THE BRAZILIAN MUSE

Brazilian Beat Brooklyn: Carnaval vs Mardi Gras

2007-03-03T08:19:00.001-05:00

Carnaval 2007
Originally uploaded by OLD SKOOL Cora.

Tomorrow, Sunday March 4th, I'll be seeing you all for a little Carnaval celebration (never mind that the actual Carnaval already happened and we're now in the season of Lent). My favorite DJs in the whole wide world, Greg Caz and Sean Marquand, are doing their yearly Carnaval party and here's how Time Out NY magazine describes it:

Sean Marquand and Greg Caz (who have just released an edifying new compilation on the Mr. Bongo label) spin vintage Brazilian music--plenty of bossa nova and samba, along with the country’s funk, soul and rock--at Williamsburg hangout Black Betty’s long-running Sunday-night affair. Tonight, the crew are celebrating the Brazilian Carnaval season (a little late, but what the heck) by going toe-to-toe with the equally unpunctual Big Easy proponents Gerald McBoing Boing and Monk One in a party-time soundclash. Go to brazilianbeatbrooklyn.com for more info.
Black Betty, 366 Metropolitan Ave. at Havemeyer, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L train to Lorimer / G train to Metropolitan
FREE

The Brazilian Muse Spring Party--Saturday, April 1st

2006-03-26T21:53:00.000-05:00

The Brazilian Muse Spring Party, originally uploaded by alizinha.

I know I've been missing in action, after a brief return in early '06, but I have an excuse. I was busy training for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon but now that THAT is over, I'm focusing my attention on celebrating the end of cold weather and the beginning of my Birthday Month. My actual birthday doesn't come til the middle of April but Nichelle and girly nyc and I decided that we should kick off my birthday month on April Fool's Day. But it's no joke, we really are going to have a birthday party/spring party/Brazilian party at Lava Gina this Saturday night. Hope to see you all there! RSVP to the Evite HERE.

L.I.C.K. MY FAVELA--Saturday at Nublu

2006-01-06T14:42:00.000-05:00

Tetine at TESCO, originally uploaded by alizinha.

Gonna try to hit this on Saturday along with a couple of birthday parties. Let me know if you're going, too:

This Saturday night, the London-based duo Tetine play from their brand new album L.I.C.K MY FAVELA (Slum Dunk Music) at Nublu.

Expect a sweaty live set of dirty disco punk + funk carioca beats + autobiographical imagery + hip-grinding evening of fresh, booty-shaking sounds from the hills and beyond. We call it Punk Carioca! Tetine plays two sets of 30 minutes. Come along and do the dance!

Saturday, Jan 7
Doors Open at 8:30
DJ Freddie Mas @ 10:30 Tetine plays @ 12:30 /1:30

Nublu 62 Ave C between East 4th and East 5th NYC
$10

Tetine music available at Amazon.com

Sabadabada.com update!

2006-01-04T11:27:00.000-05:00

sucessos da juventude, courtesy sabadabada.com, originally uploaded by alizinha.

If you're not already familiar with Sabadabada.com, you should be. It's a Brazilian music collector's website devoted to bossa nova, balanco, and samba records of the 1960s, showcasing their beautiful cover art work as well as MP3 files of the music itself.

There are occasional updates like this one that keep me going back for more:

As promised, I posted up some classic bossa LPs this time. The Mario Telles is a very rare album orchestrated by the legendary Moacir Santos ("Coisas"), and contains the very first recording of "Nana;" Mario Telles and Moacir Santos are given dual writing credit on the song and this is the only LP Telles (Sylvia Telles' brother) ever recorded. The "Brasil Bossa Nova" LP is one of the finest of the Nilo Sergio Nilser label releases. Unfortunately, there are no musician credits on the Nilser LPs, but it contains some beautiful renditions of the most beloved brazilian standards done in an interesting two-song medley format. The two Odeon releases illustrate why Odeon was considered one of the premier bossa nova labels of the period, bosting some of bossa nova's most talented arrangers and musicians. "Uma Rosa Com Bossa" and "Alegria Alegria Vol. 3" are both produced by Milton Miranda with orchestrations by Lyrio Panicali and Meirelles and showcase two of Brazil's greatest bossa vocalists. Wilson Simonal's opening number is pure, white-hot Wilson!

Viva Che! Viva Black Betty!

2006-01-03T23:34:00.000-05:00

ps_DSC1030, originally uploaded by brianvan.

This photo of the bar at Black Betty makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That Che bandeira has been there for as long as I can remember, and I will always associate it with Brazilian Beat. Also notice the Greg Caz and Sean Marquand mix CDs for sale (at the bottom of the mirror), along with the new Banda Uniao Black CD that Sean produced (and which I will be reviewing here very soon).

If you saw me on TV in Brazil, you'd let me know, right?

2006-01-03T19:16:00.000-05:00

Last year, I was bilingually interviewed for Planeta Brasil, a TV Globo production that airs worldwide, but mostly in Brazil and Latin America.

Funny thing is, this was the second time I've been interviewed for TV Globo. First time was at Black Betty when some Brazilian journalists were doing a story on Brooklyn nightlife, both Brazilophilic and not. In that extremely brief interview, I was asked how I had come to learn to samba so well (by watching and imitating) and speak a bit of Portuguese (by singing along to the music and being curious to understand it).

This time around the interview went much longer and further in depth, and included me showing off this very blog to the interviewer, along with singing along (at their request) with a favorite Caetano song, albeit slightly offkey.

But while I was lucky enough to get my hands on a tape of that first, brief interview, and also had the random luck of friends catching it on TV in Brazil and Nicaragua, this time around, I've had no such luck.

Planeta Brasil couldn't provide me with a videotape, and no one ever came out of the woodwork to say that they had seen it when it aired. Rather strange, considering that this time around the interview would have been long enough to have offered my name on screen and possibly even the address of my blog.

But perhaps you did see it, if you live in Brazil and are reading this now, or if you live in the States but pay for satellite TV that includes TV Globo so you can watch your telenovelas. If you did see it, let me know how I did...

Don't Call It A Comeback

2006-01-03T19:14:00.000-05:00

diegogreg2, originally uploaded by Doug_Flowe.

But one of my New Year's resolutions is to start posting here again on a regular basis. Big apologies to all those who emailed me the past few months to encourage my blogging yet saw this page remain silent.

But now I'm back in business, and I hope to be seeing you all on the dancefloor some time soon...

P.S.: This pic above, and the others from my friend Doug's Flickr photoset, are from 2 years ago, unbelievably enough. The Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party is still going strong at Black Betty, and you should check it out if you haven't yet.

Brazilian Weekend

2005-09-01T09:38:00.000-04:00

Ernest Barteldes writes in this week's New York Press:

On September 7, Brazilians celebrate the end of their country’s rule under the Portuguese crown--a conquest that, unlike most independence movements in the American continent, took place with no bloodshed whatsoever. Over here, the party takes place on Labor Day Weekend, when hordes of fun-loving revelers take the city’s streets for what has become one of the biggest ethnic events in town. To get the party started, the Museum of the Moving Image will present special screenings of Favela Rising, a documentary about Rio de Janeiro’s Afro-Reggae movement—-a story about a man and a movement, and the power of music to unite a community. In between screenings, Brazilian food and drinks available for purchase in the Museum’s courtyard, and live music will be provided by musicians from Astoria’s Brazilian community during the evening.

On Sunday, a gigantic stage will be set up on the intersection of W. 43rd and 6th Ave. to welcome a crowds in the hundreds of thousands to a giant street fair. On stage, Afro-Brazilian band Ara Ketu brings the swing and movement of their native Bahia as they did last year at Summerstage, with a blend of Axé Music, samba, reggae and other Afro beats that fill the streets of Salvador during the four days of Carnaval. The main attraction, however, are brothers Chitaozinho & Chororó, a duo that is credited with modernizing the sound of rural Brazil in the mid-80s by adding electric guitars, keyboards and other instruments to their sound, which ultimately took their music to a mainstream audience that would ordinarily shun at the simple, romantic ballads and songs about life in their country’s inner cities. The gamble worked out, and “The Boys of Brazil,” as they are known by their fans, not only shot to superstardom but helped create the new “sertanejo” (country) musical genre, which blends pop elements with more traditional sounds.

Also on the bill for the afternoon is American gay icon Gloria Gaynor, who has a huge following among Brazilians, and she’ll perform “I Will Survive” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” as she did at the festival last year. If you have any energy left the next day, head to the Blue Note to check out the first U.S. tour of singer songwriter Celso Fonseca, who has his first U.S. solo tour in support of his recently released album, Rive Gauche Rio (Six Degrees). A native of Bahia himself, his style and voice bring to mind a younger Caetano Veloso (with whom Fonseca performed and recorded over the last few years), but with a stronger connection to bossa-nova and West Coast jazz tendencies. His songs have sincere lyrics, backed by sparse instruments.

American Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Ave. (36th St.), Astoria, 718-784-0077; Tues.-Fri 12-5; Sat. & Sun. 11-6, $10, $7.50 st./s.c., $5 child 5-18, child 5 & under free

Greg Caz + Other Music at APT Tonight (Tues., 7/26)

2005-07-25T23:55:00.000-04:00

I'm definitely going to this (around 11ish) and hope to see some of you there:

What's up everybody, I'm highly honored and pleased to have been invited to throw down with the Other Music posse this Tuesday (July 27) at APT for their monthly "Other Music Presents" series. I intend to fully take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate the different aspects and musical passions that make up the Greg Caz Experience, beyond the samba that my reputation seems to rest on these days (no complaints there, when you've been fighting the good DJ fight as long as I have, it's good to have any kind of a good reputation!). To that end, I'll be running through the funky/psych backstreets of my collection, both Brazilian and non-Brazilian, as well as lots of choice chunks of rock, soul, jazz, sunshine pop, jazzy bits, Latin, Reggae, etc. etc. etc., and even a couple of gems I scored last week in Istanbul. Hope to see you all there, because I promise a very special evening!!!

Check out the Other Music link for more details.

DJ Greg--Live from Istanbul, Part 2

2005-07-18T00:51:00.000-04:00

OK, so Greg's actually back in NYC now as of tonight, but I couldn't pass up his email describing his time in Istanbul at Nublu East:

The gig last night was OFF THE HOOK--especially since Bebel is only traveling with two acoustic guitarists and some programmed percussion. She was wonderful, but people seemed to want to get their boogie on, and boogie they did when I did my thing. It was awesome. If the weather continues to hold up (which it should, today's weather is gorgeous) tonight should be the same. I hope to get invited back soon! Also watching the sunrise with a group of people in Bebel's hotel room directly overlooking the Bosphorus River was an experience I definitely won't be forgetting anytime soon....simply unbelievable....

I agree with Greg's assessment of Bebel's song style--it's sexy in an almost languorous fashion, but it doesn't make you dance. If anything, it makes you want to go skinny dipping. Her voice glides over every available surface, never straining for a high or low note, never overexerting itself. Bebel's voice seems effortless, yet, like her father's, she can make things seem simpler than they actually are.

When she sings the Vinicius de Moraes/Baden Powell classic, "Samba da Bênção," you'd never know it's a philosophical take on sadness, hope, and the fleeting happiness that can be found only through the succor of samba. Bebel could be singing the proverbial phonebook and you'd think she was telling you she loved you.

But on the second MP3 below, she does sing along those lines: on "Cada Beijo," she's singing about the taste of each kiss, how she longs for the next one. If only all kisses felt as good as this song sounds.

MP3 File--Samba da Bênção, Bebel Gilberto

MP3 File--"Cada Beijo," by Bebel Gilberto

TAGS: Brazilian Music, MP3, Bebel Gilberto.

Greg Caz, Reporting Live from Istanbul

2005-07-15T10:51:00.000-04:00

Two days ago I get an email from Greg Casseus, telling me he's leaving the very next day to participate in Nublu East in Istanbul. And just now I got an email update in which Greg makes me really wish I were a DJ:

DAMN---I can't believe I'm in f*cking Istanbul! It's so beautiful here. It's where Eastern Europe meets the Middle East with a hint of Rio or something thrown in. Tonight and tomorrow night I'm doing the DJ sets for Bebel Gilberto's shows here at lovely Nublu East---which is located at a club called the New Yorker (!), which uses the same font as the magazine logo (!!), but has nothing to do with it. It's right on the edge of the Black Sea, and you can see the ferries linking the European and Asian sides of Turkey sailing back and forth. There's a lot of anticipation for Bebel's gigs, so as long as it doesn't rain (this is all taking place outdoors), it should be WICKED.

