Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro
Encyclopedia
Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro, a Brazil
ian of Africa
n and Portuguese
descent, is a percussionist best known for playing the pandeiro
, and is one of the instrument's major proponents.
Born Carlos de Oliveira, Carlinhos grew up in Rio de Janeiro
in the 1940s. He was immersed in samba
, a style of music with roots in both Africa and Portugal. Its most famous expression is in the poor and working-class neighborhoods surrounding Rio, called favela
s, which host performing associations known as samba schools. These groups compete every year in Rio’s spectacular Carnaval parade, with thousands of dancers in feathered costumes and hundreds of drummers playing samba rhythms.
One drum that can perform all the rhythms of the samba is Brazil’s national instrument, the pandeiro. (The pandeiro is a tunable tambourine
, played with a different technique than in North American music.)
Carlinhos took up the pandeiro at age seven, starting with one of his mother’s cake pans. He visited the favelas to absorb samba styles, particularly at one of the greatest samba schools, Mangueira. Carlinhos would join in during rehearsals, and he soon came to the attention of Mangueira’s legendary singer, Jamelão, who invited Carlinhos to become a performing member of Mangueira, a high honor.
Carlinhos’s pandeiro playing became quite theatrical, with unprecedented juggling and stunts (known as malabarismo). Soon Carlinhos was performing professionally, working with most important musicians and composers in Rio.
In 1966, Brazil held a national contest to find the country’s best pandeiro player. Carlinhos out-performed 500 other players to win the first ‘Golden Tambourine’ award, thereby becoming known as Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro. With this recognition, Carlinhos represented Brazil in performances before the Japanese royal family, the Swedish royal family, and also in a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip of England.
Carlinhos has had a wide-ranging career as a percussionist, appearing in Brazilian films, on Brazilian television, and performing around the world with Herbie Mann
, Sergio Mendes
, Sadao Watanabe, Ed Thigpen
, Toots Thielemans
, Martinho da Vila
, Beth Carvalho
, Maria Bethania
, and many more.
Carlinhos married an American singer in 1983, moved to Hawaii, and raised a family. For the last three decades, he has led parades, performed with numerous American samba bands, and taught ‘classic’ Rio-style samba to thousands of students. Today, Carlinhos lives in Los Angeles, performing nationally and teaching locally, at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica. He is a recipient of awards from the Durfee Foundation, the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, and the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles.
On Friday, June 24, 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that Carlinhos was one of 2011’s NEA National Heritage Fellowship Recipients.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
descent, is a percussionist best known for playing the pandeiro
Pandeiro
The pandeiro is a type of hand frame drum.There are two important distinctions between a pandeiro and the common tambourine. The tension of the head on the pandeiro can be tuned, allowing the player a choice of high and low notes...
, and is one of the instrument's major proponents.
Born Carlos de Oliveira, Carlinhos grew up in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
in the 1940s. He was immersed in samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, a style of music with roots in both Africa and Portugal. Its most famous expression is in the poor and working-class neighborhoods surrounding Rio, called favela
Favela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
s, which host performing associations known as samba schools. These groups compete every year in Rio’s spectacular Carnaval parade, with thousands of dancers in feathered costumes and hundreds of drummers playing samba rhythms.
One drum that can perform all the rhythms of the samba is Brazil’s national instrument, the pandeiro. (The pandeiro is a tunable tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, played with a different technique than in North American music.)
Carlinhos took up the pandeiro at age seven, starting with one of his mother’s cake pans. He visited the favelas to absorb samba styles, particularly at one of the greatest samba schools, Mangueira. Carlinhos would join in during rehearsals, and he soon came to the attention of Mangueira’s legendary singer, Jamelão, who invited Carlinhos to become a performing member of Mangueira, a high honor.
Carlinhos’s pandeiro playing became quite theatrical, with unprecedented juggling and stunts (known as malabarismo). Soon Carlinhos was performing professionally, working with most important musicians and composers in Rio.
In 1966, Brazil held a national contest to find the country’s best pandeiro player. Carlinhos out-performed 500 other players to win the first ‘Golden Tambourine’ award, thereby becoming known as Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro. With this recognition, Carlinhos represented Brazil in performances before the Japanese royal family, the Swedish royal family, and also in a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip of England.
Carlinhos has had a wide-ranging career as a percussionist, appearing in Brazilian films, on Brazilian television, and performing around the world with Herbie Mann
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
, Sergio Mendes
Sergio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
, Sadao Watanabe, Ed Thigpen
Ed Thigpen
Edmund Leonard "Ed" Thigpen was an American jazz drummer, best-known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965...
, Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
, Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila is a Brazilian samba musician...
, Beth Carvalho
Beth Carvalho
Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho is a Brazilian samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer.-Biography:...
, Maria Bethania
Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
, and many more.
Carlinhos married an American singer in 1983, moved to Hawaii, and raised a family. For the last three decades, he has led parades, performed with numerous American samba bands, and taught ‘classic’ Rio-style samba to thousands of students. Today, Carlinhos lives in Los Angeles, performing nationally and teaching locally, at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica. He is a recipient of awards from the Durfee Foundation, the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, and the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles.
On Friday, June 24, 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that Carlinhos was one of 2011’s NEA National Heritage Fellowship Recipients.