GuacaMusic: Beyond Samba
posted in: Features • Latin
Brazil, la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la¦
We all know a thing or two about Brazil: Ronaldinho, Carnaval, Feijoada, Caipirinha. The list goes on and on. But what do we know about the music of this incredible country?
Probably not enough. Sure, we are familiar with samba and maybe even with bossa nova. But the truth is, the music of Brazil encompasses many other music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms.
As true fans of the música brasileira, we went on a mission to uncover the three best Brazilian-influenced artists on OurStage. This is what we found:
- Bat Makumba. This World/Brazilian band is based in San Francisco and has been electrifying audiences on the west coast for almost ten years. Bat Makumba is the creation of Brazilian natives Alex Koberle and Emi
liano Benevides and American bassist Carl Remde. Its members define their band as the crossroads between the traditional music of their equatorial homeland and the punk, rock and funk influences of the US and UK. On their Web site, they write: Bat Makumba’s show is a hip renegade carnival party full of tropicalia tinged ska, punk influenced forro, and rock infused samba. Go to Bat Makumba’s OurStage profile and play any of their songs to get an eclectic taste of Brazilian music. We recommend the out-of-the-ordinary song “Cantiga“, or the catchy baií£o hit “Trabalha“.
- Sambajazz Trio. With Kiko Continentino at the piano, Luiz Alves playing the bass, and Clauton
Neguinho mastering the drums and the trumpet, this superb Brazilian trio has been in our Top 10 charts several times, winning the first prize in the Jazz Channel three times this year alone. Play their mind-blowing first prize winning pieces “Agora Sim! ” and “Deus Brasileiro“.
- Pedro Eí§a e os Franco Atiradores. Incredible musician Pedro Eí§a was born in Angola only few months before the Portuguese revolution in 1974, and relocated to Brazil shortly after that. He started playing the guitar at the young age of 14 and soon began to make his own music. As a young artist, Eí§a gained experience playing rock, pop, reggae, ska and bossa nova covers, while also
working on his own compositions. Later on, he met his musical soul mates and formed the band Pedro Eí§a e os Franco Atiradores, which has won the OurStage Latin Channel prize two times and has been in the Top 10 charts in several occasions. Play their winning hit “Numa so nota“, a song that Pedro wrote as a tribute for the musicians in his band.
These are just a few examples of the rich musical diversity of Brazil, and the vast array of artists that exist on OurStage. We encourage you to keep surfing our channels until you find your own favorite Brazilian-flavored songs. Next time, when someone mentions Kaká or Ronaldinho, you will be able to enlighten them with a new absolute truth: Brazilian music is awesome, even better than soccer or sweeter than caipirinhas.
Bom Apetite!