Also great hanging out with my buddy Pedro Gomes (guitar player, son of Pepeu Gomes and Baby Consuelo of the Novos Baianos, awesome dude), who's accompanying Bebel, both fresh from the Brazilian music festival in Paris which featured Caetano, Gil, Gal, Jorge Ben, Lenine, etc etc etc. So spirits are high in every way (thanks in part to some of Morocco's and Afghanistan's finest exports.....shhhh!!), and we're having a great time. See you next week!!

Poesia Concreta + Tropicalia

2005-07-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

Bat Macumba
(Gilberto Gil/Caetano Veloso)

batmacumbaiéié batmacumbaobá
batmacumbaiéié batmacumbao
batmacumbaiéié batmacumba
batmacumbaiéié batmacum
batmacumbaiéié batman
batmacumbaiéié bat
batmacumbaiéié ba
batmacumbaiéié
batmacumba
batmacum
batman
bat
ba
bat
batmacum
batmacumba
batmacumbaié
batmacumbaiéié
batmacumbaiéié ba
batmacumbaiéié bat
batmacumbaiéié batman
batmacumbaiéié batmacum
batmacumbaiéié batmacumbao
batmacumbaiéié batmacumbaobá

MP3 File--"Bat Macumba," Os Mutantes

In the battle of Cuba vs. Brazil...

2005-07-07T00:20:00.000-04:00

there were no clear winners. We were supposed to be "voting with our feet" but the dance floor was so packed that it wasn't really possible for people to get on or off of it for various songs.

Whenever I go to Black Betty for Brazilian Beat Brooklyn on a 3-day weekend that involves no work on a Monday, I expect a mob scene. And two Sundays ago was no exception. I had invited a few friends to join me, including a salsa dance-partner who makes me look like a much better salsera than I really am.

As much as I can dance the night away in a crowd of strangers (especially at a place like Black Betty, where the crowd isn't pushy or annoying), it's always fun to have some friends with you. That way you can dance for each others' entertainment, have snatches of conversation between songs, and go get drinks for each other at the bar.

Shake it, woman!, originally uploaded by naftalina007.

But when it comes to salsa, a dance partner really is necessary. Whenever I have tried to dance to salsa on my own, I have felt like half of me was missing. I mean, how can you turn without someone to turn you? Literally. The songs are sometimes fast enough that you need the centrifugal force a partner will exert on you to get you turned around in time for the next beat of the clave. (The physics of salsa, as it were.) And the spontaneity of wondering what move comes next disappears when you don't have a partner deciding that for you. The only reason I'll dance to salsa music on my own is in the hopes that a perceptive gentleman will notice that I want to dance and ask me to do so.

Most Brazilian-music dancing doesn't require a partner (except for forro), but even that's more fun to dance to with some sort of company. Not a clear-cut partner where the man leads and the woman follows, but someone who you're kind of bouncing ideas off of, except instead of ideas, it's dance moves.

MP3 File--"Descarga Fania," Fania-All Stars

MP3 File--"Fever," La Lupe

Some Sweet Little (Brazilian) Jazz:Jazzinho at Joe's Pub Tomorrow (7/7)

2005-07-06T23:12:00.000-04:00

I'm going, hope to see some of you there:

JAZZINHO WITH DJ RAFE GOMEZ

Thursday July 7
Joe's Pub
9:30 PM
$20

This London based nu-jazz Bossa outfit, led by virtuoso vocalist and songwriter Guida de Palma records and performs a repertoire of original material in her own idiosyncratic style she calls Jazzinho. Jazzinho, which could be translated as "Sweet Little Jazz" is a lucious blend of dance rhythms, Nu-Jazz arrangements, Portuguese traditional instruments, Afro-Brazilian percussions, R&B background vocals with soulful and organic Bossa melodies.

It is mainly in Portuguese, Guida's native language, but some of the lyrics are in English as well. Of her latest album, All Music Guide raves, “It's records like this that might one day make acid jazz guru Gilles Peterson up and quit, so complete is this fusion of jazz, Brazilian, '70s FM soul, and any other sound that evokes the image of congas and sequins. One is left to wonder where else the music could possibly go.”

DJ Rafe Gomez from The Groove Boutique on CD101.9 will spin before and after the set.

I've listened to Jazzinho's latest album just a few times and I'd have to say that it's growing on me. I definitely prefer when Guida sings in Portuguese, but that's just my own Portuguese-language chauvinist tendencies, as her English is excellent. I also love the lush sound of the tracks and am curious to hear if they're able to re-create that live.

But the one thing that I am most astounded by, upon reading Guida's bio, is the fact that the late, great Jaco Pastorius happened to be at her first gig and decided to join her on stage. I can't even imagine what that must've been like--to be a 16-year-old aspiring singer/musician and have a jazz legend just hop up on the stage like that. Personally, I don't think I would've survived...

Salsa, Samba, and the Wisdom of Knowing the Difference

2005-06-29T15:02:00.000-04:00

It happens all too often. I tell someone of my love for Brazilian music, and they'll shoot back with, "Oh, you must love to salsa!" Or maybe they'll just tell their friends how "Allison loves Latin music."

But no, I protest: it's samba, not salsa, and "Latin" music refers to Spanish-language music from Latin America. Brazilian music is strictly referred to as "Brazilian" (or to the specific genres such as samba, MPB, bossa nova, etc.)

The Latin/Brazilian distinction might seem silly to outsiders, but it arose for a variety of very real reasons: Spanish and Portuguese are two completely different (if related) languages that in many ways divide Latin America's culture and people. Further, this cultural separation led to different rhythms evolving in these different regions. Africa may be the Motherland from which Latin and Brazilian (and U.S.) rhythms originated, but seemingly endless permutations of the past 500 years show no signs of ending.

As I mentioned earlier, this Sunday night, July 3rd, Greg and Sean of Brazilian Beat Brooklyn fame are going to demonstrate what makes Brazilian music Brazilian (and some guest DJs will do their best to show what makes Latin music Latin) at the following event (as described by Greg himself):

I want to let you guys know about a very special event at Black Betty in Williamsburg this Sunday, July 3rd. We're calling it Brazil vs. Cuba, although I personally prefer the term "Samba vs. Salsa." My partner DJ Sean Marquand and I will be facing off against our friends DJ Monk One and DJ Gerald McBoing Boing, each pair on one side of the room, pitting Brazilian music (samba, samba-rock, bossa nova, tropicalia, Afro-Bahian music, MPB, etc) against Latin music (salsa, Afro-Cuban, boogaloo, bomba, plena, merengue, etc). We're gonna have an MC officiating like it was a boxing match, and "la gente" will vote with their feet, as well as learn the difference! It's gonna be amazing.

SAMBA VS. SALSA SOUNDCLASH

SUNDAY JULY 3rd (and no work on Monday the 4th!)
at BLACK BETTY, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
366 Metropolitan Ave. at Havemeyer St. 10 PM
DJs GREG CAZ and SEAN MARQUAND
(everything Brazilian)

face off against

DJs MONK ONE and GERALD McBOING BOING
(two of New York's foremost salsa/boogaloo DJ mavens) for a entertaining and educational showdown of Latin-American musical cultures.

Don't Miss This One!!!

New York's Finest--in Brazil

2005-06-24T15:01:00.000-04:00

For any of my readers who are based in Brazil, and for those of you lucky enough to be in Brazil over the next two weeks, New York's Choro Ensemble is doing their first non-U.S. tour, and it's in Brazil.

So they're taking the choro back to the motherland. Here are the dates:

JUNE:
26 10am Concert at SESC Catanduva--Catanduva City (SP)
28 Choro Ensemble appears at Rede Globo TV "Programa do Jô" from 11pm on.
29 10:30pm concert at "Bleim Bleim" Music Club (São Paulo City)
30 10:30pm concert at "Bleim Bleim" Music Club (São Paulo City)

JULY:
1 11pm show at "Ó do Borogodó" Music Bar Club (São Paulo City)
3 6pm at "Quiosque" with Daniela Spielman in Rio de Janeiro City
6 7pm concert at the winter project "Veja São Paulo" in Campos do Jordão City (SP)
8 8pm Concert at SESC Sorocaba - Sorocaba City (SP)
9 9pm Concert at "Noite Ilustrada Club" in Atibaia City (SP)
11 Return from SP to NY

Another reason to hate Dave Eggers (and love Kelefa Sanneh)

2005-06-23T17:26:00.000-04:00

Today the New York Times' music critic Kelefa Sanneh writes:

[Literary magazine] The Believer prides itself on being omnivorous, and usually for good reason.... This is a magazine that aims to show readers a bigger, weirder world.

That's why it's so puzzling to find, for the second year, that The Believer's music issue contains almost nothing outside the alt-rock world....

The interviews are long and appealingly casual.... but the relentless focus on alternative rock is not only strange but also slightly depressing. What fun is it to explore a musical world that seems so small?

The [give-away] CD is similarly frustrating, not least because there's much to recommend it....Again, the problem is the limited focus. The CD is accompanied by an essay that...leaves readers free to imagine that the CD is a wide-ranging collection of contemporary songs, even though it's mainly devoted to the work of a small cohort of indie-rockers.

Maybe it's unfair to judge a magazine by its music issue. The style magazine Nylon just published its annual music issue, too, and it's full of stylishly disheveled bands so similar-looking that they could probably trade members without anyone's noticing. This is a small world that's small on purpose....

If The Believer's music issue is more problematic, that's because it's also more neutral. In an effort to stamp out snark, the editors also seem to have stamped out skepticism, and so the magazine takes it for granted that indie-rockers are the most important musicians on the planet: the harpist and songwriter Joanna Newsom, for example, taps into "a deep, universal pain."...

There is scarcely any mention of the kind of music left out. Mainstream pop music is mainly off-limits... and black and Latin music is almost entirely absent....

Compared with the ostentatious sincerity of The Believer's music issue, [music criticism blog] Shins probably seems like an exercise in bad faith, a place where writers are pilloried for daring to be enthusiastic. But while Shins provides plenty of cheap laughs, it also hints at the prejudices that usually go unexamined in music writing, assumptions about what smart or genuine or good or life-saving music should sound like, and about who should be making it. Sure, indie-rock fans and musicians have plenty of reasons to be glad that The Believer throws such an entertaining party every year. But they--and others--might also pause to wonder who's not invited, and why.

Greg's Dispatch from Brazil

2005-06-23T09:22:00.000-04:00

I dropped Greg Casseus an email to say hello to him while down in Rio and Sao Paulo, and this is what he wrote back:

WOW, I really needed this! Rio was as beautiful as ever (hung out at Ed Motta's house), and Sao Paulo is massive in every way. The parties are gonna be chock full of fresh new jams when I get back, so I hope to see a bunch of people on Sunday. I got some awesome records, so look out.....

So I will see you all at Black Betty this Sunday for the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party.

Speaking of that party, two other related pieces of info: a Brazilian Beat Brooklyn website is finally in the works and will go live soon. Greg promises he's going to write about the music they play, and given his knowledge of and passion for Brazilian music history, I know it's going to be excellent.

Also, on Sunday, July 3rd, there will be a special Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party that features "Cuba vs. Brazil"--i.e., salsa vs. samba (and other Brazilian beats). There will be 2 DJ booths, and they will take turns going back and forth between Latin music and Brazilian music. The winner for the night will be determined by the dancers, who will vote with their feet.

2 Hours of Veloso and Byrne on NPR.org

2005-06-22T16:26:00.000-04:00

veloso e byrne, originally uploaded by alizinha.

Back in April of 2004, Caetano Veloso and David Byrne played a few dates at Carnegie Hall. One of the shows was the same day as my birthday, which made for an especially good birthday present.

A wonderful discovery I just made on National Public Radio's website is a 2-hour program of highlights of their show together.

You can hear Caetano sing lots in English (since he was touring for A Foreign Sound album) but also, fortunately, in Portuguese.

