Samba
Encyclopedia
Samba (ˈsɐ̃bɐ) is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil (Rio De Janeiro) 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
. Considered one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions, samba has become an icon of Brazilian national identity.
The Bahia
n Samba de Roda (dance circle), which became a UNESCO
Heritage of Humanity in 2005, is the main root of the samba carioca
, the samba that is played and danced in Rio de Janeiro
.
The modern samba that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century is basically 2/4 tempo varied with the conscious use of chorus sung to the sound of palms and batucada rhythm, adding one or more parts or stanzas of declaratory verses. Traditionally, the samba is played by strings (cavaquinho
and various types of guitar) and various percussion instruments such as tamborim
. Influenced by American orchestras in vogue since the Second World War and the cultural impact of US music post-war, samba began to use trombone
s, trumpets, choro
s, flute
s, and clarinet
s.
In addition to rhythm and bar
, samba brings a whole historical culture of food, varied dances (miudinho, coco, samba de roda, and pernada), parties, clothes such as linen shirts, and the NAIF painting
of established names such as Nelson Sargento, Guilherme de Brito
, and Heitor dos Prazeres. Anonymous community artists, including painters, sculptors, designers, and stylists, make the clothes, costumes, carnival floats, and cars, opening the doors of schools of samba.
The Samba National Day is celebrated on December 2. The date was established at the initiative of Luis Monteiro da Costa, an Alderman of Salvador, in honor of Ary Barroso. He composed "Na Baixa do Sapateiro" even though he had never been in Bahia. Thus 2 December marked the first visit of Ary Barroso to Salvador. Initially, this day was celebrated only in Salvador, but eventually it turned into a national holiday.
Samba is a root style in Southeastern Brazil and Northeast Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro
, Sao Paulo
, Salvador and Belo Horizonte
. Its importance as Brazil's national music transcends region, however; samba schools, samba musicians and carnival organizations centered around the performance of samba exist in every region of the country and, while regional musics prevail in other regions (for instance, in Southern Brazil, Center-West Brazil, and all of the Brazilian countryside, Sertanejo, or Brazilian country music, is the most popular style). Since Rio de Janeiro
is the most popular Brazilian city worldwide, usually samba is used to identify Brazilians as part of the same national culture, even if nowadays Sertanejo is the most popular style in Brazil.
Although samba exists throughout Brazil – especially in the states of Bahia
, Maranhão
, Minas Gerais
, and São Paulo
– in the form of various popular rhythms and dances that originated from the regional batuque
, a type of music and associated dance form from Cape Verde, the samba is most frequently identified as a musical expression of urban Rio de Janeiro
, where it was born and developed between the end of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. It was in Rio that the dance practiced by former slaves who migrated from Bahia came into contact with and incorporated other genres played in the city (such as the polka
, the maxixe
, the lundu, and the xote
), acquiring a completely unique character and creating the samba carioca
urbana (samba school
) and carnavalesco (Carnaval school director). Samba schools are large organizations of up to 5,000 people which compete annually in the Carnival
with thematic floats, elaborate costumes, and original music.
During the first decade of the 20th century, some songs under the name of samba were recorded, but these recordings did not achieve great popularity. However, in 1917, "Pelo Telefone" ("By Phone") was recorded, and it is considered the first true samba. The song was claimed to be authored by Ernesto dos Santos, best known as , with co-composition attributed to Mauro de Almeida, a well-known Carnival
columnist. Actually, "Pelo Telefone" was created by a collective of musicians who participated in celebrations at the house of Tia Ciata (Aunt Ciata). It was eventually registered by Donga and the Almeida National Library.
"Pelo Telefone" was the first composition to achieve great success with the style of samba and to contribute to the dissemination and popularization of the genre. From that moment on, samba started to spread across the country, initially associated with Carnival and then developing its own place in the music market. There were many composers, including Heitor dos Prazeres, João da Bahiana, Pixinguinha
, and Sinhô, but the sambas of these composers were "amaxixados" (a mix of maxixe
), known as sambas-maxixes.
The contours of the modern samba came only at the end of the 1920s, from the innovations of a group of composers of carnival blocks in the neighborhoods of Estácio de Sá and Osvaldo Cruz, and the hills of Mangueira, Salgueiro, and São Carlos. Since then, there have been many great names in samba, such as Ismael Silva, Cartola
, Ary Barroso
, Noel Rosa
, Ataulfo Alves, Wilson Batista, Geraldo Pereira, Zé Kéti, Candeia, Ciro Monteiro, Nelson Cavaquinho
, Elton Medeiros, Paulinho da Viola
, Martinho da Vila
, and many others.
As the samba consolidated as an urban and modern expression, it began to be played on radio stations, spreading across the hills and neighborhoods to the affluent southern areas of Rio de Janeiro. Initially viewed with prejudice and discrimination because it had black roots, the samba, because of its hypnotic rhythms and melodic intonations in addition to its playful lyrics, eventually conquered the white middle class as well. Other musical genres derived from samba, such as samba-canção
, partido alto
, samba-enredo
, samba de gafieira
, samba de breque, bossa nova
, samba-rock, and pagode
, have all earned names for themselves.
The samba is frequently associated abroad with football and Carnival. This history began with the international success of Aquarela do Brasil
, by Ary Barroso, followed by Carmen Miranda
(supported by Getúlio Vargas
government and the US Good Neighbor policy
), which led samba to the United States. Bossa nova
finally entered the country into the world of samba music. The success of the samba in Europe and Japan only confirms its ability to win fans, regardless of their language. Currently, there are hundreds of samba schools held on European soil and scattered among countries like Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Switzerland. Already in Japan, the records invest heavily in the launch of former Sambista's set of discs, which eventually created a market comprised solely of catalogs of Japanese record labels.
There are several theories about the birth of the word samba. One of them claims that samba came from the word Zambra or Zamba, both coming from Arabic, having been born when the Moors
invaded the Iberian Peninsula
in the 8th century. Another theory says it originated from one of many African languages
, possibly the Kimbundu
, where sam means give and ba means receive or thing falls.
In Brazil, folklorists suggest that the word samba is a corruption of the Kikongo word Semba, translated as umbigada in Portuguese, meaning "a blow struck with the belly button".
One of the oldest records of the word samba appeared in Pernambuco
magazine's O Carapuceiro, dated February 1838, when Father Miguel Lopes Gama of Sacramento wrote against what he called the samba d'almocreve – not referring to the future musical genre, but a kind of merriment (dance drama) popular for black people of that time. According to Hiram Araújo da Costa, over the centuries, the festival of dances of slaves in Bahia were called samba.
In the middle of the 19th century, the word samba defined different types of music made by African slaves when conducted by different types of Batuque
, but it assumed its own characteristics in each Brazilian state, not only by the diversity of tribes for slaves, but also the peculiarity of each region in which they were settlers. Some of these popular dances were known: bate-baú, samba-corrido, samba-de-roda, samba-de-Chave and samba-de-barravento in Bahia; coco in Ceará
; tambor-de-crioula (or ponga) in Maranhão
; trocada, coco-de-parelha, samba de coco and soco-travado in Pernambuco
; bambelô in Rio Grande do Norte
; partido-alto, miudinho, jongo and caxambu in Rio de Janeiro; and samba-lenço, samba-rural, tiririca, miudinho, and jongo
in São Paulo
.
in Rio de Janeiro came from various parts of Brazil (mainly Bahia) and settled in the vicinity of Morro da Conceição, Pedra do Sal, Praça Mauá, Praça Onze, Cidade Nova, Saúde, and Zona Portuária. These stands form poor communities that these people called the favela
s (later the term became synonymous with the irregular buildings of the poor).
These communities would be the scene of a significant part of Brazilian black culture, particularly with respect to Candomblé
and samba amaxixado at that time. Among the early highlights were the musician and dancer Hilário Jovino Ferreira—responsible for the founding of several blocks of afoxé
and Carnival's ranchos—and Tias Baianas, a term given to the female descendants of Bahian slaves.
