![]() When Gonzaga was a youngster, polkas were popular, so he became an accordion virtuoso. Luis Gonzaga (1912-89) pioneered a type of music known as forro, or party music, which is native to Brazil's arid Northeast, where cattle and farm country are cultivated. During the Forties, Brazilian music began having an international impact, partly due to the records and films of Carmen Miranda.īut Brazilian popular music wasn't just evolving nationally and internationally it was also changing and growing locally as well. Among samba pioneers were Noel Rosa, sometimes referred to as the Brazilian Cole Porter Braguinha Dorival Caymmi, the father of Dori, Nana, and Danilo Caymmi, important contemporary artists in their own right and Ary Barroso, author of "Aquarela do Brazil" and "Bahia," heard respectively in Walt Disney cartoons, Alo, Amigo, and Three Caballeros. The samba cancao composers of the Thirties emphasized melodic and harmonic development and sophisticated, poetic lyrics, anticipating the later bossa nova artists. Once established, the samba evolved rapidly and began to vary in form. They needed original music for their performances and thus provided a great deal of support for Brazilian musicians, among other artists. Samba schools grew important enough to gain official recognition, members working year round to prepare for Carnaval. As they grew larger and more elaborate, competitions among the participants attracted more and more attention, leading to the establishment and subsequent rise of "samba schools" - social and fraternal organizations, often neighborhood based, that contributed floats, music, and dancing to the Carnavals. Like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Brazil's Carnavals attracted tourists and became an important source of income. Samba quickly caught on, becoming a significant part of the Brazilian pre-Lenten celebration called Carnaval. Among these innovators were such legends as Pixinguinha, Donga, Sinha, and Ismael Silva. The samba originated in Rio de Janeiro, created by some of that capital city's most talented musicians, who shared their ideas at informal meetings and jam sessions, such as those that took place at the home of hostess Tia Ciata. In the late 19th/early 20th century, distinctive popular genres of Brazilian music emerged as a result of synthesis: maxixe, choro, marcha, and that most well-known of Brazilian musical forms, the 2/4 syncopated samba. The tango, habanera, and polka have impacted indigenous Brazilian musical forms as well. This is consistent with knowledge that the African influence on Brazilian music was noted centuries ago we have a reference to the Angolan "lundu" song and dance dating back to the 18th century. These reports may be exaggerated, but photographs dating back to the early part of this century show that musical aggregations were racially integrated, as they are today. Both are brimming over with congos, xangos, and maracatus.ĭespite the fact that slavery wasn't abolished in Brazil until 1889, reports are that it's a racially harmonious nation. Correa de Azevedo: Music of Ceara and Minas Gerais. Excellent examples of the earliest types of Afro-Brazilian music surviving into the 20th century can be heard on field recordings cut in the Thirties and early Forties and available on Rykodisc's The Discoteca Collection Missao de Pesquisas Folclorias and L.H. The African-descended portion of the country's population has been able to preserve many of its cultural traits, a large number of Brazilian people continuing to practice African-influenced forms of religion, including candomble and umbanda. Sing in Bra-zilian Portuguese and you're ahead of the game already. Portuguese, especially the Brazilian variety of it, is a gorgeous language, by the way. It was a colony of Portugal until 1822, and the vast majority of its citizens speak Portuguese, though large numbers of people whose origins lie in other European countries live there too. ![]() Especially if you don't know who Caetano Veloso is!īrazil's populace is descended mainly from Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans. ![]() But what else do you know about Brazil? Not much, huh? Well, Caetano Veloso's coming to town, so you'd better bone up on your Brazilian pop music history unless you don't mind being embarrassed, possibly in front of your loved ones. Brazil has one of the richest and most varied pop music scenes in the world, which isn't surprising given that the South American beach paradise has an enormous, culturally diverse population.
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