-banjo, Roberto Chama on guitar and Bruno on the pandeiro (in the blur of the shallow depth-of-field - anyone remember my photo talks at UCLA?). The cavaco-banjo is a hybrid creation by the early pagodeiros that sparked the style known today as pagode. Many people still deny that pagode is a distinct style of samba, but I think most people at this particular pagode would disagree. This style of samba is more aggressive and percussive.

The pandeiro playing in pagode is certainly more aggressive, with a good percussionist playing extremely loud and with incredible skill. Bruno, on the left here is one of the baddest pandeiro players I have ever seen. I will post a video for you to see as well.

Below and to the right we have a couple of other typical instruments that were introduced with the pagode generation. Adão Jorge on the left is playing the tantã, a hand-held bass drum formerly called a tambora that was borrowed from the bolero groups of he 1960s. Renato (in yellow and black) is playing a xequebalde, a bucket fashioned with loose rivets to be played somewhat like the Yoruban xequerê (or shekere in other parts of Latin America).

Also played are instruments that have been popular in samba since long before the pagode generation include the surdo bass drum (played by Bruno Sales), the cuíca (Pedrinho da Cuíca), the ganzá (Winter), the traditional cavaco (Serginho), and the tamborim (Rogério).































I'm not sure I like the staggered blog entry... Trial and error.