Thus, the samba and musical genre was born in the houses of Tias Baianas (Bahian aunts) in the beginning of the 20th century, as a descendant of the style lundu of the candomblé de terreiro parties between umbigada (Samba) and capoeira
's pernadas, marked in pandeiro
, prato-e-faca (plate-and-knife) and in the palm of the hand. There are some controversies about the word samba-raiado, one of the first appointments to the samba. It is known that the samba-raiado is marked by the sound and accent sertanejos / rural brought by "Tias Baianas" to Rio de Janeiro. According to João da Baiana, the samba-raiado was the same as chula raiada or samba de partido-alto
. For the sambist Caninha, this was the first name would have heard at the home of Tia Dadá. At the same time, there were the samba-corrido, a line that had more work together with the rural Bahian accent, and the samba-chulado, a more rhyming and melodic style that characterized the urban samba carioca.
The urban carioca samba is the anchor of 20th century "Brazilian samba" par excellence. However, before this type of samba was to consolidate as the "national samba" in Brazil, there were traditional forms of sambas in Bahia and São Paulo
.
The rural Bahia samba acquired additional names as choreographic variations – for example, the "samba-de-chave", where the soloist dancer faking looking wheel in the middle of a key, and when found, was replaced. The poetic structure of Bahian samba followed the way back-and-chorus—composed of a single verse, a solo, followed by another, and repeated by the chorus of dancers as the falderal. With no chorus, the samba is called samba-corrido, which is an uncommon variant. The chant
s were taken by one singer, one of the musicians, or soloist dancer. Another peculiarity of Bahian samba was a form of competition that dances sometimes presented: it was a dispute between participants to see who performed better. Besides the umbigada, common to all the bahianian samba, the Bahia presented three basic steps: corta-a-joca, separa-o-visgo, and apanha-o-bag. There is also another choreographic element danced by women: the miudinho (this also appeared in São Paulo, as dance solo in the center of the wheel). The instruments of the Bahian samba were pandeiro
s, shakers, guitars, and sometimes the castanets and berimbau
s.
In São Paulo state, samba became the domain of blacks and caboclo
s. In rural areas, samba can provide without the traditional umbigada. There are also other choreographic variations—the dancers may be placed in rows with men on one side and women on another. The instruments of the samba paulista were viola
s and pandeiro
s. It is possible that the early provision of the wheel, in Goiás, has been modified by the influence of quadrilha or cateretê. According to historian Luís da Câmara Cascudo, it is possible to observe the influence of city in the samba, by the fact that it is also danced by pair connections.
One of the most noticeable groups of São Paulo's samba, Demônios da Garoa (Drizzle's Demons), had a strong link with Adoniran Barbosa, who composed the musics they sang. Musics like "Samba do Arnesto" and "Saudosa Maloca" turned into legendary musics, and nowdays are recognized as "the real Samba Paulistano". This group is still alive, but without the original formation. In 2000, one of their most famous musics, "Trem das Onze", was elected São Paulo's symbol music.
of that time, for a samba musician to achieve success, he would have to pass the house of Tia Ciata and be approved on the rodas de samba. Many compositions were created and sung in improvisation, where the samba Pelo Telefone (from Donga and Mauro de Almeida), samba for which there were also many other versions, but to come to the history of Brazilian music as the first samba to be recorded in 1917.
Meanwhile, other recordings have been recorded as samba before Pelo Telefone, as this composition was done by double Donga / Mauro de Almeida, who is regarded as a founder of the genre. Still, the song is written and discussed, and its proximity to the maxixe
made it finally be designated as samba-maxixe. This section was influenced by maxixe dance
and basically played the piano—unlike the Rio samba played in the Morros hills—and the composer has musician Sinhô, self-titled o rei do samba ("the king of Samba") which with other pioneers such as Heitor dos Prazeres and Caninha, lay the first foundations of the musical genre.
The growing shantytowns in the hills of suburban Rio would become the home of new musical talents. Almost simultaneously, the samba carioca, which was born in the city center, would climb the slopes of the hills and spread outside the periphery, to the point that, over time, it came to be identified as samba de morro (samba from the hills).
At the end of the 1920s, the carnival samba of blocks of the districts Estácio de Sá and Osvaldo Cruz was born, and in the hills of Mangueira, Salgueiro, and São Carlos, there were innovations in rhythmic samba that persist until the present day. This group, the Turma do Estácio, from which would arise Deixa Falar, was the first samba school in Brazil. Formed by some composers in the neighborhood of Estácio, including Alcebíades Barcellos (aka Bide) Armando Marçal, Ismael Silva, Nilton Bastos and the more "malandros" such as Baiaco, Brancura, Mano Edgar, Mano Rubem, the "Turma do Estácio" marked the history of the Brazilian samba by injecting more pace to the genre one performed, which has the endorsement of the youth's middle class, as the ex-student of law Barroso
and former student of medicine Noel Rosa
.
Initially a "rancho carnavalesco", then a Carnival's Block, and finally a samba school, the Deixa Falar was the first to Rio Carnival parade in the sound of an orchestra made up of percussion surdo
s, tambourine
s, and cuíca
s, who joined pandeiro
and shakers. This group was instrumental and is called bateria, and it lends itself to the monitoring of a type of samba that was quite different from those of Donga, Sinhô, and Pixinguinha
. The samba of Estácio de Sá signed up quickly as the samba carioca par excellence.
The Turma do Estácio has made the appropriate rhythmic samba were so it could be accompanied in the carnival's parade, thus distancing the progress samba-amaxixado of composers such as Sinhô. Moreover, its wheels of samba were attended by composers from other Rio hills, as Cartola
, Carlos Cachaça, and then Nelson Cavaquinho
, e Geraldo Pereira, Paulo da Portela, Alcides Malandro Histórico, Manacéia, Chico Santana, and others. Accompanied by a pandeiro, a tambourine, a cuíca and a surdo, they created and spread the samba-de-morro.
After the founding of "Deixa Falar", the phenomenon of the samba schools took over the scene and helped boost Rio's samba subgenera of Partido Alto
, singing and challenging in candomblé terreiros the samba-enredo
.
From the 1930s, the popularization of radio in Brazil helped to spread the samba across the country, mainly the sub-genres samba-canção and samba-exaltação. The samba-canção was released in 1928 with the recording "Ai, yo-yo" by Aracy Cortes. Also known as "samba half of the year", the samba-canção became established in the next decade. It was a slow and rhythmic samba music and had an emphasis on melody and generally easy acceptance. This aspect was later influenced by the rhythms of foreigners, first by foxtrot in the 1940s and then bolero
the 1950s. The most famous composers were Noel Rosa
, Ary Barroso
, Lamartine Babo, Braguinha (also known as João de Barro), and Ataulfo Alves. Other practitioners of this style were Antonio Maria, Custódio Mesquita, Dolores Duran
, Fernando Lobo, Ismael Neto, Lupicínio Rodrigues, Batatinha, and Adoniran Barbosa
(this latter by sharply satirical doses).
The ideology of Getúlio Vargas
's Estado Novo contaminated the scene of the samba. With Aquarela do Brasil
, composed by Ary Barroso
and recorded by Francisco Alves
in 1939, the samba-exaltação had become the first success abroad. This kind of samba was characterized by extensive compositions of melody and patriotic verses. Carmen Miranda
popularized samba internationally through her Hollywood films.
With the support of the Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas, the samba won status as the "official music" of Brazil. However, with this status of national identity came the recognition of intellectual Heitor Villa-Lobos
, who arranged a recording with the maestro Leopold Stokowski
in 1940, which involved Cartola
, Donga, João da Baiana, Pixinguinha
, and Zé da Zilda.
Also in the 1940s, there arose a new crop of artists: Francisco Alves, Mário Reis, Orlando Silva, Silvio Caldas, Aracy de Almeida
, Dalva de Oliveira
, and Elizeth Cardoso, among others. Others such as Assis Valente, Ataulfo Alves, Dorival Caymmi
, Herivelto Martins
, Pedro Caetano, and Synval Silva led the samba to the music industry.
A movement was born in the southern area of Rio de Janeiro, strongly influenced by jazz
, marking the history of samba and Brazilian popular music in the 1950s. The bossa nova
emerged at the end of that decade, with an original rhythmic accent which divided the phrasing of the samba and added influences of impressionist music
and jazz and a different style of singing which was both intimate and gentle. After precursors such as Johnny Alf
, João Donato
, and musicians like Luis Bonfá and Garoto, this sub-genre was inaugurated by João Gilberto
, Tom Jobim, and Vinicius de Moraes
. It then had a generation of disciples and followers including Carlos Lyra
, Roberto Menescal
, Durval Ferreira, and groups like Tamba Trio, Bossa 3, Zimbo Trio
, and The Cariocas.