His accent in English gives a strange delicacy to his singing voice that differs than his Portuguese. Truth is, I prefer him in Portuguese, although I love his rendition of "Nature Boy," an American classic that I'd never heard until I heard Caetano sing it on his live album from the '70s (Totalmente Demais) a few years back.

Some of my favorite songs from the 2 hours: "Terra," "Desde Que O Samba E Samba," "Nao Enche," Byrne's "Nothing But Flowers," "Manhata," (alongside "Manhattan," natch) and "Cucurucucu Paloma."

Also, between the songs there's some great quotes from Caetano on how he grew up in a small town of northeastern Brazil listening to American standards. He also speaks to how David Byrne heard Brazilian music in a way that other Americans had not.

Entrevista/Interview

2005-06-21T14:06:00.000-04:00

OK, so right after I posted about this I called to see if they'd want to interview me for Planeta Brasil. I told them about this here blog, my trips to Brazil, my approximately 40 gigs of Brazilian music MP3s, my self-taught Portuguese, etc., and they said they were interested.

They also said they'd want to interview me em Portugues, which always makes me nervous. To be put on the spot like that (especially knowing that millions of Brazilians will be watching once the interview airs) makes me freeze up, forget words, and make mistakes. Or at least, that's what I fear will happen.

Brazilians tell me how great my Portuguese is but I always feel out of practice, as I don't speak it nearly often enough (and singing along to a song you know by heart just isn't the same as having a conversation). It's good for pronunciation practice, and it's a subtle vocab lesson/reminder, but it doesn't help nearly enough with grammar/syntax/verb conjugation.

I love that Brazilians are always so encouraging to foreigners who make any attempt at their language, but that very encouragement is what gives me doubt--my pessimistic side tells me that I'm not as proficient as they say, they're just easily pleased with any effort whatsoever.

So last night I sat down for an hour to talk about how I came to discover Brazilian music, why it spoke to me, why it became such an important part of my life. I talked about how it's not one aspect of the music but many: the rhythm(s), the joy of expression, the way it makes me want to dance, the poetic lyrics of composers such as Caetano, Chico, etc.

They also asked about why I started this blog, how many readers it has, etc. The interview was lots of fun once my nerves settled down and I got excited to tell my story.

They even filmed my laptop with the blog up on screen and asked me to play an MP3 (Caetano's "Terra") and sing along with it. Cheesy, I know, but I suppose that Brazilians will be fascinated to see an American singing along, verse after verse, to their music.

Midsummer Night Swing--or in this case, Midsummer Night Samba

2005-06-21T11:10:00.000-04:00

Don't know if I'll be able to make this (have a dinner to attend that night) but it should be good:

Thursday, June 23
Grupo Jangada
Samba, Frevo, Forró

Be on the dance floor when Grupo Jangada, one of the top bands in New York, performs the joyous, infectious, utterly irresistible rhythms of Brazil.

Lesson: Marcos & Christiana Leite, Samba Society

DJ: Andrea Pennissi

This event will take place at Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza (located at Columbus Ave and 63rd St.) Lessons will be available from 6:30-7:15pm and the music and dancing will continue until 10:00pm.

Please note that you have to buy a ticket ($10 I believe) for access to the dancefloor but if you just want to listen to the music (or even dance on the plaza but not the dancefloor) it's free.

Learning to samba

2005-06-19T16:57:00.000-04:00

When I first witnessed samba dancing 7 years ago at Cafe Wha? (Mondays were and still are Brazilian night), I knew I had to learn how to do it myself. I mean, come on, I had never seen a dance so simultaneously sexy yet unselfconscious. The way the Brazilians danced samba made it seem natural and fun; a way to "play" along with the music you were listening to. You might not be able to play a drum or carry a note, but you could join in the music making just by shaking your hips in time with the beat.

I knew that NYC offered lessons in everything from salsa to swing, but I never guessed there'd be samba classes. For one thing, there isn't much to samba once you get the hang of it, and it doesn't require a partner. I figured dance classes were more for learning the various turns and twists that a partner could lead you through.

So instead of investigating the possibility of samba-dance lessons, I diligently returned to Cafe Wha? week after week, watching and listening and learning the samba rhythm's connections to those dancers' fast-moving feet and hips. There was the 1, 2, 1, 2 of the bass drum--I noticed that pretty quickly. And there was the 1-2-3, 1-2-3 that squeezed itself on top of each thumping bass beat. Soon I had caught on: each bass beat accompanied a shift from left foot to right, and within each left step and right step the 1-2-3 shimmied your hips back and forth.

When I try to remember how long it took me to finally "get" samba dancing, and be able to pull it off well enough to fool others (including Brazilians) into thinking I was Brazilian (especially when I sang along in Portuguese to the chorus of the songs), I'm really at a loss. Was it an instantaneous thing, where it finally clicked? Or was it a gradual, slow-moving shift into the never-ending groove that is samba? Unfortunately, having no video footage of those days, I'll never know. I have a feeling it was the latter, however. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I was embarrassing myself out there on the dance floor, but there are some subtleties to that dance that take getting used to. For one thing, your upper body has to somewhat disconnect from what your hips and feet are doing, otherwise you'll just look like you're hopping up and down. Creating that disconnect can be a bit difficult at first, but once you've mastered it, you're that much closer to creating the unselfconsciousness that samba exudes--it's almost as if your lower half has been possessed by some energy (not unlike in candomble).

Anyway, the whole reason I started this post was to say that I recently got an email from a reader who wanted me to recommend a good samba instructor. I told her I had heard good things about Quenia Ribeiro but that I had never actually taken a class. For years I've been thinking I should take one so that I could improve my technique. I'm good enough at samba dancing that I enjoy it and I know I can do it just fine. But it would be fun to learn some of the "extra" stuff that I see particularly good samba dancers throw in. It's a subtle thing, but it's there. I can't really explain it and I don't know if most people would even see the difference, unless the viewer is already a samba dancer him/herself (or just an avid watcher of those who samba).

By the way, although a lot of attention gets focussed on female samba dancers, I must make the point that a man who can samba is a sight to behold. When I went to a samba school rehearsal for Mangueira two years ago, I saw men who could samba up to women in such a fashion that was equal parts cool, confident, and relaxed. They could make any woman feel like the center of the universe as they danced for her in a way that would draw her out and make her join in his own little world of music and movement. Words are failing me--I think it's a dynamic that has to be seen to be believed. Suffice it to say, it's a theatrical and public (yet intimate) manifestation of strutting flirtation. The women dancers might literally be wearing peacock feathers, but any man who can samba is the ultimate strutting peacock. The ultimate malandro.

I'm so jealous.

2005-06-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

Greg Caz is in Brazil right now (until June 25th), consulting on a documentary in Rio and then flying to Sao Paulo to spend a couple days hunting down classic vinyl and just generally checking out the scene as he's never spent any real time in that city (whereas Rio he knows very well).

Greg hasn't visited Brazil in waaaaay too long, so I'm very happy for him and can't wait to hear his new finds at the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party. Just one of the amazing things Greg and Sean Marquand pull off at Black Betty every Sunday is coming up with "new" tunes. Given their parameters--'60s/'70s Brazilian funk, samba-rock, samba, and the occasional forro tune--it's not like they can draw on new music that's being recorded now (well, except for the occasional funk carioca they'll throw on at the end of the night when everyone's feeling a little down and dirty). Yet in their many travels to Brazil, both Sean and Greg continue to unearth the kind of classic vinyl that astounds me. It's not like they'll buy just anything, either. In the four years of throwing the Brazilian Beat party, they can still surprise their crowd with songs and sounds they haven't heard before.

So help me send Greg some good thoughts that will lead him to find every last record he could want--tracking those things down isn't easy and takes luck and perseverance. I know he's got the perseverance--I just want to send him some LUCK.

Yeah, I think I qualify...

2005-06-16T11:06:00.000-04:00

Sent in by a reader:

Live in New York? Want to be on Brazilian TV?

A producer from the Globo network's program Planeta Brasil is doing a story about how Brazilian music has lead non-Brazilians to do things like learn Portuguese and explore Brazilian culture. If you qualify, contact Tanira at 818-757-1040 or 818-262-3807.

The Life Brazilian with Seu Jorge

2005-06-16T00:46:00.000-04:00

In my continual scouring of the internets in search of more Seu Jorge info for the article I'm writing, I came across the video for "Tive Razao", one of the singles off of Cru.

It seems Jorge filmed this video while over in Italy for 6 months filming The Life Aquatic w/Steve Zissou and he managed to recruit two of his co-stars from that film (Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray) to do cameos.

I'd tell you what Dafoe and Murray are doing in the video but better that you watch it and enjoy the surprise.

Here's the link to the video on Naive's website, the record label that released Cru in France.

Brazilians + Slavs + Accordions = PARTY

2005-06-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

FORRO FOR ALL & SLAVIC SOUL PARTY
at Barbes on June 18

The Double Bill of the Century!

East meet West, North meets South, Duke Ellington meets Esquivel, Emir Kusturica meets Glauber Rocha, Buddha meets Zarathustra... The pairing of the two best and smartest party bands in the city should be just as memorable.

Forro for All plays the forros of the Brazilian northeast while Slavic Soul Party plays mostly Gypsy brass band music of the European Southeast. Both use accordions. Both make people dance. Don't miss it.

$10 at BARBES
376 9th St. (at 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn 718.965.9177

I've gone to shows of each of these bands separately and had the best time. The very thought of them TOGETHER blows my mind.

I will definitely be there Saturday night, and I will definitely be dancing.

Literatura de Cordel in New York Times

2005-06-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

CARUARU, Brazil - They are the bards of the backlands, traveling with their poems from town to town and market to market. Practitioners of an art form that originated in medieval Europe and is now mostly obsolete elsewhere, they nonetheless continue to thrive here.

"Cordel" is the name given to their craft, which developed in this arid outback of northeast Brazil, in isolated peasant communities that valued the spoken or sung word over the written. As befits a do-it-yourself, indigenous art form, the same balladeers who create the poems, inspired by current events or ancient legends, are usually the ones who print, illustrate and hawk them.

"Like so many other folk forms, cordel transforms an old vocabulary to fit new situations," said Candace Slater, author of "Stories on a String" and professor of humanities at the University of California, Berkeley. "What has not changed is that cordel poets are still writing for the group, and that what they write continues to touch a nerve in the people of northeast Brazil, no matter where they happen to be living."

Great Larry Rohter piece in the NY Times about literatura de cordel and its continuing relevance in parts of Brazil, despite TV, internet, etc.

I don't even know where to begin.

2005-06-14T22:50:00.000-04:00

There's so many cool things that happened yesterday that I'm just going to make a list of them:
--I got to interview Seu Jorge right before his S.O.B.'s show
--I attended the concert and enjoyed his amazing performance (and told loud, annoying talkers to shut the fuck up)
--I went backstage with Greg to say hello to Seu Jorge (who he already had met in both NYC and Paris, world-travelling DJ that he is)
--While backstage I immediately noticed Bill Murray hanging out and decided that Greg and I should go introduce ourselves and ask for a photo with him
--After being told by Bill Murray's wife(?) that she'd have to take another photo of the three of us because I'd accidentally blinked, I found myself getting SPANKED by Bill as he yelled at me to "Open! [smack] Your! [smack] Eyes! [smack]" (I think that's the closest I'm ever going to get to sex with a celebrity. It was awesome.)

OK, so as you can see, it's days like yesterday that make normal days seem, well, boring in comparison. All day yesterday I was nervous for the interview--only for the interview to arrive and go so smoothly and wonderfully. Jorge is so very Brazilian and I mean that as the highest compliment: friendly, accomodating, lots to say, very engaging. Between all of his long answers and my long questions and the translating of both by the talented Ms. Tracy Mann, I found that 40 minutes had passed in what felt more like 4 minutes. I'll keep you posted as to when/where you can read the interview, as I'm pitching it to various news outlets right now.

What can I tell you about the show? He did 4 of the Bowie/Life Aquatic covers, including "Space Oddity," "Suffragette City," and "Rebel Rebel", a few songs from the new album, Cru (which comes out stateside in September on Wrasse Records), a few from his first solo album, Carolina (a.k.a. Samba Esporte Fino), and some classic sambas like "Coqueiro Verde" and "E Hoje" along with two Jorge Ben songs: "Mas Que Nada" and "Carolina Carol Bela." I was able to judge the percentage of Brazilians in the crowd based on the sing-along quotient on those cover tunes. (I'd guess maybe 25% of the crowd.)

