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Samba Week
Feb. 1st, 2008 10:25 amOther than the odd song in the background of a movie here and there, my experience with samba music was so neglegable as to be virtually non-existant. While jazz week saw me expanding my experience within a genre with which I already had some small amount of familiarity, this past week saw me tackling something that was really quite alien to my ears.
I'm happy to say that it appears samba is most definitely my cup of tea. I enjoyed the albums to which I listened so much that I definitely intend to delve even deeper throughout the rest of the year. It's also got me hotly anticipating the other Brazillian genres I'll be looking into, particularly tropicalia week and bossa-nova week.
Here's the albums I listened to, in the order I heard them:
Tom Zé's Estudando o Samba (1976) - I experienced something of a false start here, as it turned out that an album with "samba" in the title by an artist widely tagged as being "samba", actually turned out to not technically be samba at all. Well, at least that's what one of the resident samba afficionados on rateyourmusic told me. At any rate, the point of this exercise is to hear great music, and this is really, really great music, so there's certainly no harm done! Ze's music seems to have definite samba and tropicalia roots, but with a playful experimentation and extension into electric instrumentation that I found very appealing. I really enjoyed his blend of infectious melody, sleepy delivery and the general air of quirkiness surrounding the songs. This is quite possibly the album I enjoyed the most this week, so I'm definitely going to further investigate his work.
Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges's Clube da Esquina (1972) - I'm told this isn't strictly samba either, but is in fact Música Popular Brasileira, a movement that combines traditional Brazillian genres (including samba) with contemporary influences such as modern pop. Brazillian genres seem to overlap and intermingle way too much, damn it! Anyway, another pleasant album here, although it never really blew me away, and was perhaps a little on the long side. I see potential for this to grow on me, but it's probably the album I liked the least out of what I heard this week. Don't worry, I start getting the genre right after this :)
Jorge Ben's Samba Esquema Novo (1963) - Yay! Actual samba, albeit the semi-modern, "Americanised" type (which is pretty much the most well known). Jorge Ben is widely regarded as one of the samba greats, so I was really looking forward to hearing this. Upon first listen, though, the music didn't quite click for me. I enjoyed it, but the wow-factor just wasn't there. However, after listening to some more samba albums and further familiarising myself with the style, I revisited this album and found that it clicked almost immediately. I suppose I just needed to warm up to it. Ben's vocal is really amazing, particularly when he moves into the higher register, while his delivery is super-smooth and the instrumentation - consisting mostly of soft percussion, slinky guitar and some bursts of horns - is terrifically upbeat.
Orlando Silva's Carinhoso (1959) - Ooh, this is lovely. Very romantic, and it drifts along so gently and serenely that it makes me want to describe it as being "cinematic". Gorgeous melodies and an exquisite vocal, with some selective lifts in the instrumentation that occasionally wake the music from it's slumber for some moments of joyous brightness. It's certainly much more traditional and doesn't take the same risks as some of the 60s and 70s stuff I checked out (and the recording is poorer), but it was very enjoyable regardless.
João do Vale's O Poeta do Povo (1965) - When I first looked at the cover to this album, I immediately felt a very strong desire to hear this man's voice. I can't describe why, but perhaps when you've looked at the image you'll feel the same way. I really loved hearing this one, and upon additional listens it's only gotten better. The music is so lively and upbeat, and Vale's vocal was as much of a delight as I hoped it would be - booming, weathered and full of total conviction. This is really vibrant, irresistable music.
Paulinho da Viola's Foi Um Rio que Passou em Minha Vida (1970) - The song "Tropicalia" by Beck, which is a big favourite of mine, was one of my more significant exposures to Brazillian music, as it featured a lot of the country's traditional instrumentation and referenced some of it's musical genres, including the samba. This album reminded me greatly of that song, and that familiarity made it immediately a more comfortable, enjoyable listen. In fact, it was only after listening to this album and finding that "bridge" between the music I know and this new music, that I found that all the other samba albums started to make a lot more sense. When it comes to Foi Um Rio que Passou em Minha Vida in particular, though, I love the strutting rhythm, full of all those little half steps, the breezey guitar and that instrument I utterly fail to identify that sounds like the squeeky noise you hear when someone cleans a window. Anyone know what that is?
Cartola - Cartola (1976) - This is much more old fashioned samba than the year would lead you to expect, full of subdued guitar, soft percussion and some touches of flute in the background. I love the dual male/female vocals on this, with the male vocal being smooth and gentle while the female is more alive and powerful. The whole affair is very subtle and relaxing, making this a pleasantly mellow way to finish off samba week.
Week two seems to have ended very well. I've definitely developed a taste for samba - and Brazillian music in general - that I intend to develop with further listening. I'm really liking the mental adjustment required to get into the right "listening mood" for an unconventional (for me) genre. I feel like I'm getting some major payoff for the effort I'm putting in.