The sambalanço also began at the end of the 1950s. It was a branch of the popular bossa nova (most appreciated by the middle class) which also mingled samba rhythms and American jazz. Sambalanço was often found at suburban dances of 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This style was developed by artists such as Bebeto
, Bedeu, Scotland 7, Djalma Ferreira, the Daydreams, Dhema, Ed Lincoln
, Elza Soares
, and Miltinho, among others. In the 21st century, groups like Funk Como Le Gusta and Clube do Balanço continue to keep this sub-genre alive.
, and the leftist musicians of bossa nova started to gather attention to the music made in the favela
s. Many popular artists were discovered at this time. Musicians like Cartola
, Nelson Cavaquinho
, Guilherme de Brito
, Velha Guarda da Portela, Zé Keti, and Clementina de Jesus
recorded their first albums during this time.
In the 1970s, samba returned strongly to the air waves with composers and singers like Paulinho da Viola
, Martinho da Vila
, Clara Nunes
, and Beth Carvalho
dominating the hit parade. Great samba lyricists like Paulo César Pinheiro (especially in the praised partnership with João Nogueira
) and Aldir Blanc
started to appear around that time.
With bossa nova, samba is further away from its popular roots. The influence of jazz deepened, and techniques have been incorporated from classical music. From a festival in Carnegie Hall
of New York, in 1962, the bossa nova reached worldwide success. But over the 1960s and 1970s, many artists who emerged—like Chico Buarque
, Billy Blanco, Martinho da Vila
, and Paulinho da Viola
—advocated the return of the samba beat in its traditional form. They also wanted veterans like Candeia, Cartola
, Nelson Cavaquinho
, and Zé Kéti to return. In the early the 1960s, the "Movement for Revitalization of Traditional Samba", promoted by Center for Popular Culture, started in partnership with the Brazilian National Union of Students. During the 1960s, some samba groups appeared and were formed by previous experiences with the world of samba and songs recorded by great names of Brazilian music. Among them were The Cinco Crioulos, The Voz do Morro, Mensageiros do Samba, and The Cinco Só.
Outside the main scene of the Brazilian Popular Music festivals, the sambists founded the Bienal do Samba in the late 1960s, and it became the space for the big names of the genre and followers. Even in the final decade, the samba-empolgação (samba-excitement) of carnival blocks Bafo da Onça, Cacique de Ramos, and Boêmios de Irajá came into being.
and his group, which merged the samba with American funk
, which was then newly arrived in the Brazil. With the departure of Dom Salvador to the United States, the band broke up, but at the beginning of the 1970s, some ex-members, including Luiz Carlos, José Carlos Barroso, and Oberdan joined Christovao Bastos, Jamil Joanes, Cláudio Stevenson and Lúcio da Silva to form Banda Black Rio
. The new group has deepened the work of Don Salvador in the double mixture of the bar with the Brazilian samba funk of the American Quaternary, based on the dynamics of implementation, driven by drums and bass. Even after the Banda Black Rio in the 1980s, British disc jockeys began to play the group's work. It was rediscovered throughout Europe, but mainly in UK and Germany.
would give a new face to the traditional sambas-enredo established by authors such as Silas de Oliveira and Mano Decio da Viola, compressing them and expanding its potential in the music market. Martin popularized the style of the Partido alto
with songs like "Casa de Bamba" and "Pequeno Burguês" and launched his first album in 1969.
Although the term partido alto originally arose at the beginning of the 1900s to describe instrumental music, the term came to be used to signify a type of samba which is characterized by a highly percussive beat of pandeiro
, using the palm of the hand in the center of the instrument in place. The harmony of Partido alto is always higher in pitch, usually played by a set of percussion instruments (usually surdo, pandeiro, and tambourine) and accompanied by a cavaquinho
and/or a guitar.
Also in that decade, some popular singers and composers appeared in the samba, including Alcione, Beth Carvalho
, and Clara Nunes
. As highlighted in city of São Paulo, Geraldo Filme was one of the leading names in samba paulistano, next to Germano Mathias, Osvaldinho of Cuíca, Tobias da Vai-Vai, Aldo Bueno, and Adoniran Barbosa
.
In the early 1980s, after having been eclipsed by the popularity of disco
and Brazilian rock
, Samba reappeared in the media with a musical movement created in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. It was the pagode
, a renewed samba, with new instruments like the banjo
and the tan-tan
. It also had a new language that reflected the way that many people actually spoke by including heavy gíria
(a type of slang). The most popular artists were Zeca Pagodinho
, Almir Guineto
, Grupo Fundo de Quintal
, Jorge Aragão
, and Jovelina Pérola Negra.
In 1995, the world saw one of the most popular Pagode
groups, the Gera Samba, later renamed to É o Tchan
, come out from Savador. This group created the most sexual dance of the Pagode during the 1990s, mixing a lot of Axé music in it, and nowdays are satirized as a synonym of bad music. Some groups like Patrulha do Samba and Harmonia do Samba, also mixed in a bit of Axé. Samba, as a result, morphed during this period, embracing types of music that were growing popular in the Caribbean
such as rap
, reggae
, and rock. Examples of Samba fusions with popular Caribbean music is samba-rap, samba-rock, and samba-reggae, all of which were efforts to not only entertain, but also to unify all Blacks throughout the Americas culturally and politically via song. In other words, samba-rap and the like often carried lyrics that encouraged Black pride, and spoke out against social injustice. Samba, however, is not accepted by all as the national music of Brazil, or as a valuable art form. Light-skinned "upper-class" Brazilians often associated Samba with dark-skinned blacks because of its arrival from West Africa. As a result, there are some light-skinned Brazilians who claim that samba is the music of low-class, dark-skinned Brazilians and, therefore, is a "thing of bums and bandits".
Samba continued to act as a unifying agent during the 1990s, when Rio stood as a national Brazilian symbol. Even though it was not the capital city, Rio acted as a Brazilian unifier, and the fact that samba originated in Rio helped the unification process. In 1994, the FIFA World Cup
had its own samba composed for the occasion, the "Copa 94". The 1994 FIFA World Cup
, in which samba played a major cultural role, holds the record for highest attendance in World Cup history. Samba is thought to be able to unify because individuals participate in it regardless of social or ethnic group. Today, samba is viewed as perhaps the only uniting factor in a country fragmented by political division.
The Afro-Brazilians played a significant role in the development of the samba over time. This change in the samba was an integral part of Brazilian nationalism, which was referred to as "Brazilianism".
In 2004, the minister of culture Gilberto Gil
submitted to Unesco
an application for declaring samba as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity in the category "Intangible Goods" by the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage. In 2005 the samba-de-roda of Baiano Recôncavo was proclaimed part of the Heritage of Humanity by Unesco, in the category of "Oral and intangible expressions".
Brazilian Carnival
The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held forty-six days before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove meat." Carnival celebrations...
. Considered one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions, samba has become an icon of Brazilian national identity.
The Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
n Samba de Roda (dance circle), which became a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Heritage of Humanity in 2005, is the main root of the samba carioca
Carioca
Carioca is a Portuguese adjective or demonym that is used to refer to the native inhabitants of the city of Rio de Janeiro - capital of the homonym state , in Brazil...
, the samba that is played and danced 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...
.
The modern samba that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century is basically 2/4 tempo varied with the conscious use of chorus sung to the sound of palms and batucada rhythm, adding one or more parts or stanzas of declaratory verses. Traditionally, the samba is played by strings (cavaquinho
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...
and various types of guitar) and various percussion instruments such as tamborim
Tamborim
A tamborim is a small, round Brazilian frame drum of Portuguese and African origin.The frame is 6" in width and may be made of metal, plastic, or wood. The head is typically made of nylon and is normally very tightly tuned in order to ensure a high, sharp timbre and a minimum of sustain...
. Influenced by American orchestras in vogue since the Second World War and the cultural impact of US music post-war, samba began to use trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, trumpets, choro
Choro
Choro , traditionally called chorinho , is a Brazilian popular music instrumental style. Its origins are in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. In spite of the name, the style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, subtile modulations and full of syncopation and...
s, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s.
In addition to rhythm and bar
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
, samba brings a whole historical culture of food, varied dances (miudinho, coco, samba de roda, and pernada), parties, clothes such as linen shirts, and the NAIF painting
Naïve art
Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true...
of established names such as Nelson Sargento, Guilherme de Brito
Guilherme de Brito
Guilherme de Brito Bollhorst , known as Guilherme de Brito, was an important Brazilian sambista, singer, songwriter, and painter.-Biography:...