Backing up Jorge were my two good friends Pedro Ramos (cavaquinho) and Ze Mauricio (pandeiro, cuica) from the Choro Ensemble, who I've written about before. They both did an amazing job considering the fact that they were asked to do the gig only one day beforehand!

Today I got the chance to listen to Cru all the way through and it's really funky, weird, and interesting. My favorites song from it so far is the opening track "Tive Razao", which Jorge performed last night along with "Mania do Peitao" (which is about the dangers of breast implants, an American trend that's unfortunately making inroads in Brazil) and "Eu Sou Favela" ("I am the favela"). Throughout the album he sings a bit in English and Italian along with the majority which is in Portuguese and covers everyone from Serge Gainsbourg to Elvis Presley.

As Greg said last night, Cru would never have been greenlighted by a Brazilian record label (it was done through the French label, Naive). The album's way too cru (the Portuguese word for "raw") for contemporary Brazilian record labels, which are much more focused on safe, manufactured music (kinda like the U.S. record-label giants).

Brazilian Beat Brooklyn celebrates 4 years

2005-06-09T16:19:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it, really, but DJ Greg Caz and Sean Marquand have been bringing the BEST classic samba, samba-rock, and funk (with the occasional forro thrown in for good measure) for FOUR years now. Four whole years in Sunday-night residence at the cozy-yet-sexy Black Betty.

New York magazine declared the party The Best Reason To Go Out On A Sunday. None other than Rede Globo (Brazil's biggest TV network, and 4th biggest in the world) came and filmed us samba dancing.

This coming Sunday, June 12th, come join in the celebration: there will be samba-rock dance lessons (and don't worry if you don't know what samba-rock IS) and samba-rock all night. So it will be heavy on the Jorge Ben. Which is always a good thing.

I expect to see you there.

Black Betty
366 Metropolitan Ave. @ Havemeyer
L train to Lorimer / G train to Metropolitan

Dance lessons start at 9:30pm. Party goes til 4am (at least).

Cookin', in both senses of the word

2005-06-09T13:29:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went to Book Expo America and looked at endless numbers of books.

I was there scouting mostly for cookbooks that I could write up for my Gothamist Food column, but I was also keeping my eyes open for any Brazilian-music-and/or-culture books.

Lucky for me, I spotted ¡Cocinando! Fifty Years of Latin Album Cover Art by Pablo E. Yglesias, published by Princeton Architecture Press.

I'm still in the midst of making my way through the book's essays and massive numbers of album covers (full report still to come). So far I'm pretty impressed with the book, both in the images selected and the commentary on them.

Tomorrow night I'm going to the book party, and you should come, too. It sounds like a real PARTY (i.e., there will be Latin and Brazilian music, and therefore, one would hope, DANCING). Here's the relevant info:

Princeton Architectural Press and Wax Poetics invite you to celebrate the publication of ¡Cocinando! Fifty Years of Latin Album Cover Art and the release of Wax Poetics Issue #12

Join us for an evening of Latin music from around the globe with special guest DJs:

Bongohead (Cocinando!)
Monkone (Wax Poetics)
Joe Claussell (Spiritual Life Music)
Knox Robinson (Fader)
Fredito Schmalz (Fader)
Andujar (WMUA UMass)
Jorge Irragori (Tropical Music Collector's Event)

June 10th @ Savalas
285 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Between Grand Street and South 1st Street
9pm until 4am
No Cover

Album Cover Slideshow by Pablo Yglesias

¡Cocinando! will be on sale for the discounted price of $15

Please RSVP to publicity@papress.com

In honor of Seu Jorge's show this coming Monday...

2005-06-08T23:31:00.000-04:00

I decided to post some MP3s of his music. It's been too long since I was this excited for a Brazilian singer coming to perform in NYC. The last one that really got me worked up was João Gilberto last year, as I'd missed out on him previously and he's getting pretty old. (I've gotten superstitious about trying to see older performers while they're still alive and well, because I once saw Baden Powell just a month before he died. And while he looked rather fragile climbing up onto Blue Note's little stage, his fingers were still as nimble as they'd been 50 years before. I never would have guessed that he would die so soon, though his years of alcoholism had aged him terribly.)

I'm always happy when my beloved Caetano swings by, but as he does that fairly often, and as I've seen him four or five times by now, the initial thrill has worn off a bit.

But with Seu Jorge, there's the added frisson that he's never performed in NYC before, and well, he's HOTT. Damn. If you'd like further proof besides the photo at right, please rent City of God if you haven't already, watch him as Knockout Ned (Mané Galinha) and see if you can resist. Even in the silly red hat he wears in Life Aquatic, there's something appealing about him, though they don't give him anything to say (he just sings his Bowie covers). Seems to me that Wes Anderson didn't really know what to do with Seu besides the songs, but those covers alone made the film worth watching (or should I say listening to). Just to get to hear him sing intermittently throughout the film kept me glued to my seat, despite the glacial pace of the film.

Click to download "Rebel Rebel" (Life Aquatic soundtrack)
Click to download "Convite para Vida" (City of God soundtrack)

Another option for tomorrow night (6/9)

2005-06-08T10:57:00.000-04:00

This just landed in my in-box. Should be good:

Music from Brazil to New Orleans.....

Thursday June 9th, 7:00 pm

At
Barbes

376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn 718.965.9177

Rob Curto & Scott Kettner: with Rob Curto of Forró for All on various accordions and Scott Kettner of The Nation Beat/Maracatu NY on drums, percussion and loops. A playful and virtuosic exploration of tunes with inspiration from northeastern Brazil and New Orleans and original compositions treated with the energy of a rock band. This is a rare chance to see two of the hottest musicians on the NYC world music scene.

Both Rob Curto and Scott Kettner are making big waves in the Brazilian music scene
for bringing the music from the northeast of Brazil to New York City. Scott Kettner was elected a 2005 Latin Jazz Ambassador by the US State Department and has received arts grants for his groups The Nation Beat and Maracatu New York. Rob Curto has worked alongside artists such as Frank London of the Klezmatics, clarinetist David Krakauer, percussionist and singer Alessandra Belloni, Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek and pop singer Rachael Sage.

Anat Cohen CD release party on June 9th

2005-06-07T22:10:00.000-04:00

"Anat Cohen has the quality of all lasting jazz musicians. She has presence. From her first notes, she tells you who she is--and over time, she tells you where she's been in her life and travels."
-Nat Hentoff

The wonderful and amazing Anat Cohen, who I first heard play with the Brazooca band years back at Cafe Wha on Monday nights, and then came to know much better through the Choro Ensemble, has finally made her solo debut album. It's called Place and Time, and she's celebrating its release this Thursday. Here's the email she sent me:

You are invited to celebrate the CD release of my debut recording "Place & Time” this coming Thursday, June 9th at Sweet Rhythm. I will have the honor of playing with Jason Lindner on piano, Vicente Archer on bass and Greg Hutchinson on drums. We will be playing music from “Place & Time and some other material. I do hope to see you there.

Sweet Rhythm (NYC) is located at 88 Seventh Ave. South (at Bleecker). Sets are at 8:00 & 10:00PM. $15 cover, $10 minimum.

Did we really need Brazilian women to confirm this?

2005-06-06T16:37:00.000-04:00

SO slow. American men are so slow.

Late last year, nine months after she left Brazil, Camila Franca met a dark-haired, blue-eyed American hockey player at a party. They sat on the couch and talked for hours about nightclubs, her family, her life back home.

He did not touch her. He certainly did not kiss her. Something must be wrong, she thought.

Excusing herself, Ms. Franca, a 20-year-old with long brown hair and a hair-trigger laugh, sought advice from a more savvy Brazilian friend. The friend's explanation? Nothing was wrong; he was just being an American.

Forget getting a job, learning English, finding an apartment. The true challenge for the young, single and foreign-born who arrive in New York is cracking the code of the dating scene.

For Brazilian women, who come from a place where public displays of affection are a way of life and men rarely lack for amorous gusto, the task is particularly confounding. Ask Brazilian women what they think about American men, and most respond precisely the same way: with gales of laughter. Then they tell disturbingly similar tales of men who fear making advances lest they be accused of date rape and who coldly calculate how many days they need to wait between meeting a woman and asking her to dinner.

This is from an article in yesterday's New York Times, written by Seth Kugel, who I met once several years ago. He freelances for the Times, and often covers the crosscultural beat (especially of the Latino variety). Enjoy the remainder of the article here (registration required) and feel free to discuss this topic further in the comments.

Seu Jorge at S.O.B.s, Monday June 13th

2005-06-04T10:19:00.000-04:00

seu jorge and greg at nublu, originally uploaded by alizinha.

So, Seu Jorge's been known to hang around some of the hot spots of New York (with none other than my good friend, DJ Greg Caz, as you can see in the photo above), but now we'll finally get the chance to see him perform.

He's coming to S.O.B.'s on Monday, June 13th and tickets are on sale now.

Here's the details from S.O.B.'s website:

Seu Jorge (Mister Jorge), a 32-year-old Brazilian, is an elegant, stylish man, the kind to stand out in the middle of a crowd. A big star in Brazil for several years, first he led the group Farofa Carioca, whose infectious, groovy pop samba quickly became popular in Rio. Then his starpower grew after he cracked the big screen as well. Legends like Jorge Ben and Caetano Veloso have praised his work.

Seu Jorge has charisma...whether he's acting on the screen or singing and playing his guitar. His voice wanders in Portuguese between the growly quality of Sly Stone and the smooth crooning of Lou Rawls.

He played the ruthless slum mobster, Knockout Ned, in the 2002 hit, "City of God." Jorge had extensive personal experience of the world depicted in the film. His childhood in the favelas of Rio left him with a formidable tenacity and a political commitment that has lasted to this day. He lived on the street and taught himself to play guitar, doing odd jobs to scrape a living. But then he was taken on by a theatre company and, through acting, exorcised the ghosts of his past once and for all.

Back to music--he began a solo career with an album produced by Mario Caldato (Beastie Boys): "Samba Esporte Fino". Released to critical acclaim, it became the 1999 album of the year in Brazil. But it was the cinema and Fernando Meirelles that really made Seu Jorge a household name: his tailored role in "Cidade de Deus" (City of God) rocketed him to national stardom.

Not content with his newfound celebrity in Brazil, in winter 2004, he worked on "The Life Aquatic", directed by Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums), starring Bill Murray, Angelica Houston and Willem Dafoe. The film features Jorge's lovely Portuguese versions of classic David Bowie tunes, which have had a rapturous reception. The critical praise lavished on the soundtrack has significantly raised his profile in the U.S. Now experience him live in a solo intimate setting.

You can buy tickets through Ticketmaster or the S.O.B.'s box office. I'll see you guys there.

This is why you should be on my mailing list.

2005-05-27T15:01:00.000-04:00

Because I'll send you emails like this:

hey people--

for all of you who've never come out to The Best Brazilian Party in New York because it's on a Sunday night and you need your SLEEP (aw, poor babies), well, that excuse doesn't hold this weekend, as it's Memorial Day Weekend and we don't have to work on
Monday!

so come join me and my friends this Sunday at the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party, where Sean and Greg play some of the best funk, samba, etc. from the 60s and 70s. i don't care if you don't know how to samba, all you have to know is that you want to hear some good music and watch cute boys and girls dance. they'll even teach you how to dance if you ask nicely.

those of you who've been to the party already know what i'm talking about. those of you haven't--well, come find out. and bring your friends.

DETAILS:

Black Betty, 366 Metropolitan (@ Havemeyer)

L train to Lorimer or G train to Metropolitan

exit the train at Metropolitan and Union and walk along Metropolitan in the direction of the highway overpass

party starts at 9:30, and really gets going around 11pm. goes til at least 3:30am.

So if you're not already signed up, just drop me an email (alizinha AT yahoo DOT com) and I'll add you. If you're already signed up but didn't get this email, let me know and I'll re-add you to the list.

If you want to get a taste of the kind of music you'll be hearing Sunday night, check out these two favorites of mine:

Planet Hemp, "Nega do Cabelo Duro"

MP3 File

Golden Boys, "Eu Bebo Sim"

MP3 File

Stop. And listen again, for the first time.

