I’m really busy this week, with limited internet access, and to top it up I had a ridiculous water-spilling accident which affected my computer AND my phone, so circumstances are not ideal for Brazilian music posting (or any posting for that matter). (Computer seems to be coping, but the phone is still not giving signs of life…) Still, I had planned to talk about Brazilian reggae music, and figured a short post is better than no post! I’ve always been very much of a reggae fan myself, both in its Jamaican ‘roots’ version and in its Brazilian version, so it’s a rather obvious choice for a post.
Reggae is very popular in Brazil, both in its original Jamaican formulation and in its Brazilian reinterpretations. Indeed, one of the popular rhythms having emerged in Bahia about 25 years ago is known as samba-reggae (which doesn’t really sound like classical reggae, but something of the beat is there alright). There are many Brazilian reggae bands (Cidade Negra, Nativus), and there is even a ‘Brazilian capital of reggae’, the city of São Luís in the state of Maranhão (all the way up north). From a certain point of view, it makes perfect sense, as there are some important cultural similarities between Brazil and Jamaica, in particular the influence of the culture shaped by the descendents of slaves coming from Africa. But even when it’s trying to be ‘roots’, Brazilian reggae sounds quite different from traditional reggae, as the influence of Brazilian sounds and rhythms is still deeply felt. To illustrate the nice mixture, I’m posting two songs by Gilberto Gil; he is one of the Brazilian artists who have been most involved with reggae generally speaking, having even recorded an album with versions of Bob Marley songs in Portuguese. The two songs are classics of Gil’s repertoire: ‘Esotérico’ and ‘Vamos fugir’. Perfect to put everybody in a weekend mood!
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