, and Heitor dos Prazeres. Anonymous community artists, including painters, sculptors, designers, and stylists, make the clothes, costumes, carnival floats, and cars, opening the doors of schools of samba.
The Samba National Day is celebrated on December 2. The date was established at the initiative of Luis Monteiro da Costa, an Alderman of Salvador, in honor of Ary Barroso. He composed "Na Baixa do Sapateiro" even though he had never been in Bahia. Thus 2 December marked the first visit of Ary Barroso to Salvador. Initially, this day was celebrated only in Salvador, but eventually it turned into a national holiday.
Samba is a root style in Southeastern Brazil and Northeast Brazil, especially 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...
, Sao Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Salvador and Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Its importance as Brazil's national music transcends region, however; samba schools, samba musicians and carnival organizations centered around the performance of samba exist in every region of the country and, while regional musics prevail in other regions (for instance, in Southern Brazil, Center-West Brazil, and all of the Brazilian countryside, Sertanejo, or Brazilian country music, is the most popular style). Since 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...
is the most popular Brazilian city worldwide, usually samba is used to identify Brazilians as part of the same national culture, even if nowadays Sertanejo is the most popular style in Brazil.
Origins of the word samba
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
, Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, and São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
– in the form of various popular rhythms and dances that originated from the regional batuque
Batuque (music)
The batuque is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde.- As a music genre :As a music genre, the batuque is characterized by having an andante tempo, a 6/8 or 3/4 measure and traditionally it is just melodic, i.e., it is just sung, it has no polyphonic accompaniment...
, a type of music and associated dance form from Cape Verde, the samba is most frequently identified as a musical expression of urban 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...
, where it was born and developed between the end of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. It was in Rio that the dance practiced by former slaves who migrated from Bahia came into contact with and incorporated other genres played in the city (such as the polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
, the maxixe
Maxixe (dance)
The maxixe , occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music , that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay...
, the lundu, and the xote
Xote
Xote is a Brazilian music genre and dance for pairs or groups of four. It is the local equivalent of the German schottische. Xote is a common type of forró dancing....
), acquiring a completely unique character and creating the samba carioca
Carioca
Carioca is a Portuguese adjective or demonym that is used to refer to the native inhabitants of the city of Rio de Janeiro - capital of the homonym state , in Brazil...
urbana (samba school
Samba school
A samba school is a club or dancing school. They practice and often perform in huge square-compounds devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba, an African-Brazilian dance. The schools are traditionally associated with a particular neighborhood, often shanty towns...
) and carnavalesco (Carnaval school director). Samba schools are large organizations of up to 5,000 people which compete annually in the Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
with thematic floats, elaborate costumes, and original music.
During the first decade of the 20th century, some songs under the name of samba were recorded, but these recordings did not achieve great popularity. However, in 1917, "Pelo Telefone" ("By Phone") was recorded, and it is considered the first true samba. The song was claimed to be authored by Ernesto dos Santos, best known as , with co-composition attributed to Mauro de Almeida, a well-known Carnival
Brazilian Carnival
The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held forty-six days before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove meat." Carnival celebrations...
columnist. Actually, "Pelo Telefone" was created by a collective of musicians who participated in celebrations at the house of Tia Ciata (Aunt Ciata). It was eventually registered by Donga and the Almeida National Library.
"Pelo Telefone" was the first composition to achieve great success with the style of samba and to contribute to the dissemination and popularization of the genre. From that moment on, samba started to spread across the country, initially associated with Carnival and then developing its own place in the music market. There were many composers, including Heitor dos Prazeres, João da Bahiana, Pixinguinha
Pixinguinha
Alfredo da Rocha Viana, Jr., better known as Pixinguinha was a composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of popular music, particularly within the genre of music known as choro...
, and Sinhô, but the sambas of these composers were "amaxixados" (a mix of maxixe
Maxixe (dance)
The maxixe , occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music , that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay...
), known as sambas-maxixes.
The contours of the modern samba came only at the end of the 1920s, from the innovations of a group of composers of carnival blocks in the neighborhoods of Estácio de Sá and Osvaldo Cruz, and the hills of Mangueira, Salgueiro, and São Carlos. Since then, there have been many great names in samba, such as Ismael Silva, Cartola
Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
, Ary Barroso
Ary Barroso
Ary Barroso was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV...
, Noel Rosa
Noel Rosa
Noel de Medeiros Rosa was a Brazilian songwriter, singer, and guitar/banjo player. One of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, combining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for ironic social commentary.Noel...
, Ataulfo Alves, Wilson Batista, Geraldo Pereira, Zé Kéti, Candeia, Ciro Monteiro, Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho was one of the most important singer/composers of samba. He is usually seen as a representative of the tragic aspects of samba thematics, with many songs about death and hopelessness...
, Elton Medeiros, Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola is a Brazilian sambista, singer/songwriter, guitar, cavaquinho and mandolin player, known for his sophisticated harmonies and soft, gentle singing voice.-Biography:...
, Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila is a Brazilian samba musician...
, and many others.
As the samba consolidated as an urban and modern expression, it began to be played on radio stations, spreading across the hills and neighborhoods to the affluent southern areas of Rio de Janeiro. Initially viewed with prejudice and discrimination because it had black roots, the samba, because of its hypnotic rhythms and melodic intonations in addition to its playful lyrics, eventually conquered the white middle class as well. Other musical genres derived from samba, such as samba-canção
Samba-canção
Samba-canção is a kind of slow samba music from Brazil. It appeared in the late 1940s. During the 1950s several stars used to sing it including Dalva de Oliveira, Nora Ney, The Batista Sisters, Jamelão, Maysa, Dorival Caymmi and many others...
, partido alto
Partido alto
Partido Alto refers to a type of samba with a number of particularities. In the world of samba subgenres and in samba reunions, partido alto songs can represent a time for improvisation and disputes, besides a stronger singalong opportunity for the participants.Partido Alto is also the name of a...
, samba-enredo
Samba-enredo
Samba-enredo is a sub-genre of Samba in which songs are performed by a samba school for the festivities of Carnaval. "Samba-enredo" is the Portuguese equivalent of "samba in song", or "song samba"....
, samba de gafieira
Samba de Gafieira
Samba de Gafieira is a partner dance to the Brazilian samba musical rhythms.Samba de Gafieira must be distinguished from the ballroom Samba, danced in International Latin and American Rhythm ballroom dance styles....
, samba de breque, bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, samba-rock, and pagode
Pagode
Pagode is a Brazilian style of music which originated in Salvador, Bahia , and quickly went down to Rio de Janeiro region, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with lots of food, music, dance and party...
, have all earned names for themselves.
The samba is frequently associated abroad with football and Carnival. This history began with the international success of Aquarela do Brasil
Aquarela do Brasil
"Aquarela do Brasil" , known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is one of the most famous Brazilian songs of all time, written by Ary Barroso in 1939.-Background and composition:...
, by Ary Barroso, followed by Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
(supported by Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
government and the US Good Neighbor policy
Good Neighbor policy
The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. Its main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America...
), which led samba to the United States. Bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
finally entered the country into the world of samba music. The success of the samba in Europe and Japan only confirms its ability to win fans, regardless of their language. Currently, there are hundreds of samba schools held on European soil and scattered among countries like Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Switzerland. Already in Japan, the records invest heavily in the launch of former Sambista's set of discs, which eventually created a market comprised solely of catalogs of Japanese record labels.
There are several theories about the birth of the word samba. One of them claims that samba came from the word Zambra or Zamba, both coming from Arabic, having been born when the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
invaded the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
in the 8th century. Another theory says it originated from one of many African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
, possibly the Kimbundu
Kimbundu
North Mbundu, or Kimbundu, one of two Bantu languages called Mbundu is one of the most widely spoken Bantu languages in Angola, concentrated in the north-west of the country, notably in the Luanda Province, the Bengo Province and the Malanje Province...
, where sam means give and ba means receive or thing falls.
In Brazil, folklorists suggest that the word samba is a corruption of the Kikongo word Semba, translated as umbigada in Portuguese, meaning "a blow struck with the belly button".