2005-05-23T17:21:00.000-04:00

There are songs that become so popular, and get covered by so many different artists, that they evolve into a sort of cultural wallpaper--seen out of the corner of your eye, but not really heard.

"The Girl From Ipanema" epitomizes this syndrome. A victim of its own success (yes, it's the 2nd most recorded pop song EVER), its many cover versions have earned it a bad rap as "easy listening" music. But just because much of Brazilian music pulls off the trick of being easy to listen to--light, delicate, full of felicidade--doesn't mean it's "easy listening."

With that subtle groove that gets in your footsteps and then subliminally works its way up to your hips (and you don't even have rhythm), this song introduced the world to bossa nova.

The MP3 I've posted here is the original full-length track that features equal parts of Joao Gilberto's Portuguese whisper-speak singing alongside then-wife Astrud's cool, detached English song stylings. But people who heard this song on the radio back in '62 would've heard the short version that truncated much of Joao's Portuguese. The Portuguese lyrics are a revelation on two levels: their inherent poetry (here's a decent a literal translation) and their complex rhythmic counterpoint to the guitar. The mad rush of syllables fits the complicated meter in such fashion that it literally structures the song:

OL-ha que COI-sa mais LIN-da,
mais cheia de GRA-CA
É E-la me-NI-na
que VEM que PA-ssa
Num doce bal-AN-ço
ca-MIN-ho do MAR

MO-ça do COR-po dou-RA-do
do SOL de Ipa-NE-ma
O seu balan-CA-do
é mais que um po-E-ma
É a COI-sa mais LIN-da
que eu já vi pas-SAR

Norman Gimbel's English translation, with a whopping 10 less syllables in the second verse alone, is almost like a hasty sketch of a detailed painting--you get the idea of things, but something is missing and therefore something has changed.

Of course, it's the half-English nature of this song that helped propel Brazil and bossa nova into American (and world) consciousness, but don't mind me if I ask you to listen again to the Portuguese, this time with a fresh ear.

Getz/Gilberto, "The Girl From Ipanema"

MP3 File

Where it all began

2005-05-22T02:56:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to add MP3s to this blog for ages, and now I've finally taken the plunge and signed up with Audioblog.com. In struggling to choose a representative initial song to post, I decided to go with "Caramba! Galileu da Galileia," a Jorge Ben classic from the first Brazilian music album I ever bought: the David Byrne/Luaka Bop compilation Beleza Tropical. I still remember falling in love with Jorge's playful voice. The lyrics are great, too. Here's the translation from the Luaka Bop liner notes:

They said he wasn’t coming
But here he is
ai ai caramba
And like the man from Galilee said in Galilee
A hustler that’s a hustler doesn’t mess up
If a hustler knew how to be honest
He’d be honest just for hustling’s sake

They also said the earth was square
But it’s been proven the earth is round
Whoever is in love wants a house
Whoever wants a house wants children
Whoever wants children wants a flower
Whoever wants a garden wants a flower
And like the man from Galilee used to say
That’s what you call love

Beleza Tropical
Millennium: Jorge Ben

MP3 File

Summer(stage) is coming

2005-05-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Central Park's Summerstage series of free concerts. I love the fact that 10 years ago, my friend Bill (back when he was a Summerstage programmer, before I even knew him through Joe's Pub) introduced gringo New Yorkers to the likes of (the dearly missed) Chico Science and (now Minister of Culture) Gilberto Gil, back before Brazilian music had gotten the higher profile it now has. I remember in the first New York summer of my Brazilian-music obsession, going to see Os Paralamas do Sucesso and being amazed at all the Brazilians in the crowd, waving giant Brazilian flags and singing along to every last word of every song.

But what I hate about Summerstage is that it's become a victim of its own success. The shows have become so popular that it's sometimes impossible to even get into Rumsey Playfield unless you get there hours before the band you want to see goes on. Yeah, we're talking FREE concerts, so my expectations should be accordingly lowered, but when I've got native New Yorker friends who tell me how good Summerstage used to be, it gets depressing. Sometimes it seems like New York has jumped the shark and that anything worthwhile has been discovered, exploited, and overpopulated. The worst part is when people in the audience don't even know or appreciate who's on stage.

So whether or not I'll actually make it to some/all of these Brazil-related Summerstage offerings remains to be seen. Nonetheless, they sound intriguing and I wanted to bring them to your attention:

Friday, July 08, 2005
Beginning at 7:00 PM
Central Park SummerStage

The Brazilian Film Festival Of New York kicks off its third year with two special nights at SummerStage. The festival will present a week and a half of great new films from one of cinema’s most vibrant creative communities.

Opening night on Friday, July 8 begins with a performance from Brazilian rapper Gabriel O Pensador. One of the most popular (and controversial) rappers in Brazilian hip-hop, Gabriel Contino, a.k.a. “Gabriel the Thinker,” first emerged in during the early ‘90s with songs that mixed pop production with witty and caustic observations of Rio’s wealthy youth subculture. Gabriel’s performance will be followed by Maria’s Place (Bendito O Fruto) from director Sergio Goldenberg. An accident involving a flying manhole cover leads to a chance reunion between two childhood friends--one a widow, the other the owner of a beauty parlor. Thus begins an entertaining game of seduction that brings memories and hidden desires to the surface--furtive passions that end up threatening the hairdresser’s de facto marriage.

Saturday, July 09, 2005
Beginning at 7:00 PM
Central Park SummerStage

Under the direction of its late front man Chico Science, Nação Zumbi was one of the first bands to pioneer the mangue beat in the early ‘90s. Basically an embrace of all things contemporary, mangue beat bands incorporate hip-hop, funk, British acid rock, free jazz and much more into more traditional forms of Brazilian music.

The Owner of History (A Dona da Historia), directed by Daniel Filho, is the compelling vision of a middle-aged woman who confronts her younger self, reliving her past and discovering what direction her life might have taken.

The Brazilian Film Festival of New York was founded by Inffinito Arts Foundation in 2003, while in Miami the festival celebrates its 9th year in 2005. Together, these festivals represent the largest event to showcase Brazilian Films in the US.

Saturday in the Park with Pixinguinha

2005-05-13T16:03:00.000-04:00

For those of you who missed The Choro Ensemble at Joe's Pub this past Wednesday, you can catch them for FREE tomorrow at Prospect Park. The weather should be perfect, too:

The Choro Ensemble will be performing at Prospect Park at the Boat House Audubon Center this coming Saturday (May 14th) from 3 to 5pm. This event celebrates the 25 years of restoring Prospect Park and is called "You Gotta Have Park."

For more info, please go to: www.prospectpark.org

NYT review of Guinga

2005-05-11T23:38:00.000-04:00

After Guinga played and I was chatting with Bill Bragin (who programs the amazing stuff at Joe's Pub), Bill was nice enough to introduce me to Jon Pareles of the New York Times. I recognized his face, having seen him at other concerts, but now I knew that he was The Big Critic. Well, I'm happy to report that he came across as rather humble, professing that I probably knew more about Guinga than he did, based on the fact that I have a blog about Brazilian music.

I'm reprinting his review here since the NYT will only let you access it a few more days until it goes into the payment-required archives:

A Heartfelt Connection to Brazil's Many Rhythms
By JON PARELES

The composer and guitarist Guinga, one of Brazil's modest musical treasures, slipped into Joe's Pub on Thursday night to make his New York City debut. In Brazil, he has won awards for his instrumental albums, has had his songs recorded by major singers like Elis Regina and Chico Buarque, and collaborates with leading Brazilian lyricists. No wonder: his melodies are bittersweet and irresistible, uniting musicianly cleverness with yearning emotion.

At Joe's Pub, Guinga (pronounced GEEN-ga; his full name is Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar) played light-fingered acoustic guitar, usually plucking rhythm parts while Lula Galvão on guitar, Paulo Sergio Santos on clarinet and Jesse Sadoc on trumpet and fluegelhorn took most of the solos. But he was no slouch playing alone, floating his tunes above cushiony chords.

Along with many of Brazil's best musicians, Guinga connects the harmonic richness of jazz to local styles, from samba and bossa nova to the bouncy rural baião. Like Astor Piazzolla in Argentina or George Gershwin in the United States, he makes sure that the heart comes through the ingenuity.

His tunes can go hopscotching through arpeggios that sketch subtle harmonic motion, yet seem like something anyone could whistle. They dart and zigzag, stopping and starting and veering at odd angles, yet still sound as if they're dancing. He sang a lullaby for his daughter that rose and fell in a graceful arc, with a reedy voice that was full of tenderness.

His group worked in permutations from solos to full quartet. Perpetual-motion webs of two-guitar picking could surround a kindly clarinet melody; the four musicians could split into counterpoint and reunite in precise parallel lines. The guitars could share easy-swinging chords behind a sultry, jazzy line with a touch of 1930's cabaret, or create a brisk ostinato behind a quick melody full of hairpin turns. The harmonies were deft, but Guinga didn't need them. In one piece, Mr. Sadoc simply stated the gorgeous ballad melody alone on fluegelhorn, and that was enough.

Choro Ensemble at Joe's Pub Tonight! (5/11)

2005-05-11T12:19:00.000-04:00

Choro Ensemble, originally uploaded by alizinha.

The Choro Ensemble--New York's only choro group, and some of the nicest, most talented musicians I know--are playing at Joe's Pub tonight in celebration of their second album, which is out now. (If it's half as good as their first album, it would still be worth listening to. )

The show's at 7:30pm and I believe it's a $12 cover.

I saw Anat Cohen, the ensemble's clarinetist, at the Guinga show last week, and she reminded me about it.

For those of you wondering about the Guinga show

2005-05-11T00:08:00.000-04:00

It was great. Really wonderful. (I was at the first set--let me know if you went to the 9:30 set.) I must get my hands on this man's music, as it's a shame how little I know about his stuff. But it's fun sometimes to go see an artist who you've heard good things about but are unfamiliar with his work. To just let the music wash over you and make its first impressions.

In googling him to learn more about his music, I came across this nice little piece by the ever-amazing Daniella Thompson. Sounds like he's a nice guy on top of everything else. Oh, and like all good Brazilian musicians, he not only knows his Brazilian music history, he knows his U.S. music history, too:

About American songs he says that they flow easily, whereas Brazilian songs do it the hard way, their melodies meandering all over the place. He illustrates his remarks by singing melodic snatches. He points out that American popular music is piano-based and Brazilian music guitar-based, circumstances he attributes to economics. Among jazz pianists he singles out Bill Evans. I mention Thelonius Monk, and Guinga concurs that the man was a genius, saying, “Monk played Monk, everybody else plays jazz.”

I'm in the Guardian UK

2005-05-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

I'm in the Guardian UK, originally uploaded by alizinha.

Well, The Brazilian Muse is, at least. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. A kind soul emailed me this morning to let me know, otherwise I might not have found out. This story, "Block by Blog" had the reporter come to NYC with nothing but a Blackberry and a mobile phone to guide him through New York.

I feel rather honored that I managed to make the cut.

Congrats go out to MT, Tien, Adam and Vittles Vamp (my lovely co-blogger over at Gothamist Food), who also got mentions.

Guinga finally comes to New York

2005-05-02T13:37:00.000-04:00

Guinga, originally uploaded by alizinha.

