V Ä t á á É y

2007

AUTOGRAPHS

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A new sound is emerging from the

mangrove-covered heart of Pernambuco. Havingwatched suave upper-classman Chico Sciencemake his way on to the international stage, thejunior members of the Mangue scene aregraduating to their own acclaim. What’sHappening in Pernamabuco represents some ofthe most creatively salient and innovative artists tocome out of a region of Northeast Brazil whosecultural rejuvenation would have remainedunknown to music lovers outside of the countryhad it not been for the first-wave of publicity effortsgenerated by self-motivated groups in the early90’s. Now Luaka Bop is proud to have a hand inbringing the new class to you...

ALEX SANT’ANNABorn in Bahia, AlexSant’anna has been aninfluential artist on themusic scene in Aracaju,Sergipe (just north ofPernambuco), for thepast decade. His hybridsound has been influ-enced by Jackson doPandeiro, Raul Seixasand Luiz Gonzaga, andmore recently, Lenine,Tom Zé and Zeca Baleiro. By splintering traditional Brazilian genreslike baião and samba and using them to reconstruct his own urbanstyle, Alex Sant’anna is leading Brazil toward a new kind ofanthropophagy. Particularly striking in his work are the juxtapositionshe makes between references to folk culture and modern life.“Poesia de Barro” is exemplary of his post-modern ambitions: “mypoetry is earthen, but my sound is steel.” Indeed, his home is thenortheast, but his stage... is anywhere.

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OTTOBorn in the interior ofPernambuco, Otto grewup watching and listen-ing to folk music in hissmall town, eventuallylearning to play all of thelocal percussiverhythms. Though enthu-siastic about all of thediverse musics comingout of Brazil, Otto wasalways dreaming aboutother parts of the world. Eventually, he left for Europe, where heplayed in the Paris subway for two years. Upon returning to thenortheast, he met up with co-conspirators Chico Science and Fred 04and soon joined their bands. He started his solo career in 1997 andjust a year later, won various prizes for his album “Samba pro Burro”and its hit song “Bob.” The wanderlust that had led Otto to Europeresulted in a unique sound which mixes the beats of the northeastwith electronica to produce his irreverent yet enthusiastic style.

Born in the Arcoverdearea of thePernambucan sertãofamous for its cocomusic tradition, JoséHenrique Neto is ayoung hipster compos-er, percussionist andvocalist from Recife.Several years ago hetook on the nickname

of Tiné, in honor of his favorite great uncle who was the last survivingmember of Lampião’s bandit gang and also a strong musical influ-ence for José in his youth. The songs on his debut album, “Segura oCordão,” feature lyrics soaked in the folklore and imaginative slang ofthe sertão, along with tunes in the aboio and cavalo marinho tradi-tions that are reminiscent of moorish oud melodies. Throughout thedisk, Tiné molds his language with the same delicacy that he uses intapping his tambourine – this is particularly apparent in the track “ACobra,” in which the rhythm of the spoken words actually imply theslick movements of a snake.

TINÉ

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NACAO ZUMBIIn the early 1980sFrancisco de AssisFrança was performinghip-hop with local bandsin Recife when hecoined his stage name“Chico Science.” It wasa reference to hispredilection for experi-menting with the “alche-my” of funk and hip-hopsounds which wouldsoon propel him and his band to international stardom. ChicoScience and Nação Zumbi (CSNZ) debuted in 1993 with their cd “DeLama ao Caos” and stormed the world with their mangue sound. Theinternational music community reeled with disbelief when, on Feb. 2of 1997, Chico was killed in a car accident in Recife. His bandstopped touring after the accident but eventually rebounded to contin-ue leading the Recife scene. The track “Carimbó” refers to the carim-bó dance music of the Northeastern Amazon region – it is the nameof the hollowed-out tree trunk drum which percussionists squat overto produce the heavy beat.-

Luís Homero and MiguelMarcondes were bornfrom a long line of poets –their father was a famousrepentista (an improvisa-tional and competitivesong genre of theNortheastern sertão) andtheir grandfather afamous author of cordel(a literature for the mass-

es, sold in fairs and streetcorners all across the northeast). Not surpris-ingly, the brothers continue this family tradition with their band Vates eViolas. Their long hair and dusty jeans may hint at a Woodstock aes-thetic, but their sound is entirely Northeastern Brazil (they heard rockmusic for the first time in their late teens!). “Instante Feliz” is a song inthe upbeat arrasta-pé rhythm which captures the popular notion of cele-brating life through music, even while poverty and hardship lurk outsidethe dancehall.

VATES E VIOLA VIOLAS

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The Graduating Class EDDIEEddie is an experimen-tal band of the manguemovement from Olinda,the colonial city built justnorth of Recife. Formedin the late 80s, Eddie,along with NaçãoZumbi/MundoLivre/Mestre Ambrósio,was one of the bandsthat, in the early 90s,put Recife on the music world’s radar. Years after their original success,Eddie released their second cd in 2004, titled “Original Olinda Style.” Thisrecent project was envisioned as a musical evocation of the city of Olinda– both its traditional and cosmopolitan virtues. The recording turned outoriginal indeed, infusing sounds from the Pixies, the Ramones and theDead Kennedys over raggae beats mixed with the upbeat frevo carnavalmusic of Olinda. Original, too, is the band name, which doesn’t refer to aband member or a specific nickname, as most other popular groups in thearea. Pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese, it sounds exactly like our wordfor something truly cutting edge: edgy.