One of the oldest records of the word samba appeared in Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
magazine's O Carapuceiro, dated February 1838, when Father Miguel Lopes Gama of Sacramento wrote against what he called the samba d'almocreve – not referring to the future musical genre, but a kind of merriment (dance drama) popular for black people of that time. According to Hiram Araújo da Costa, over the centuries, the festival of dances of slaves in Bahia were called samba.
In the middle of the 19th century, the word samba defined different types of music made by African slaves when conducted by different types of Batuque
Batuque (music)
The batuque is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde.- As a music genre :As a music genre, the batuque is characterized by having an andante tempo, a 6/8 or 3/4 measure and traditionally it is just melodic, i.e., it is just sung, it has no polyphonic accompaniment...
, but it assumed its own characteristics in each Brazilian state, not only by the diversity of tribes for slaves, but also the peculiarity of each region in which they were settlers. Some of these popular dances were known: bate-baú, samba-corrido, samba-de-roda, samba-de-Chave and samba-de-barravento in Bahia; coco in Ceará
Ceará
Ceará is one of the 27 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is currently the 8th largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the main touristic destinations in Brazil. The state capital is the city of...
; tambor-de-crioula (or ponga) in Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
; trocada, coco-de-parelha, samba de coco and soco-travado in Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
; bambelô in Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its geographic position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal...
; partido-alto, miudinho, jongo and caxambu in Rio de Janeiro; and samba-lenço, samba-rural, tiririca, miudinho, and jongo
Jongo
Jongo, also known as caxambu or tambu, is a dance and musical genre of black communities from southeast Brazil.Jongo is an essentially rural cultural manifestation directly associated with the African culture in Brazil...
in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
.
Favela and Tias Baianas
From the second half of the 19th century onward, as blacks, mestizas, and ex-soldiers of the War of CanudosWar of Canudos
The War of Canudos was a conflict between the state of Brazil and a group of some 30,000 settlers who had founded their own community in the northeastern state of Bahia, named Canudos...
in Rio de Janeiro came from various parts of Brazil (mainly Bahia) and settled in the vicinity of Morro da Conceição, Pedra do Sal, Praça Mauá, Praça Onze, Cidade Nova, Saúde, and Zona Portuária. These stands form poor communities that these people called the 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 (later the term became synonymous with the irregular buildings of the poor).
These communities would be the scene of a significant part of Brazilian black culture, particularly with respect to Candomblé
Candomblé
Candomblé is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion, practised chiefly in Brazil by the "povo de santo" . It originated in the cities of Salvador, the capital of Bahia and Cachoeira, at the time one of the main commercial crossroads for the distribution of products and slave trade to...
and samba amaxixado at that time. Among the early highlights were the musician and dancer Hilário Jovino Ferreira—responsible for the founding of several blocks of afoxé
Afoxé
The afoxé is an Afro Brazilian musical instrument composed of a gourd wrapped in a net in which beads or small plastic balls are threaded. The instrument is shaken to produce its musical noise.A similar instrument is the xequerê which is larger....
and Carnival's ranchos—and Tias Baianas, a term given to the female descendants of Bahian slaves.
Thus, the samba and musical genre was born in the houses of Tias Baianas (Bahian aunts) in the beginning of the 20th century, as a descendant of the style lundu of the candomblé de terreiro parties between umbigada (Samba) and capoeira
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
's pernadas, marked in 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...
, prato-e-faca (plate-and-knife) and in the palm of the hand. There are some controversies about the word samba-raiado, one of the first appointments to the samba. It is known that the samba-raiado is marked by the sound and accent sertanejos / rural brought by "Tias Baianas" to Rio de Janeiro. According to João da Baiana, the samba-raiado was the same as chula raiada or samba de partido-alto
Partido alto
Partido Alto refers to a type of samba with a number of particularities. In the world of samba subgenres and in samba reunions, partido alto songs can represent a time for improvisation and disputes, besides a stronger singalong opportunity for the participants.Partido Alto is also the name of a...
. For the sambist Caninha, this was the first name would have heard at the home of Tia Dadá. At the same time, there were the samba-corrido, a line that had more work together with the rural Bahian accent, and the samba-chulado, a more rhyming and melodic style that characterized the urban samba carioca.
Scenes in Bahia and São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
.
The rural Bahia samba acquired additional names as choreographic variations – for example, the "samba-de-chave", where the soloist dancer faking looking wheel in the middle of a key, and when found, was replaced. The poetic structure of Bahian samba followed the way back-and-chorus—composed of a single verse, a solo, followed by another, and repeated by the chorus of dancers as the falderal. With no chorus, the samba is called samba-corrido, which is an uncommon variant. The chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
s were taken by one singer, one of the musicians, or soloist dancer. Another peculiarity of Bahian samba was a form of competition that dances sometimes presented: it was a dispute between participants to see who performed better. Besides the umbigada, common to all the bahianian samba, the Bahia presented three basic steps: corta-a-joca, separa-o-visgo, and apanha-o-bag. There is also another choreographic element danced by women: the miudinho (this also appeared in São Paulo, as dance solo in the center of the wheel). The instruments of the Bahian samba were 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...
s, shakers, guitars, and sometimes the castanets and berimbau
Berimbau
The berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt about its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the...
s.
In São Paulo state, samba became the domain of blacks and caboclo
Caboclo
A caboclo or caboco is a person of a mixed Brazilian Indian and European ancestry. In Brazil, a caboclo is a specific type of mestiço as is the mulato, a person of a mixed Afro-Brazilian and European ancestry....
s. In rural areas, samba can provide without the traditional umbigada. There are also other choreographic variations—the dancers may be placed in rows with men on one side and women on another. The instruments of the samba paulista were viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s and 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...
s. It is possible that the early provision of the wheel, in Goiás, has been modified by the influence of quadrilha or cateretê. According to historian Luís da Câmara Cascudo, it is possible to observe the influence of city in the samba, by the fact that it is also danced by pair connections.
One of the most noticeable groups of São Paulo's samba, Demônios da Garoa (Drizzle's Demons), had a strong link with Adoniran Barbosa, who composed the musics they sang. Musics like "Samba do Arnesto" and "Saudosa Maloca" turned into legendary musics, and nowdays are recognized as "the real Samba Paulistano". This group is still alive, but without the original formation. In 2000, one of their most famous musics, "Trem das Onze", was elected São Paulo's symbol music.
"Pelo Telefone"
Tia Ciata, grandmother of the composer Bucy Moreira, was responsible for the sedimentation of samba carioca. According to the folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
of that time, for a samba musician to achieve success, he would have to pass the house of Tia Ciata and be approved on the rodas de samba. Many compositions were created and sung in improvisation, where the samba Pelo Telefone (from Donga and Mauro de Almeida), samba for which there were also many other versions, but to come to the history of Brazilian music as the first samba to be recorded in 1917.
Meanwhile, other recordings have been recorded as samba before Pelo Telefone, as this composition was done by double Donga / Mauro de Almeida, who is regarded as a founder of the genre. Still, the song is written and discussed, and its proximity to the maxixe
Maxixe (dance)
The maxixe , occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music , that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay...
made it finally be designated as samba-maxixe. This section was influenced by maxixe dance
Maxixe (dance)
The maxixe , occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music , that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay...
and basically played the piano—unlike the Rio samba played in the Morros hills—and the composer has musician Sinhô, self-titled o rei do samba ("the king of Samba") which with other pioneers such as Heitor dos Prazeres and Caninha, lay the first foundations of the musical genre.
Turma do Estácio
At the end of the 1920s, the carnival samba of blocks of the districts Estácio de Sá and Osvaldo Cruz was born, and in the hills of Mangueira, Salgueiro, and São Carlos, there were innovations in rhythmic samba that persist until the present day. This group, the Turma do Estácio, from which would arise Deixa Falar, was the first samba school in Brazil. Formed by some composers in the neighborhood of Estácio, including Alcebíades Barcellos (aka Bide) Armando Marçal, Ismael Silva, Nilton Bastos and the more "malandros" such as Baiaco, Brancura, Mano Edgar, Mano Rubem, the "Turma do Estácio" marked the history of the Brazilian samba by injecting more pace to the genre one performed, which has the endorsement of the youth's middle class, as the ex-student of law Barroso
Barroso
Barroso is a region in the North of Portugal. It comprises the municipalities of Montalegre and Boticas....
and former student of medicine Noel Rosa
Noel Rosa
Noel de Medeiros Rosa was a Brazilian songwriter, singer, and guitar/banjo player. One of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, combining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for ironic social commentary.Noel...