I've been hearing great things about Guinga for years, and now he's finally making his New York debut at Joe's Pub this Thursday, May 5th, with 2 shows (7:30 and 9:30). Here are the details and I'll see you guys there:

The long-overdue NY debut of legendary Brazilian composer, guitarist and vocalist, Guinga (pronounced GEEN-ga) is at Joe's Pub on May 5th. While most popular composers are usually associated with specific songs, Guinga established his reputation primarily on his unique sound. Regardless of the genre in which he works--cancao, choro, frevo, waltz, bolero, samba, coco, baiao, modinha, foxtrot, or jazz, vocal or instrumental--the outcome is unmistakably his. Like Kurt Weill and Nino Rota--two other composers who are instantly recognizable by their sound--Guinga straddles an indefinable line between pop and serious music. "Synthesizing numerous sources, including Impressionist music, opera, older popular songs, and jazz, he distills an intoxicating brew all his own, enriched with audacious lyrics by a handful of partners past and present." (Daniella Thompson for brazzil.com) Born Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Guinga began composing music when he was 16 years old and by age 17 he had already qualified one of his compositions for the Festival Internacional da Cancao (International Festival of Song). By the time he became a professional musician, Guinga was already accompaining famous Brazilian artists such as Clara Nunes and Beth Carvalho. He composes constantly and his songs songs have been recorded by some of the most important names in Brazilian music, including Elis Regina, Michel Legrand, Sergio Mendes, Leila Pinheiro, Chico Buarque, Clara Nunes and Ivan Lins. Guinga has received four Premio Sharp awards (the Brazilian equivalent to the Grammy). In 2000, his fourth CD, Suite Leopoldina, was elected, unanimously, by the music critics of O Globo (Brazil's newspaper), the best CD of Brazilian popular music and his 2001 release, Cine Baronesa, was nominated for a Latin Grammy for that same year, in the category of Best Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) Album. His latest CD, Noturno Copacabana has also been nominated for a 2004 Grammy in the same category. In addition to his life as a musician and composer, Guinga is also a dentist, and has had a practice since 1975. Guinga will be joined by Lula Galvao, guitar; Paulo Sergio, clarinet and Jesse Sadoc, trumpet. "When people talk of innovative Brazilian music, [Guinga's] name is often the first to be mentioned. Hermeto Pascoal said about him, "He's someone who appears only once in a hundred years."--Brazzil.com
www.guinga.com.br

Happy birthday to my blog

2005-03-28T18:06:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of when I started this little blog. Through it, I've met some wonderful New Yorkers who are now a major part of my "real" (i.e., offline) life. I could link to them all, but I don't need to because they know who they are (and you can find them in my blogroll).

In the past year, I've also gotten to interact with people from all over the world who love Brazilian music. I wish I could get everyone together for a big dance party to celebrate, but for those of you who are here in NYC, we will celebrate next month, when it's my actual birthday.

In the meantime, thanks to those of you who remember to visit my site regularly, or who've added me to your Bloglines. And to all my fellow bloggers who've added me to their own blogrolls, thanks so much.

I'll be the first to admit that I could do a lot more with this site than I do. I get really busy between work and play and reading books and blogs and the news and everything else. I've got a ton of interests, and Brazilian music (despite what you might think) is just one of them (although an important one for sure).

If I got paid to do this blog as a full-time job, I would never run out of topics to write about. Brazilian music and culture is a vast and various thing; ever-changing, always evolving, carrying on the rhythms and melodies of a polyglot people.

I love the United States, and being an American in the larger sense of the term. But I also love how my interest in Brazil has shown me another vast American country that has its own cultural mixture, its own history of struggle, of survival, of creolization, of creating a New World.

For better and for worse, both Brazil and the U.S. have rather twisted racial and cultural histories that are still unraveling--competing narratives of what it means to be "American" or "Brazilian" ("white," "black," "brown" or otherwise).

I hope this blog conveys some of that complexity of feeling for Brazilian culture, rather than simply falling onto easy clichés. If there's anything our increasingly small world needs, it's for people to try to reach out across national and cultural lines and understand each other.

For me, the siren song of Brazilian music pulled me in, but it's the people who love Brazilian music and culture that keep me here.

Thanks for reading.

Happy birthday to my blog

2005-03-28T18:06:00.000-05:00

Does race matter when you blog?

2005-03-23T12:26:00.000-05:00

does race matter when you blog?, originally uploaded by alizinha.

I'm so proud that my awesome friends Nichelle and Liza are raising these issues in a public forum.

While there's been some recent controversy on this subject, I think the tendency amongst most (white) bloggers is to ignore race and think it doesn't, or "shouldn't" matter.

But if there's anything I've learned in my 32 years in the USA, it's that race does matter, and we need to continue learning how to talk about it and be comfortable talking about it if we're ever going to get anywhere as a society.

Cultural differences, class differences, differential access to technology (and even basic education), etc., etc.--there's a lot to unpack there, and I'm glad to have friends who are looking to help initiate that conversation.

So, if you're obsessed with blogging (like I am), I expect to see you there.

If not, don't worry, I'll get back to the Brazilian music stuff momentarily.

If you're going to be in Miami any time soon...

2005-03-22T13:40:00.000-05:00

ALMAmiami, originally uploaded by alizinha.

Those lucky bastards from the ALMA party are heading to warmer climes for this party:

Lighting up the final night of the Winter Music Conference in Miami Beach, ALMA in association with the Latin Funk Music Festival presents a firey New York City style throwdown featuring six of NYC's finest 'Downtown Underground DJ Supah Stars'.

Latin Funk's resident selector GeoLeche, and Tesao's Sabo reunite to join ALMA's dynamic duo, True and Miller Cruz, for what will no doubt be the crowning blast of this year's WMC. To cinch the claim, ALMA and Latin Funk have invited the boys from Turntables On The Hudson; Nickodemus, Mariano and the incomperable Nappy G on percussion to set Jade's downstair's floor aflame and complete the tribal cypher.

Don't miss this feverish journey into NeoBrazilian Fusion featuring the most incendiary afrotropical rockers in New York City.

3 Parties, 6 DJ's, 2 floors - ONE WHITE HOT NIGHT!

www.geoxie.com
www.latinfunkfestival.com
ALMA

Bahia Slideshow on Flickr

2005-03-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

Baianas no Pelourinho 1, originally uploaded by Kika BR.

Kika BR has an amazingly good slideshow on Flickr of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

Salvador da Bahia (often referred to as simply Bahia) has been the epicenter of African Brazil for the past 500 years--musically, culinarily, ethnically, etc. There you will find the roots of capoeira, candomble, ginga, etc.

You can get a sense of those things in her photos, here.

Next Monday (3/28)

2005-03-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

Another option for tonight (3/21), originally uploaded by alizinha.

When I first posted this I thought it was tonight. Turns out it's NEXT Monday, the 28th.

Baile funk comes to NY, SPREAD THE WORD!

SLUM DUNK's FUNK CARIOCA
With Tetine (London/Sao Paulo)

Monday, March 28
9pm
Free

Supreme Trading
213 North 8th street
(between Driggs and Roebling)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Fresh from their M3 performance in Miami, London's beloved ambassadors of Baile Funk bring Brazil's best booty music to the wilds of Williamsburg. Baile funk's raw urban sounds are starting to sweep global underground music. Even on a Monday, everyone needs a dose of funk.

Dirty ghetto electro for the masses!!

Booty-shaking sounds from the hills of Rio de Janeiro, Funk Carioca beats, Miami Bass, sweaty electro punk, freestyle MCing with and live mixing by Tetine.

$5 caipirinhas

Slum Dunk is made up of London-based Brazilian electro duo, performance/installation artists Tetine - (Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado).

For the past 4 years Tetine have been preaching the verb of Funk Carioca to the unsuspecting but increasingly appreciative British public. This music is the product of Brazil's favelas and fuels the all-night funk bailes that form the nocturnal soundtrack of Rio's hills. Funk Carioca combines street smarts with popping electro beats and the intensity of DIY techno topped with some crude lyrical rhymes resulting in an irresistible cocktail that grabs you by the hips and never lets go.

Tetine appearances have included Sonar Sound, Resfest, Emo-son (Fr), Cargo (UK) Rhythm Factory (UK), Le Pulp (Paris), Whitechapel Art Gallery (UK) Spitz (UK), 93 Feet East (UK) Public Life (UK), Guanabara (UK), Notte Vidal (Italy), Goethe Institute (Munich), Ampgalax (Br) amongst others.

Slum Dunk presents Funk Carioca is out in CD/Vinyl on Mr Bongo Records in the UK. Coming soon to the US!

For further info:
www.tetine.net

Free Classical Brazilian Music Tonight (3/21)

2005-03-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES PROGRAM OF HUNTER COLLEGE, CUNY
and THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE CLUB OF THE UNITED NATIONS
with the support of
THE BRAZILIAN CONSULATE GENERAL IN NEW YORK

Invite you to

A RECITAL OF BRAZILIAN LYRIC MUSIC
IN A CELEBRATION OF ITS AFRICAN ROOTS

With
ROSA BRANDÃO and STELA BRANDÃO, Sopranos
STEFAN MEYLAERS, Piano
OSVALDO HERNANDEZ, Percussion

At the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium,
United Nations, New York.
(First Avenue at 46th Street
March 21, 2005 at 6pm

FREE ADMISSION

(Because of UN security, it is necessary to arrive early, and bring a photo ID)

Three races, White Portuguese, Native Indian and Black African, mixed and amalgamated under the tropical sun to create the basis of Brazilian civilization. Because of its artistic contributions to the world, music is recognized as being the richest and the most expressive manifestation of Brazilian culture.

However, there would be no Brazilian popular music as we know it without the strong
influence of its African heritage which gave origin to Samba. The same analysis can be applied to classical music as well, as classical composers of the nationalistic school such as Villa-Lobos, Lorenzo Fernandez, Francisco Mignone and many others,
also drew much of their inspiration directly from folklore and popular music, infused with African rhythm and spirit.

Even as it originated from the atrocious reality of slavery, African contributions stand, nevertheless, as a statement of hope, love for life, and an ongoing affirmation of joy and belief in the superiority of spirit over matter. It is no
exaggeration to affirm that Africa saved Brazil from melancholy. This program
pays tribute to this fundamental component of the Brazilian soul, or alma
brasileira.

PROGRAM

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS (1887 – 1959)
João Cambuête - ( Rosa)
Remeiro de São Francisco - (Stela)
Lundu da Marquesa de Santos - (Stela)
Bachianas Brasileiras Nr. 5, Aria e Cantilena- (Stela)
Dança do Martelo (Rosa)
Estrela É Lua Nova - (Dueto)

OSCAR LORENZO FERNANDEZ (1897 - 1948)
Negra Fulô - (Rosa)
Canção do Mar (Stela)

FRANCISCO MIGNONE (1987 – 1986)
Dona Janaína (Stela)

ERNANI BRAGA (1898 – 1948)
O Kinimbá (Stela)
Nigue nigue ninhas (Rosa)
Capim di Pranta (Rosa)
Engenho Novo (Rosa)

MOZART CAMARGO GUARNIERI (1907 – 1993)
Dança Negra (Piano Solo)

JOSÉ SIQUEIRA (1907 – 1985)
O Sapo (Rosa)

ASSIS REPUBLICANO (1807 – 1960)
Candomblé (Rosa)

MARLOS NOBRE (1939)
Dengues da Mulata Desinteressada (Stela)

WALDEMAR HENRIQUE (1905 – 1995)
ABC do Lampião (Rosa)
Abaluayê (Rosa)
Aba Logum (Rosa)
Boi Bumbá (Rosa)

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS
Samba Clássico (Dueto)

Disco Dollie's Journey to Uranus, or,They Saved Gonzo's Brain

2005-03-08T21:38:00.000-05:00

Hot off the presses from GREG CAZ:

Rubulad Proudly Presents
Disco Dollies' Journey to Uranus or They Saved Gonzo's Brain

Saturday, March 12th, 10:00 pm

Live Music by:

Fly Ashtray
Vic Thrill
33 Hz
Dolomites' Modern Gypsy Circus as Usual

DeeJays:

Small Change and Gerald Mc Boing Boing present The Black Crack Session:
Small Change
Gerald Mc Boing Boing
DJ Reaganomics
Soul Cracker
Greg Caz and The Touch It Players: Tim "Lovelee" Lee, MP Messenie and Scott Fonda

Plus, in the Cabaret Room:

Mlle Danielle
Mark Growden (from S.F.)
Jay & Forrest return from New Orleans
The Wacky Women of MEAT featuring Becky and Noel

Plus

The magnificent Light Circus of Norm Francoeur

Delicious Food by Chef Caution and Yummy Treats by Lisa Brownie

At Rubulad home base:
338 Flushing Avenue (bet. Classon & Taaffe)
L train to Bedford Avenue
B61 bus on Driggs to Flushing Ave (10 mins)
left under BQE Rubulad's on your right just past the gas station *OR* J/M/Z to Marcy Ave walk along Rev. Dr. GE Taylor Blvd turns into Williamsburg St West at Flushing left under BQE
Note: The B61 bus runs from Greenpoint to Red Hook
through Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn.

10 pm doors; 10 smackers entry
Special discount for marauding Leprechauns
Dress for the dance floor, the stars and beyond...