Next up: afro-beat!
I'm happy to say that it appears samba is most definitely my cup of tea. I enjoyed the albums to which I listened so much that I definitely intend to delve even deeper throughout the rest of the year. It's also got me hotly anticipating the other Brazillian genres I'll be looking into, particularly tropicalia week and bossa-nova week.
Here's the albums I listened to, in the order I heard them:
Tom Zé's Estudando o Samba (1976) - I experienced something of a false start here, as it turned out that an album with "samba" in the title by an artist widely tagged as being "samba", actually turned out to not technically be samba at all. Well, at least that's what one of the resident samba afficionados on rateyourmusic told me. At any rate, the point of this exercise is to hear great music, and this is really, really great music, so there's certainly no harm done! Ze's music seems to have definite samba and tropicalia roots, but with a playful experimentation and extension into electric instrumentation that I found very appealing. I really enjoyed his blend of infectious melody, sleepy delivery and the general air of quirkiness surrounding the songs. This is quite possibly the album I enjoyed the most this week, so I'm definitely going to further investigate his work.
Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges's Clube da Esquina (1972) - I'm told this isn't strictly samba either, but is in fact Música Popular Brasileira, a movement that combines traditional Brazillian genres (including samba) with contemporary influences such as modern pop. Brazillian genres seem to overlap and intermingle way too much, damn it! Anyway, another pleasant album here, although it never really blew me away, and was perhaps a little on the long side. I see potential for this to grow on me, but it's probably the album I liked the least out of what I heard this week. Don't worry, I start getting the genre right after this :)
Jorge Ben's Samba Esquema Novo (1963) - Yay! Actual samba, albeit the semi-modern, "Americanised" type (which is pretty much the most well known). Jorge Ben is widely regarded as one of the samba greats, so I was really looking forward to hearing this. Upon first listen, though, the music didn't quite click for me. I enjoyed it, but the wow-factor just wasn't there. However, after listening to some more samba albums and further familiarising myself with the style, I revisited this album and found that it clicked almost immediately. I suppose I just needed to warm up to it. Ben's vocal is really amazing, particularly when he moves into the higher register, while his delivery is super-smooth and the instrumentation - consisting mostly of soft percussion, slinky guitar and some bursts of horns - is terrifically upbeat.
Orlando Silva's Carinhoso (1959) - Ooh, this is lovely. Very romantic, and it drifts along so gently and serenely that it makes me want to describe it as being "cinematic". Gorgeous melodies and an exquisite vocal, with some selective lifts in the instrumentation that occasionally wake the music from it's slumber for some moments of joyous brightness. It's certainly much more traditional and doesn't take the same risks as some of the 60s and 70s stuff I checked out (and the recording is poorer), but it was very enjoyable regardless.
João do Vale's O Poeta do Povo (1965) - When I first looked at the cover to this album, I immediately felt a very strong desire to hear this man's voice. I can't describe why, but perhaps when you've looked at the image you'll feel the same way. I really loved hearing this one, and upon additional listens it's only gotten better. The music is so lively and upbeat, and Vale's vocal was as much of a delight as I hoped it would be - booming, weathered and full of total conviction. This is really vibrant, irresistable music.
Paulinho da Viola's Foi Um Rio que Passou em Minha Vida (1970) - The song "Tropicalia" by Beck, which is a big favourite of mine, was one of my more significant exposures to Brazillian music, as it featured a lot of the country's traditional instrumentation and referenced some of it's musical genres, including the samba. This album reminded me greatly of that song, and that familiarity made it immediately a more comfortable, enjoyable listen. In fact, it was only after listening to this album and finding that "bridge" between the music I know and this new music, that I found that all the other samba albums started to make a lot more sense. When it comes to Foi Um Rio que Passou em Minha Vida in particular, though, I love the strutting rhythm, full of all those little half steps, the breezey guitar and that instrument I utterly fail to identify that sounds like the squeeky noise you hear when someone cleans a window. Anyone know what that is?
Cartola - Cartola (1976) - This is much more old fashioned samba than the year would lead you to expect, full of subdued guitar, soft percussion and some touches of flute in the background. I love the dual male/female vocals on this, with the male vocal being smooth and gentle while the female is more alive and powerful. The whole affair is very subtle and relaxing, making this a pleasantly mellow way to finish off samba week.
Week two seems to have ended very well. I've definitely developed a taste for samba - and Brazillian music in general - that I intend to develop with further listening. I'm really liking the mental adjustment required to get into the right "listening mood" for an unconventional (for me) genre. I feel like I'm getting some major payoff for the effort I'm putting in.
Next up: afro-beat!