.
Initially a "rancho carnavalesco", then a Carnival's Block, and finally a samba school, the Deixa Falar was the first to Rio Carnival parade in the sound of an orchestra made up of percussion surdo
Surdo
For the football player of the same name see Surdu.The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, most notably in Axé/Samba-reggae and samba and its variants, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section....
s, 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....
s, and cuíca
Cuíca
Cuíca , or "kweeca", is a Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music. The tone it produces has a high-pitched squeaky timbre. It has been called a 'laughing gourd' due to this sound....
s, who joined 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 shakers. This group was instrumental and is called bateria, and it lends itself to the monitoring of a type of samba that was quite different from those of Donga, Sinhô, and Pixinguinha
Pixinguinha
Alfredo da Rocha Viana, Jr., better known as Pixinguinha was a composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of popular music, particularly within the genre of music known as choro...
. The samba of Estácio de Sá signed up quickly as the samba carioca par excellence.
The Turma do Estácio has made the appropriate rhythmic samba were so it could be accompanied in the carnival's parade, thus distancing the progress samba-amaxixado of composers such as Sinhô. Moreover, its wheels of samba were attended by composers from other Rio hills, as Cartola
Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
, Carlos Cachaça, and then Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho was one of the most important singer/composers of samba. He is usually seen as a representative of the tragic aspects of samba thematics, with many songs about death and hopelessness...
, e Geraldo Pereira, Paulo da Portela, Alcides Malandro Histórico, Manacéia, Chico Santana, and others. Accompanied by a pandeiro, a tambourine, a cuíca and a surdo, they created and spread the samba-de-morro.
Popularization in the 1930s and 1940s
Partido alto
Partido Alto refers to a type of samba with a number of particularities. In the world of samba subgenres and in samba reunions, partido alto songs can represent a time for improvisation and disputes, besides a stronger singalong opportunity for the participants.Partido Alto is also the name of a...
, singing and challenging in candomblé terreiros the samba-enredo
Samba-enredo
Samba-enredo is a sub-genre of Samba in which songs are performed by a samba school for the festivities of Carnaval. "Samba-enredo" is the Portuguese equivalent of "samba in song", or "song samba"....
.
From the 1930s, the popularization of radio in Brazil helped to spread the samba across the country, mainly the sub-genres samba-canção and samba-exaltação. The samba-canção was released in 1928 with the recording "Ai, yo-yo" by Aracy Cortes. Also known as "samba half of the year", the samba-canção became established in the next decade. It was a slow and rhythmic samba music and had an emphasis on melody and generally easy acceptance. This aspect was later influenced by the rhythms of foreigners, first by foxtrot in the 1940s and then bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
the 1950s. The most famous composers were Noel Rosa
Noel Rosa
Noel de Medeiros Rosa was a Brazilian songwriter, singer, and guitar/banjo player. One of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, combining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for ironic social commentary.Noel...
, Ary Barroso
Ary Barroso
Ary Barroso was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV...
, Lamartine Babo, Braguinha (also known as João de Barro), and Ataulfo Alves. Other practitioners of this style were Antonio Maria, Custódio Mesquita, Dolores Duran
Dolores Duran
Dolores Duran was a Brazilian singer and composer.Adiléia Silva da Rocha debuted at age 10 on the radio. Two years later, when her father died, she started to work on the television, too...
, Fernando Lobo, Ismael Neto, Lupicínio Rodrigues, Batatinha, and Adoniran Barbosa
Adoniran Barbosa
Adoniran Barbosa, artistic name of João Rubinato , was a famous Brazilian traditional samba singer and composer.-Early years:...
(this latter by sharply satirical doses).
The ideology of Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
's Estado Novo contaminated the scene of the samba. With Aquarela do Brasil
Aquarela do Brasil
"Aquarela do Brasil" , known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is one of the most famous Brazilian songs of all time, written by Ary Barroso in 1939.-Background and composition:...
, composed by Ary Barroso
Ary Barroso
Ary Barroso was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV...
and recorded by Francisco Alves
Francisco Alves
Francisco Alves is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.It lies along the roads BR-272 and PR-182.-References:...
in 1939, the samba-exaltação had become the first success abroad. This kind of samba was characterized by extensive compositions of melody and patriotic verses. Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
popularized samba internationally through her Hollywood films.
With the support of the Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas, the samba won status as the "official music" of Brazil. However, with this status of national identity came the recognition of intellectual Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
, who arranged a recording with the maestro Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
in 1940, which involved Cartola
Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
, Donga, João da Baiana, Pixinguinha
Pixinguinha
Alfredo da Rocha Viana, Jr., better known as Pixinguinha was a composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of popular music, particularly within the genre of music known as choro...
, and Zé da Zilda.
Also in the 1940s, there arose a new crop of artists: Francisco Alves, Mário Reis, Orlando Silva, Silvio Caldas, Aracy de Almeida
Aracy de Almeida
Aracy de Almeida was a Brazilian singer, a famous artist of the Golden Age of Brazilian radio.Her 1950 album Noel Rosa was voted by Rolling Stone Magazine one of the greatest Brazilian albums of all time.-References:...
, Dalva de Oliveira
Dalva de Oliveira
Dalva de Oliveira or Vicentina de Paula Oliveira was a Brazilian singer and one of divas of the Radio Era....
, and Elizeth Cardoso, among others. Others such as Assis Valente, Ataulfo Alves, Dorival Caymmi
Dorival Caymmi
Dorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933...
, Herivelto Martins
Herivelto Martins
Herivelto de Oliveira Martins was a Brazilian composer, singer, and music player....
, Pedro Caetano, and Synval Silva led the samba to the music industry.
A new beat in the 1950s: the Bossa Nova
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, marking the history of samba and Brazilian popular music in the 1950s. The bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
emerged at the end of that decade, with an original rhythmic accent which divided the phrasing of the samba and added influences of impressionist music
Impressionist music
Impressionism in music was a tendency in European classical music, mainly in France, which appeared in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Similarly to its precursor in the visual arts, musical impressionism focuses on a suggestion and an atmosphere...
and jazz and a different style of singing which was both intimate and gentle. After precursors such as Johnny Alf
Johnny Alf
Alfredo Jos da Silva, popularly known as Johnny Alf, was a Brazilian musician, sometimes known as the "Father of Bossa Nova"....
, João Donato
João Donato
João Donato de Oliveira Neto is a Brazilian jazz and bossa nova pianist from Brazil, probably best known for his numerous albums as bandleader in the idiom...
, and musicians like Luis Bonfá and Garoto, this sub-genre was inaugurated by João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
, Tom Jobim, and Vinicius de Moraes
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinicius de Moraes , known as Vinicius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinho , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
. It then had a generation of disciples and followers including Carlos Lyra
Carlos Lyra
Carlos Lyra is a Brazilian singer and composer of numerous bossa nova and Música Popular Brasileira classics. He was born on May 11, 1939. Along with Roberto Menescal, he was a primary figure of the younger generation of bossa nova musicians who closely followed the inception of the style by João...
, Roberto Menescal
Roberto Menescal
Roberto Menescal is a Brazilian jazz guitarist important to the founding of bossa nova. In many of his songs there are references to the sea. He is also known for work with Carlos Lyra. Menescal has performed in a variety of Latin music mediums, including Brazilian pop, Música Popular Brasileira,...
, Durval Ferreira, and groups like Tamba Trio, Bossa 3, Zimbo Trio
Zimbo Trio
The Zimbo Trio is a Brazilian instrumental ensemble, established in 1964 in São Paulo, and originally comprising Amilton Godoy , Luís Chaves and Rubinho Barsotti...
, and The Cariocas.
The sambalanço also began at the end of the 1950s. It was a branch of the popular bossa nova (most appreciated by the middle class) which also mingled samba rhythms and American jazz. Sambalanço was often found at suburban dances of 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This style was developed by artists such as Bebeto
Bebeto
José Roberto Gama de Oliveira, known as 'Bebeto', is a former football forward, a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...
, Bedeu, Scotland 7, Djalma Ferreira, the Daydreams, Dhema, Ed Lincoln
Ed Lincoln
Ed Lincoln, born Eduardo Lincoln Barbosa de Sabóia, is a Brazilian musician, composer and arranger known for a wide variety of styles. As a bassist, he was present at the earliest moments of bossa nova and as a Hammond organ player, he was foundational in establishing the sound of Brazilian jazz...