To read more about RUBULAD, try here or here.

imaginarium.com.br

2005-03-05T23:49:00.000-05:00

grande no brasil, originally uploaded by alizinha.

The lovely folks at Imaginarium, down in Brazil, found my blog and wrote about it, how sweet is that?

Caetano says hello.

2005-03-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

caetano afro, originally uploaded by alizinha.

And so do I. Hey everybody, sorry I've been gone so long. I've got no real excuse besides the standard, "I've been so busy!" and "winter's really got me down." Both are true. But I don't want to neglect the blog like this.

Will post more soon, but in the meantime, I've started a group over at Flickr for people to post photos that in any way relate to Brazilian music, like this photo above of Caetano rockin' the 'fro. Love that shirt he's wearing, too.

You can check out the Flickr group at www.flickr.com/groups/brazilian_music.

More soon!

I'm still recovering

2005-02-09T01:30:00.000-05:00

beijos_2
Originally uploaded by alizinha.

from Sunday night's carnaval celebration at Black Betty. But for now you can see a few of the photos on Flickr. I'll post more photos and description tomorrow.

Upcoming stuff

2005-01-30T20:49:00.000-05:00

Brazilian Beat Brooklyn's CARNAVAL GOLD celebration is now just one week away (next Sunday, February 6) at Black Betty. You do NOT want to miss the fun. Especially now that I've gotten official confirmation that the one and only "Showgirl of the Universe" Ms. Ami Goodheart will be reprising her role at Brazilian Beat Brooklyn's Samba Queen with full feather headdress, mask, teeny outfit and everything. Maybe she'll even dress like this, this or this, considering the GOLD theme this year. Most likely, though, she'll look more along the lines of this. But however she's dressed, she will be samba dancing like you would not believe. Watch her make a milkshake with her hips on David Letterman and watch her try to teach some newswoman how to samba on local morning TV (go to this page and scroll to bottom for video clips).

But before then, this Thursday, February 3rd to be exact, I'll be guest-hosting Ned Vizzini's Reading Series at Barbes, in Park Slope, Brooklyn at 7pm. There's no cover, there will be free drink tickets given out to those who answer authors' questions correctly, and it's always lots of fun at Barbes. Hope to see you there.

CARNAVAL GOLD, Or, "Ladies, break up with your boyfriends..."

2005-01-27T20:30:00.000-05:00

Finally got my hands on an electronic version of the Official Flyer of the Official Best Carnaval Party in NYC (on Sunday, February 6th), for the past 3 years running.

Brazilian Beat Brooklyn Presents CARNAVAL GOLD
Black Betty, 366 Metropolitan @ Havemeyer, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
10pm until 4am
NO COVER
(Un)dress in gold to win a prize.

You have no excuse not to be there.

UPDATE: For those of you visiting this site due to gridskipper.com's linking to us, please note that if you can't make it to this Sunday's special Carnaval edition of the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party, do note that the party happens EVERY Sunday (minus the gold body paint and go-go dancers, but still with the same baile funk sound and sexy people).

To join the mailing list for The Brazilian Muse, send an email to alizinha[at]yahoo[dot]com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

For those who know nothing of Carnaval

2005-01-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

All of La Depressionada's talk about holidays and religion got me to thinking about the fact that a lot of you reading this blog might not know the religious meaning and historic significance of Brazilian Carnaval. So instead of wasting a lot of my precious time writing up a big thing about it, I decided to excerpt a description from BrazilBrazil.com. (You can read their whole article here.)

A carnival is a celebration combining parades, pageantry, folk drama, and feasting that is usually held in Catholic countries during the weeks before Lent. The term Carnival probably comes from the Latin word "carnelevarium", meaning to remove meat. Typically the Carnaval season begins early in the new year, often on the Epiphany, January 6, and ends in Februrary on Fat Tuesday (hence Mardi Gras in French).

Probably originating in pagan spring fertility rites, the first recorded carnival was the Feast of Osiris, an event marking the receding of the Nile's flood water. Carnivals reached a peak of riotous dissipation with the Roman Bacchanalia and Saturnalia. In the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church tried to suppress all pagan ideas, it failed when it came to this celebration. The Church incorporated the rite into its own calendar as a period of thanksgiving. Popes sometimes served as patrons. The nations of Europe, especially France, Spain, and Portugal, gave thanks by throwing parties, wearing masks, and dancing in the streets. All three colonizing powers carried the tradition with them to the New World, but in Brazil it landed with a difference.

Not only did the Portuguese have a taste for abandoned merriment, (they brought the "entrudo", a prank where merry-makers throw water, flour, face powder, and many other things at each other's faces), but the [enslaved Africans] also took to the celebration. They would smear their faces with flour, borrow an old wig or frayed shirt of the master, and give themselves over to mad revelry for the three days. Many masters even let their slaves roam freely during the celebration. Since the slaves were grateful for the chance to enjoy themselves, they rarely used the occasion as a chance to run away.

Pre-Christian, medieval, and modern carnivals share important thematic features. They celebrate the death of winter and the rebirth of nature, ultimately recommitting the individual to the spiritual and social codes of the culture. Ancient fertility rites, with their sacrifices to the gods, exemplify this commitment, as do the Christian Shrovetide plays. On the other hand, carnivals allow parody of, and offer temporary release from, social and religious constraints. For example, slaves were the equals of their masters during the Roman Saturnalia; the medieval feast of fools included a blasphemous mass; and during carnival masquerades sexual and social taboos are sometimes temporarily suspended.

Carnaval in Brazil
Prior to 1840, the streets of Brazilian towns ran riot during the three-day period leading up to Ash Wednesday with people in masks hurling stink bombs and squirting each other with flour and strong-smelling liquids; even arson was a form of entertainment. In 1840, the Italian wife of a Rio de Janeiro hotel owner changed the carnival celebration forever by sending out invitations, hiring musicians, importing streamers and confetti, and giving a lavish masked ball. In a few years the masked ball became the fashion and the wild pranks played on the streets disappeared. This was the beginning of the "Baile de Carnaval" that dominates much of the festivities in Southern Brazil. In Northern Brazil, in cities like Salvador and Recife, the main focus is the Street carnaval (Carnaval de Rua) where thousands of people will take to the street to follow the bands (called "trio Electricos") playing samba and traditional Carnaval songs. Yes, just like we have Christmas songs, Brazil has a whole range of Carnaval Sambas that everybody knows. Rio de Janeiro also has some street Carnaval (Not counting the Sambodromo parade), but not anywhere to the extent that the Northeast has.

Rio de Janeiro has the biggest and best known pre-Lenten carnival in the world--its most colorful event is the Samba School Parade. The samba schools taking part in the parade in a street built special for this. Each school has about three to five thousand participants--who are overwhelmingly poor people from the city's sprawling suburbs (Copacabana or Leblon do not have big samba schools!). Every carnival Rio's samba schools compete with each other and are judged on every aspect of their presentation by a jury. Each samba school must base its effort around a central theme. Sometimes the theme is an historical event or personality. Other times, it is a story or legend from Brazilian literature, a historical theme or even political satire. The samba song must recount or develop it, and the huge floats must detail the theme in depth.

About money. Samba parades do not come cheap. Carnaval is in reality a business. A group of people controls each school and some make good money from it. I remember some friends paying $250 for cheap costumes to be in an "ala" (wing) of the big parade. All samba schools have "practice parties" called "ensaios" for which they sell tickets. The state and city governments also contribute a good sum, to stimulate tourism. In the last 20 years a major source of funding has been the "bicheiros" (bosses that run the numbers games) and the drug cartels, mostly located in the slums. These people see sponsoring a samba school as a way of gaining prestige with the local populations, a kind of public relations campaign, I guess.

Just because you can't cook...

2005-01-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

doesn't mean you can't make a yummy treat to eat at home.

Read my Gothamist piece about how you can eat well when you're snowed in, just by adding a few choice items to your pantry.

Mark your calendars

2005-01-25T23:05:00.000-05:00

So many things are coming up in the next few weeks, that I'm just going to try to remember them all and list them all here, with links:

--This Sunday and every Sunday, Greg Caz & Sean Marquand lay down the funky stuff at Brazilian Beat Brooklyn @ Black Betty. 10pm. No Cover.

--Sunday, January 30th, FEIJOADA POT with Forro For All (formerly "Forro SoXote") plays S.O.B.'s at 7:30 and 9:30pm. $12 includes Feijoada buffet, $5 if you don't want food.

--Sunday, February 6th, CARNAVAL GOLD at Brazilian Beat Brooklyn's party @ Black Betty. Live go-go dancers, live percussion, free cupcakes (I'm making them), general Carnaval insanity. No cover. 10pm. Whoever is the most golden (clothes, body paint, whatever--wins a prize). (Yes, this is the same night as the Super Bowl, but there's no reason you can't go to a Super Bowl party and then come to Black Betty for the REAL party. My definition of "party" has always required that there be DANCING.) My photo gallery of previous Carnaval celebrations at Brazilian Beat Brooklyn.

--February 18: ALMA party at Sullivan Room, this time honoring Black History Month. Will include a celebration of Carnaval and the 30th anniversary of Ilê Aiyê. Details on the party can be found here. Photo gallery of the sexy people who go to ALMA parties is here.

--February 19: Jorge Ben Jor (the artist formerly known as Jorge Ben) returns to NYC to S.O.B.'s after his great show this past summer. He's a living legend, and if you haven't seen him yet, well, what's your problem?! Just go see the man. You won't regret it. $30 in advance, 2 shows. See S.O.B.'s website for details.

What a day

2005-01-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

All day I've been fielding emails and phone calls from friends regarding THIS. I've always been a big fan of Gawker (especially back in the early Elizabeth Spiers/Choire Sicha days) but never thought my name would be mentioned on their site. Especially as this blog doesn't traffic in the mediacentric circles that Gawker does. But after I got that nasty email from the Mystery Publicist, I had to forward it to Gawker so they could expose her, even if it was just in a blind item. I mean, talk about racist, classist, bullshit ethnic stereotyping. And don't forget stupid and unprofessional. She didn't even KNOW me, and thinks she can just fire off that kind of crap at me with no consequences? Sorry, sweets, not so fast...

Oh, and Gawker asked its readers to submit their guesses, which they did. The real name is in there amongst a bunch of others. I'll give you a hint: her eyes are smiling.

Bistro Jules/Choro Ensemble review up on Gothamist

2005-01-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Read my piece on Gothamist about why you should come out to Jules on a Sunday night to hear the Choro Ensemble.

Carnaval is coming

2005-01-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

Sunday night I made sure to go to Black Betty for Brazilian Beat Brooklyn. I had sent out an email* to a million people and knew that there'd be a huge turnout--there always is for any 3-day weekend.

It gave me a reminder of what it's like when tiny little Black Betty gets packed to the gills with people, some dancing, some just standing around. Some wasted drunk and making out, others just tipsy and looking for someone to kiss.

If Black Betty were that crowded every Sunday, I'd get sick of the crowds. But every once in awhile it's lots of fun. Once everyone gets dancing (because the packed dance floor will start out being half-full with "Standers"--those who refuse to dance) the energy shifts.

We become this one big dancing mass of arms, legs, hips, and the rest, with no real beginning or end. Once you've surrendered over to the fact that people will be bumping in to you (and you've got to be in the right mood to make that surrender) you can get beyond it and not care. You can rub up against people and let them rub against you. You'll know when it's OK (most of the time) and when it's some scumbag (0-5% of the time). With the scummy types, you just drift away and usually that's enough to escape.

Especially if you've got friends to escape to. And my friends were out in abundance on Sunday. They were all dancing, too. No wallflowers, them.

On February 6th (just two weeks away), Sean and Greg and going to throw a Carnaval celebration with a GOLD theme, live go-go-dancers, live percussion, the works.

For the gold theme, they're expecting metallic gold (skimpy) clothes, gold body paint, gold eyeshadow, you get the idea.

Whoever's the most golden will get some sort of prize.

And I'm going to make glitter-gold-frosted chocolate cupcakes. Now I just need to find some edible gold dust. I know it's out there somewhere...

*If you'd like to get on my email list for dancing outings (Brazilian and otherwise), send me an email (alizinha AT yahoo DOT com) with the subject line "Email List" and I'll add you.

