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Music - 3 |
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In the mid 1960's, the haunting, story-telling lyric of The Girl From Ipanema, carried by a rich melodic line, was the first big international hit to emerge from the bossa nova movement of Brazilian singers and composers. It put Brazilian popular music on the map and brought instant fame to composer Tom Jobim and lyricist-poet Vinicius de Moraes.
The bossa nova appeared in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950's. At first it was played as an intimate music in the apartments of Rio's middle and upper-middle classes. The music mingled the Brazilian samba beat with American jazz. Later on bossa nova became a trademark of a new concept of music - a little sad, sometimes sung off-key, and where the lyrics have great importance. For that reason, in Brazil, the association of modern poets with pop composers (Vinícius de Moraes, Chico Buarque, Tom Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, and Baden Powell) was an enormous success.
In 1968, in a period of dictatorship, urban guerrillas, and anxiety about how to change the political system, the Tropicalists appeared - Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Gal Costa. Tropicalism can be described as a blending of international music (such as Latin beats and rock'n'roll) with national rhythms. It is very much its own creation: lyrical, intelligent, with faster tempos and fuller rhythms than bossa nova.
Popular regional music in Brazil includes the forró from the northeast where the accordion and the flute join guitars and percussion in a footstomping country dance; the frevo also from the northeast, which has an energetic, simple style; the chorinho (literally "little tears") from Rio which combines various types and sizes of guitars, flutes, percussions, and an occasional clarinet or saxophone in a tender form of instrumental music; and the internationally successful lambada. When danced, lambada is sensual and fast-paced; it got its name from the Portuguese verb to whip or flog referring to the smacking of thigh against thigh. But the most typical of Brazilian popular music is the seductive rhythm of the samba. No one is sure of the exact origin of samba. Some people believe that samba was born in the streets of Rio de Janeiro with contributions from three different cultures - Portuguese courtly songs, African rhythms and native Indian fast footwork. Others believe samba is simply African in origin and that it evolved from the batuque, a music based on percussion instruments and hand clapping. Today in Brazil, popular music continues to explore new rhythms and new melodies. Its interpreters and composers make use of all music's resources to compete for and please the world's many music audiences. Some of the well-known performers are: Gilberto Gil, Maria Betânia,Alcione, Roberto Carlos, Ney Matogrosso, Rita Lee, Milton Nascimento, Hermeto Paschoal, Fafá de Belém, Chitãozinho e Chororó, Elba Ramalho, Alceu Valença, Djavan, Marisa Monte, Ivan Lins, João Bosco, Cazuza(*), Luiz Gonzaga(*), Luiz Gonzaga Jr.(*), Elis Regina(*).
(*) although now deceased, the last four names should be remembered.
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