, Elza Soares
Elza Soares
Elza Soares is a Brazilian samba singer. She was married to Brazilian football player Garrincha.Born and raised in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Soares took part in a singing contest presented by the renowned Brazilian musician Ary Barroso, and received the highest marks. In the late 1950s, Soares...
, and Miltinho, among others. In the 21st century, groups like Funk Como Le Gusta and Clube do Balanço continue to keep this sub-genre alive.
Rediscovered of the samba's roots in the 1960s and 1970s
In the 1960s, Brazil became politically divided with the arrival of a military dictatorshipMilitary dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
, and the leftist musicians of bossa nova started to gather attention to the music made in the 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. Many popular artists were discovered at this time. Musicians like Cartola
Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
, Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho was one of the most important singer/composers of samba. He is usually seen as a representative of the tragic aspects of samba thematics, with many songs about death and hopelessness...
, Guilherme de Brito
Guilherme de Brito
Guilherme de Brito Bollhorst , known as Guilherme de Brito, was an important Brazilian sambista, singer, songwriter, and painter.-Biography:...
, Velha Guarda da Portela, Zé Keti, and Clementina de Jesus
Clementina de Jesus
Clementina de Jesus was born on February 7, 1901, in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She worked as a maid for more than 20 years until she was discovered in 1963 by the composer Hermínio Bello de Carvalho. She is considered queen of the Samba style Partido alto and represents the musical...
recorded their first albums during this time.
In the 1970s, samba returned strongly to the air waves with composers and singers like Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola is a Brazilian sambista, singer/songwriter, guitar, cavaquinho and mandolin player, known for his sophisticated harmonies and soft, gentle singing voice.-Biography:...
, Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila is a Brazilian samba musician...
, Clara Nunes
Clara Nunes
Clara Nunes; August 12, 1943 – April 2, 1983) was a samba singer, regarded as one of the greatest of her generation. She became the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies, and her achievements in the samba genre earned her the title of "Queen of Samba".She had enormous...
, and Beth Carvalho
Beth Carvalho
Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho is a Brazilian samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer.-Biography:...
dominating the hit parade. Great samba lyricists like Paulo César Pinheiro (especially in the praised partnership with João Nogueira
João Nogueira
João Nogueira was a Brazilian singer and composer, famous for his samba compositions. He was born in Rio de Janeiro....
) and Aldir Blanc
Aldir Blanc
Aldir Blanc is a famous Brazilian author of crônicas [journalistic vignettes, chronicles] and lyricist. He co-composed many songs with singer-songwriterJoão Bosco, guitarist Guinga, and others....
started to appear around that time.
Rapprochement with the hill
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
of New York, in 1962, the bossa nova reached worldwide success. But over the 1960s and 1970s, many artists who emerged—like Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...
, Billy Blanco, Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila is a Brazilian samba musician...
, and Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola is a Brazilian sambista, singer/songwriter, guitar, cavaquinho and mandolin player, known for his sophisticated harmonies and soft, gentle singing voice.-Biography:...
—advocated the return of the samba beat in its traditional form. They also wanted veterans like Candeia, Cartola
Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
, Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho was one of the most important singer/composers of samba. He is usually seen as a representative of the tragic aspects of samba thematics, with many songs about death and hopelessness...
, and Zé Kéti to return. In the early the 1960s, the "Movement for Revitalization of Traditional Samba", promoted by Center for Popular Culture, started in partnership with the Brazilian National Union of Students. During the 1960s, some samba groups appeared and were formed by previous experiences with the world of samba and songs recorded by great names of Brazilian music. Among them were The Cinco Crioulos, The Voz do Morro, Mensageiros do Samba, and The Cinco Só.
Outside the main scene of the Brazilian Popular Music festivals, the sambists founded the Bienal do Samba in the late 1960s, and it became the space for the big names of the genre and followers. Even in the final decade, the samba-empolgação (samba-excitement) of carnival blocks Bafo da Onça, Cacique de Ramos, and Boêmios de Irajá came into being.
A fusion: the samba-funk
Also in the 1960s came the samba funk. The samba-funk emerged at the end of the 1960s with pianist Dom SalvadorDom Salvador
Dom Salvador, born 1938 Salvador da Silva Filho, is a Brazilian jazz / Música Popular Brasileira pianist most notable for his Rio 65 Trio that featured the Brazilian jazz drummer Edison Machado and bassist Sérgio Barroso. He also did tours of Europe with musicians like Sylvia Telles...
and his group, which merged the samba with American funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, which was then newly arrived in the Brazil. With the departure of Dom Salvador to the United States, the band broke up, but at the beginning of the 1970s, some ex-members, including Luiz Carlos, José Carlos Barroso, and Oberdan joined Christovao Bastos, Jamil Joanes, Cláudio Stevenson and Lúcio da Silva to form Banda Black Rio
Banda Black Rio
Banda Black Rio is a Brazilian musical group from Rio de Janeiro that was formed in 1976. It has a repertoire based on funk but also including samba, jazz and Brazilian rhythms.-History:...
. The new group has deepened the work of Don Salvador in the double mixture of the bar with the Brazilian samba funk of the American Quaternary, based on the dynamics of implementation, driven by drums and bass. Even after the Banda Black Rio in the 1980s, British disc jockeys began to play the group's work. It was rediscovered throughout Europe, but mainly in UK and Germany.
Partido-Alto for the masses
At the turn of the 1960s to the 1970s, the young Martinho da VilaMartinho da Vila
Martinho da Vila is a Brazilian samba musician...
would give a new face to the traditional sambas-enredo established by authors such as Silas de Oliveira and Mano Decio da Viola, compressing them and expanding its potential in the music market. Martin popularized the style of the Partido alto
Partido alto
Partido Alto refers to a type of samba with a number of particularities. In the world of samba subgenres and in samba reunions, partido alto songs can represent a time for improvisation and disputes, besides a stronger singalong opportunity for the participants.Partido Alto is also the name of a...
with songs like "Casa de Bamba" and "Pequeno Burguês" and launched his first album in 1969.
Although the term partido alto originally arose at the beginning of the 1900s to describe instrumental music, the term came to be used to signify a type of samba which is characterized by a highly percussive beat of 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...
, using the palm of the hand in the center of the instrument in place. The harmony of Partido alto is always higher in pitch, usually played by a set of percussion instruments (usually surdo, pandeiro, and tambourine) and accompanied by a cavaquinho
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...
and/or a guitar.
Also in that decade, some popular singers and composers appeared in the samba, including Alcione, Beth Carvalho
Beth Carvalho
Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho is a Brazilian samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer.-Biography:...
, and Clara Nunes
Clara Nunes
Clara Nunes; August 12, 1943 – April 2, 1983) was a samba singer, regarded as one of the greatest of her generation. She became the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies, and her achievements in the samba genre earned her the title of "Queen of Samba".She had enormous...
. As highlighted in city of São Paulo, Geraldo Filme was one of the leading names in samba paulistano, next to Germano Mathias, Osvaldinho of Cuíca, Tobias da Vai-Vai, Aldo Bueno, and Adoniran Barbosa
Adoniran Barbosa
Adoniran Barbosa, artistic name of João Rubinato , was a famous Brazilian traditional samba singer and composer.-Early years:...
.
1980s until 1990s
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
and Brazilian rock
Brazilian rock
Brazilian rock refers to rock music produced in Brazil and usually sung in Portuguese.-Overview:Rock entered the Brazilian music scene in 1956, with the screening of the film The Blackboard Jungle, featuring Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", which would later be covered in Portuguese by Nora...
, Samba reappeared in the media with a musical movement created in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. It was the pagode
Pagode
Pagode is a Brazilian style of music which originated in Salvador, Bahia , and quickly went down to Rio de Janeiro region, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with lots of food, music, dance and party...
, a renewed samba, with new instruments like the banjo
Banjo (samba)
The 4-string banjo is a Brazilian instrument which is derived from the cavaco, and is especially associated with Samba and its variants...
and the tan-tan
Tan-tan
A Tan Tan is a cylindrical hand drum from Brazil that is used in small samba and pagode ensembles. It imitates the big Surdo which is played by the famous samba baterias...
. It also had a new language that reflected the way that many people actually spoke by including heavy gíria
Giria
Giria may refer to* Giria , a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family.* Giria, India, village in West Bengal, India* The Battle of Giria...