The music of Siba is theclosest that many north-easterners can get topracticing archaelogy intheir own backyards. Afounding member ofMestre Ambrósio, Sibahas been infusingNortheastern traditionswith new youthful zestsince the very beginning

of his career. In fact, while the mangueboys worked to spark interest inPernambucan culture by injecting foreign sounds into its rich soup ofmusical potency, the bandmembers of Mestre Ambrósio did the veryopposite - they attempted to dig up the old traditions of the sertão and tomake them accessible for urbanites in Recife. As a solo artist, Siba hascontinued on his search toward the most rustic roots of Pernambucanmusic. On his Fuloresta album, listeners are transported to anotherplace – and another time – in Brazil, in which the unsteady cadencescircle back to rural ciranda and maracatu circles. The “Vale do Jucá”track is exemplary of the way that Siba turns nostalgia into a time andplace and how he brings ancestors - and ancestry - to life forNortheastern Brazilians.

SIBA

Junio Barreto’s child-hood home of Caruaru,Pernambuco, infused inhim an intuitive sense ofNortheastern rhythms:he grew up listening tofrevo, coco, maracatu,xaxado, baião, aboioand banda de pífanosperformances. Today, atforty years old, he is thenew voice of mangue descent out of São Paulo. Firmly rooted in thesyncopations of samba, his music can also be described as sweetmelancholy – his rich tenor gives voice to his politically chargedlyrics. In “Amigos Bons,” the artist speaks to the extreme poverty ofthe northeast which leaves so many with empty bellies: “Ontemacordei de susto/Do ronco da minha barriga com fome.” His power-ful lyrics and playful melodies have made him a favorite composer formany Brazilian recording artists, including Gal Costa, Maria Rita,Maria Bethânia and Ana Carolina.

Though he detestsbeing compared withthe manguebit scene,Wado has a style thathas matured in thesame rich estuaries ofNortheastern culture.Oswaldo Schlickmann(whose stage name isshortened to the morehip “Wado”) resists

making music charged with social politics and instead focuses on anexquisite “trip” through threads of funk, samba and soul. With asound reminiscent of Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil and Tim Maia, Wadomakes Alagoas (a day’s drive from Recife) an important stop on anytour of contemporary Northeastern music. Within his song “SeVacilar o Jacaré Abraça” is a compelling contradiction; even with itslaid-back musical groove, the lyrics call for desperate action to layclaim to his love. If you don’t act quickly, the lyrics warn, “the ‘gatorwill getcha” (or, for a more graceful English translation, “you’ll be upthe creek).”

WADO

JUNIO BARRETO

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MOMBOJÓThe seven band mem-bers of Mombojó aresome of the youngestmusicians working onexperimental hybrids intheir hometown ofRecife. Already incredi-bly tight and mature,this young band (mostmembers aren’t eventwenty years old) is dar-ing and clever and able to produce a completely unique sound. Theirsound is at once psychedelic and nostalgic and brings the jazzy andlofty sounds of Hermeto Pascoal and Tom Jobim together with elec-tronic samplers and loops, creating a trance-like genre all their own.While they toy with the charming bossa melodies of the past, theytease listeners with contemporary sound and wink playfully atBrazilian music of the future.

The band Cabruêra taketheir name fromNortheastern slang:“cabruêra” is a pejorativeused to refer to a gang ofmixed-race rascals fromthe sertão, often usedsimply to describe thecommon people of thenortheast. Their sound isanything but common:

they play hard rock punctuated with Northeastern schtick, including per-formances of themselves as cangaceiros, historical bandit figures thatterrorized the noble classes of the northeast. They are perhaps mostnotorious for their experimental sounds, including the “ballpoint guitar”developed by their founder Arthur Pessoa; he developed this unique tim-bre, reminiscent of cello and of berimbau (a traditional capoeira instru-ment from Bahia) by rubbing a ballpoint pen across the strings of hisacoustic guitar. Formed in Campina Grande, Paraíba (another majorcenter of Northeastern culture), Cabruera acknowledge mangue as theirinspiration and they are not afraid to get their hands dirty - instead ofsticking satellite dishes in the muck, they drag their hands through it todig up great sounds.

CABRUÊRA

CIDADÃO INSTIGADOFrom the Northeasternstate of Ceará, the bandCidadão Instigado isoften confused with itsfrontman/singer/produc-er Fernando Catatau.Most likely, this confu-sion arises from hishuge stage presenceand socio/political agen-da – he is compared tothe great fanatical leader of the Canudos, Antonio Conselheiro.Cidadão Instigado has a clear lineage back to the music that bandmembers listened to in their adolescence: Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrex,Black Sabbath. But perhaps more apparent is their Brazilian heritage– their sound reverberates with the influence of brega (cheesy)romantic ballads by Roberto Carlos and experimental rock from the70s (by the likes of Raul Seixas). This retro, unrefined sound isbacked with an interest for ordinary people and stories, an emphasison simplicity in both their musical and lyrical inventiveness. Their hit“O Pobre dos Dentes de Ouro” demonstrates their ability to relate tothe alienation of poor northeasterners.

One of the originalbands to explode ontothe Recife scene duringthe mangue bit move-ment, Mundo Livre S/Ahas been playingtogether for more thantwo decades and, overthe years, has provenitself one of Brazil’smost popular bands.

The band debuted internationally in 1993 (alongside Chico Scienceand Nação Zumbi) and Fred 04, their lead singer and author of themangue manifesto, eventually became the international face ofmangue. Mundo Livre is equal parts off-the-wall and politically-con-scious - they have even incorporated the political and artistic antics ofMalcolm Maclaren into their act (their name - Free World S/A-acknowledges their support of his anti-cold war and free-marketstance). In “Maroca” they maintain their classic samba-funk soundwith a pyschedelic edge.-

MUNDO LIVRE