(a type of slang). The most popular artists were Zeca Pagodinho
Zeca Pagodinho
Zeca Pagodinho is a Brazilian singer/songwriter working in the genres of samba and pagode.-Biography:...
, Almir Guineto
Almir Guineto
Almir Guineto is a Brazilian sambista, singer/songwriter and instrumentalist, working in the genres of samba and pagode.-Biography:...
, Grupo Fundo de Quintal
Grupo Fundo de Quintal
Grupo Fundo de Quintal or simply Fundo de Quintal is the name of an influential Samba band and movement which appeared in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 1970s...
, Jorge Aragão
Jorge Aragão
Jorge Aragão , birth name Jorge Aragão da Cruz) is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter, working in the genres of samba and pagode. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the guitar, surdo, cavaco and banjo, among other instruments...
, and Jovelina Pérola Negra.
In 1995, the world saw one of the most popular Pagode
Pagode
Pagode is a Brazilian style of music which originated in Salvador, Bahia , and quickly went down to Rio de Janeiro region, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with lots of food, music, dance and party...
groups, the Gera Samba, later renamed to É o Tchan
É o Tchan
É o Tchan! is a popular pagode band from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil that started in 1992.- History :Originally called Gera Samba, they exploded onto the scene with their hit single Segura o Tchan...
, come out from Savador. This group created the most sexual dance of the Pagode during the 1990s, mixing a lot of Axé music in it, and nowdays are satirized as a synonym of bad music. Some groups like Patrulha do Samba and Harmonia do Samba, also mixed in a bit of Axé. Samba, as a result, morphed during this period, embracing types of music that were growing popular in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
such as rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and rock. Examples of Samba fusions with popular Caribbean music is samba-rap, samba-rock, and samba-reggae, all of which were efforts to not only entertain, but also to unify all Blacks throughout the Americas culturally and politically via song. In other words, samba-rap and the like often carried lyrics that encouraged Black pride, and spoke out against social injustice. Samba, however, is not accepted by all as the national music of Brazil, or as a valuable art form. Light-skinned "upper-class" Brazilians often associated Samba with dark-skinned blacks because of its arrival from West Africa. As a result, there are some light-skinned Brazilians who claim that samba is the music of low-class, dark-skinned Brazilians and, therefore, is a "thing of bums and bandits".
Samba continued to act as a unifying agent during the 1990s, when Rio stood as a national Brazilian symbol. Even though it was not the capital city, Rio acted as a Brazilian unifier, and the fact that samba originated in Rio helped the unification process. In 1994, the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
had its own samba composed for the occasion, the "Copa 94". The 1994 FIFA World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
, in which samba played a major cultural role, holds the record for highest attendance in World Cup history. Samba is thought to be able to unify because individuals participate in it regardless of social or ethnic group. Today, samba is viewed as perhaps the only uniting factor in a country fragmented by political division.
The Afro-Brazilians played a significant role in the development of the samba over time. This change in the samba was an integral part of Brazilian nationalism, which was referred to as "Brazilianism".
"What appears to be new is the local response to that flow, in that instead of simply assimilating outside influences into a local genre or movement, the presence of foreign genres is acknowledged
as part of the local scene: samba-rock, samba-reggae, samba-rap.
But this acknowledgment does not imply mere imitation of the foreign
models or, for that matter, passive consumption by national audiences." – Gerard BéhagueGerard BéhagueGerard Henri Béhague was an eminent Franco-American ethnomusicologist and professor of Latin American music. His specialty was the music of Brazil and the Andean countries and the influence of West Africa on the music of the Caribbean and South America, especially Candomblé music...
, Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology. Pg. 84
Samba in the 21st century
From the year 2000 onwards, there were some artists who were looking to reconnect the most popular traditions of samba. The cases of Marquinhos of Oswaldo Cruz and Teresa Cristina, were, among others, the ones that contributed to the revitalization of the region of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro. In São Paulo, samba resumed the tradition with concerts in Sesc Pompéia Club and with the work of several groups, including the group Quinteto em Branco e Preto which developed the event "Pagode da Vela" ("Pagoda of Sail"). These all helped to attract many artists from Rio de Janeiro, which has established residence in neighborhoods of the capital paulistana.In 2004, the minister of culture Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
submitted to Unesco
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
an application for declaring samba as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity in the category "Intangible Goods" by the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage. In 2005 the samba-de-roda of Baiano Recôncavo was proclaimed part of the Heritage of Humanity by Unesco, in the category of "Oral and intangible expressions".
Instruments commonly used in samba
- Acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
/Seven-string guitarSeven-string guitarA seven-string guitar is a guitar with seven strings instead of the usual six. Some types of seven-string guitars are specific to certain cultures . The standard 7-string guitar tuning is BEADGbe... - 4-string banjo
- Ago-goAgogôAn agogô is a single or multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba music and also in the samba baterias . The agogô may be the oldest samba instrument and was based on West African Yoruba single or double bells...
- Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Cavaco
- CuícaCuícaCuíca , or "kweeca", is a Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music. The tone it produces has a high-pitched squeaky timbre. It has been called a 'laughing gourd' due to this sound....
/Kweeca - Drum kitDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- GanzaGanzaThe ganzá is a Brazilian rattle used as a percussion instrument, especially in samba music.The ganzá is cylindrically shaped, and can be either a hand-woven basket or a metal canister which is filled with beads, metal balls, pebbles, or other similar items. Those made from metal produce a...
- GüiroGüiroThe güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
- Hand-repiqueHand-repiqueThe hand-repique is a percussion instrument originated in Brazil. It’s a small drum of cylindrical form, that can be made of wood, aluminum or acrylic. It’s played with the hands, both on the skin and its body. The hand-repique has a sharp sound and is used mainly to play Samba and its variants,...
- Keyboard instrumentsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- PandeiroPandeiroThe 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...
- RepiniqueRepiniqueA repinique is a two-headed Brazilian drum used in samba baterias . It is used in the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo Carnival baterias and in the baterias of Bahia, where it is known as repique. It is equivalent to the tom-tom in the non-Brazilian drum kit or to the tenor drum in marching bands...
- Ring-repiqueRing-repiqueThe ring-repique is a percussion instrument originated in Brazil. It’s a small drum commonly made of aluminum, and unlike the Hand-repique, has two drumheads , and a different, much deeper timbre. In Brazil this instrument is used mainly to play Samba and its variants, such as Pagode...
- SaxophonesSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
/Tarol - SurdoSurdoFor the football player of the same name see Surdu.The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, most notably in Axé/Samba-reggae and samba and its variants, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section....
- TamborimTamborimA tamborim is a small, round Brazilian frame drum of Portuguese and African origin.The frame is 6" in width and may be made of metal, plastic, or wood. The head is typically made of nylon and is normally very tightly tuned in order to ensure a high, sharp timbre and a minimum of sustain...
- TantãTan-tanA Tan Tan is a cylindrical hand drum from Brazil that is used in small samba and pagode ensembles. It imitates the big Surdo which is played by the famous samba baterias...
- TromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
Further reading
- The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil. by McGowan, Chris and Pessanha, Ricardo. 2nd edition. Temple University Press. 1998., documentary on the history of samba in Brazil with particular emphasis on Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio 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...
. The film is in PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
with English subtitles and approaches the subject from an interesting perspective. - Nosso senhor do samba. by Edigar de Alencar. Rio de Janeiro: FUNARTE, 1988.
- O Encontro Entre Bandeira e Sinhô. by André Gardel Rio de Janeiro: Secretaria Municipal de Cultura, 1996.
- O Sol nasceu pra todos:a História Secreta do Samba. by Luis Carlos de Morais Junior. Rio de Janeiro: Litteris, 2011.
External links
- Origins of Samba Dance & Music
- All Brazilian Music samba page
- One of the first formal samba definition (1997)
- Loronix is the largest virtual community around the Brazilian music on the Internet.
- Dance Samba Spain (Madrid) – www.andreabrasilmadrid.es.
- Samba from the Favelas, some podcasts from 'RadioFavela – The Sound of Rio'
- Die Samba Show ISWC T-0425394804 "Latin Complete Collection" Album. Published with the permission of the owner of rights
- History of Samba, BBC Radio Bosco De Olivera's History of Samba for BBC Radio - scroll down to "Bosco Does the Samba".
- sambaobab - French batucada (samba reggae), near Lyon