MLK, Jr.: Humanity and the Importance of Jazz

2005-01-17T09:26:00.000-05:00

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Opening speech at the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival

Humanity and the Importance of Jazz

"God has brought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create--and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.

Modern Jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of "racial identity" as a problem for a multi-racial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down. And now, Jazz is exported to the world.

For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved.

Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these."

Happy MLK Day, everybody.

2005 Brazilian Press Awards

2005-01-12T23:29:00.000-05:00

I didn't even know of the existence of the 2005 Brazilian Press Awards until tonight when I got an email about them from some Brazilian website that wanted me to nominate them for Best Brazilian Community Website.

Forget that, I thought. I'll nominate MY OWN website.

So I did. And now all of you can go nominate me, too. Here's the link, and just put "www.thebrazilianmuse.blogspot.com" as your nominee for #12 (Best Community Website). If you have the time and inclination, you could also nominate the following: The Choro Ensemble or Forro SoXote for #2 (Best Brazilian Music Artist), DanceBrazil for #4 (Best Brazilian Dance), Som do Brasil (WKCR) for #14 (Best Brazilian Radio Programming), and the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party at Black Betty for #8 (Best Brazilian Cultural/Artistic Event).

Not like I have any chance of winning, but it would be cool to get enough votes to be one of the official nominees. Oh, and if you vote in all categories, you could win $1000 and 4 VIP tickets for the awards ceremony in Florida (of course, you'd have to get yourself down to Florida, but, still--pretty cool).

The Greg Caz Update: Sold-out CDs, new CDs, new NYC gigs, European tour, etc.

2005-01-11T22:10:00.000-05:00

One day I'm going to either convince Greg Casseus to start his own blog or to join mine, but in the meantime, I can just reprint his great emails (with his permission, of course). This is the email he sent out to this vinyl-addict/DJ list he's on (I got CC'd on this, as I am neither of those things, I just wish I were). Enjoy.

First off, our entire first run of "Baile Funk 2" mix CDs is all gone at this point, with much respect to Turntable Lab, Other Music, Kajmere Sound and even Dusty Groove, not to mention the wonderful folks who pick up copies in person at Black Betty on Sundays. Now we're faced with having to get more made to fill the orders still pouring in. Meanwhile, my new solo "Samba-Rock" mix CD is done and should be out with a week or two. Again, don't be thrown by the word "samba," this shit is FUNKY and will never EVER be confused with one of those yuppie-friendly Putumayo compilation CDs. I'm giving up the goods here, folks!

Elsewhere, my "accidental" new Tuesday residency at Baraza with my man DJ Claudio Meduza has been simply off the hook so far, especially for a party with no name and no particular concept---just tons and tons of soul 45s, salsa, funk, Brazilian, every kinda JA style from ska to dancehall, rock (I played the Stooges last week!!!) and whatever the fuck we feel like. It's been pretty incredible so far, I don't even wanna jinx it by naming the party or anything. But please do come thru if you're in the area (Ave. C between 8th and 9th).

So it looks like my debut European mini-DJ-tour is a go, with confirmed dates and everything! This is truly momentous, since I have not been out of NYC since April 2001 (when I last returned from Brazil) and should probably be locked up at Bellvue as a result. Miraculously, somehow I'm not (being a native NYer, a rapidly disappearing species, definitely helps). So I will be appearing in the following cities on the following dates:

Feb. 12-Dundee, Scotland @ The Reading Rooms
Feb. 13-Vienna, Austria @ Soulsugar
Feb. 16-Paris, France @ Favela Chic
Feb. 18-Hannover, Germany @ Calamari Moon
Feb. 19-London, England @ Brazilian Love Affair

Other dates may materialize between now and then, but that's what's confirmed at press time. I'll be spinning Brazilian stuff at all these, but of course I'll be bringing along some other stuff, 'cause you never know.....

And don't forget, Sundays at Black Betty, Brazilian Beat Brooklyn with Greg Caz and Sean Marquand, still holdin' it down, still dedicated to the feeling of GOOD!!!

OK, enough of my rambling and self-promotion, here are the current picks in the Caz rotation:

Brother Jack McDuff "Moon Rappin'" (Blue Note)
Manzel "Midnight Theme" (Dopebrother)
Bobby Hutcherson "Medina" (Blue Note)
Stooges "Fun House" (Elektra)
"The Mad, Mad World Of Soundtracks" (Motor Music)
Erasmo Carlos "Sonhos e Memorias" (Polydor)
Cesar Mariano & CIA "Sao Paulo-Brasil" (RCA)
Alice Coltrane "Journey In Satchidananda" (Impulse!)
Dennis Brown "Revolution" (Yvonne's Special)

Cupcakes, chorinho, samba, old friends, and staying up past my bedtime

2005-01-10T21:43:00.000-05:00

Last night combined the best of all possible worlds: baked goods, various types of Brazilian music, old friends and new ones, dancing, being happy, letting the hours fly by, and just relaxing utterly and completely.

First off, I got to celebrate a friend's birthday by surprising his partygoers with my famous chocolate cupcakes. (Made with a rich chocolate buttercream frosting--when it comes to baking I'm always one to gild the lily.)

Then, since I was just down the street from Bistro Jules (St. Mark's @ 1st St.) where the Choro Ensemble plays every Sunday, I just had to stop in. I hadn't been to see them in weeks and was going through a bit of a withdrawal from their music and from the convivial atmosphere of Jules. I've never been a Francophile (nor have I ever travelled to France) but Jules almost inspires me to learn a little French and take a trip to Paris. But probably the better option is to just sit back and enjoy the 100-year-old music that is choro/chorinho. Or as Jesse of Mangos and Mandolins MP3 blog describes the genre:

Choro is a close cousin of samba. Here's what happens: The slaves win emancipation in 1888 and come south from the sugar plantations looking for work in the big cities. They find a bunch of white people pretending they're in Europe, dancing to waltzes, foxtrots, mazurkas, polkas. The black musicians start picking up these tunes, do their thing with them, and pretty soon we have choro: European melodies over a proto-samba groove.

Never have you heard a sound so simultaneously funky and classy. That's why I love this music. Even better when you make a new friend there and she grabs your hand and gets you to samba with her between the tables. (Always fun to see people's reactions to the occasional spontaneous dancing at Jules. Go ahead, stare at us--we don't care.)

So then I convinced my new young dancer friend, B., to join me and a friend of ours in common to head out to Brooklyn for Black Betty. She knew Greg Caz was the real deal from her many visits to Wednesday-night Nublu insanity, but she'd never been to Brazilian Beat.

I was hoping that BB would be as lively as Greg's reports have been lately. Due to Christmas/New Year's obligations and general malaise, I had skipped the past few weeks and was now really jonesing for that mix of Brazilian funk, samba, samba-rock, and baile funk vibe that resides in abundance at Black Betty Sunday nights.

The moment I walked in, I knew it would be a special night. Old friends who I haven't seen or heard from in far too long were there. Good dancers who could be counted on to keep me company on the floor and push me to my limits were in abundance. I danced, and danced, and danced some more. I sang along to favorite songs and even got to partake of a roda and some dancified capoeira. I missed that feeling, and I was glad to have it back.

Gothamist Food: Caviar and Banana Brasserio

2005-01-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

My review of Caviar and Banana Brasserio is up on Gothamist. It was fun to finally review some Brazilian food. Not that Brazilian is my favorite food in the world (first of all I can't pick one favorite type of cuisine because I like so many different types, and secondly, if forced to choose I'd probably go with a spicier cuisine such as Thai or Mexican). But even though it's not my "favorite" it is still special for me as a connection to Brazilian culture.

For me, a society's food, music, books, etc., all connect, and so when I taste a good moqueca or dance to a favorite samba song, they both have an inherent appreciation for Brazil (and Brazilians) in them.

I've never been to Thailand and don't know if I ever will, but in some strange way I feel like I can perhaps get a glimpse of their culture through their food. So hot, sweet, and tart all at once.

With Polish food that I grew up on--especially pierogi and babka--there's a reminiscence for that very childhood when eating those foods as an adult.

But there's so much food that I never ate as the picky-eater child that I was: I never ate Mexican food or any kind of Asian food. So when I eat a good pico de gallo salsa (especially if I'm the one who made it), I remember how when I first tried cilantro I didn't like it. It tasted metallic. But I kept trying it until after just five or six attempts, I did like it. That was back when I was around 23 years old.

So I can even get nostalgic for that.

Anyway, back to my review of Caviar and Banana. I made sure to mention the whole Daily-Candy-using-Spanish-not-Portuguese thing. I couldn't resist. Check out the review and let me know what you think.

Not the Amazon in the Brazilian rainforest.The other Amazon.

2005-01-03T22:22:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com, that is.

I've become an Amazon Associate, which means that whenever I link to a CD, DVD, or book that Amazon sells, and you click through and buy it, I get a tiny little percentage of that sale (around 5%).

I figured I'd give it a try, as it's a less invasive form of advertising than pop-ups or banner ads, and it lets me recommend Brazilian music, CDs, and books that I'd be telling you about anyway. And since there are so few brick-and-mortar record stores that you can walk in to and expect to find this music (without having to special-order it first), it does make Amazon a good choice.

I won't stop telling you about stuff on DustyGroove.com and TurntableLab.com, though. Sometimes they've got rare grooves that you're not going to find any place else. I wouldn't keep that info from you, so you can expect to still see those links here.

If you feel like supporting this blog and the time I put in to it, it's a great way to show your support. (But if you don't feel like patronizing Amazon, or don't feel like buying anything at all, that's cool, too.)

Check out the still-in-progress list I've started of CDs, books, films, and DVDs that's in the lower end of the right-hand column, below all my links. There's some great stuff there.

P.S.: For those who might be feeling extra generous, I've also included a link to my Amazon.com Wish List, in the upper end of the right-hand column. It's partly a way for me to keep track of all the Brazilian (and non-Brazilian) CDs, books, DVDs, etc., that interest me. But I figured I'd share the link with you so that you can see what I'm currently coveting and possibly even purchase it for me if you win the lottery or something. (You may notice that there are few CDs on my Wish List. That's because I already own so many!)

"New York is the cafeteria of obsessions"

2005-01-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

I'm a dork, because when I saw that arts critic/longtime blogger Terry Teachout quoted me on his blog, About Last Night, I got WAY too excited. Here's what he wrote/quoted:

The Brazilian Muse muses on the birth of a life-changing obsession:
I'm glad that Brazil found me when it did. Better late than never, I say. Because my interest in the music coincided with my move to the city, that curiosity for all things Brazilian helped introduce me to a whole side of New York City that I never would have found otherwise. It wasn't because of New York that I discovered Brazilian music, but it was thanks to New York that my love for that music and culture could grow and thrive and evolve...

His response was "New York is the cafeteria of obsessions." With that, I heartily agree.

We've interrupted your normally scheduled programming

2005-01-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

To bring you some straight-up advertising for those who deserve it.
Those who respect the history of Brazilian funk and samba and are carrying the torch into the future. Rescuing gems from long-forgotten vinyl. Of course I'm speaking of Greg Caz and Sean Marquand. And thanks to NYC's very own TurntableLab.com, you can get these mix CDs no matter where you might live (if you come to the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn party at Black Betty, you can buy them in person).

So read Monk's descriptions (and click on TurntableLab's sound clips that I've linked to) and get a sense of what you're missing out on.

You've bought everyone else their Chrismukkah presents, isn't it time for a gift (or two) for yourself? I thought so:

BAILE FUNK 2: AGORA E MODA
They’ve done it again! Greg Caz and Sean Marquand, resident selectors at the great Brazilian Beat party and two of NYC’s top spinners of South America’s sexiest soul, have put together the long anticipated sequel to their necessary Baile Funk mix. There’s no weak spots in this collection of searing hot Brazilian funk, and in fact, if you get the impression that these guys could go on for days with this heat, you’re probably right. The mix presents a feast of hooks, beats, grooves and melodies, as well as a collector’s attention to obscure b-sides and forgotten album tracks (detailed in the informative liner notes). Picking highlights is as simple as hitting the “random” button on your CD player, but I’ll try to narrow things down to a couple of my favorites. Os Incriveis get things popping right from the jump with their wicked dedication to Herbie the Love Bug, a cut that demonstrates the fun and funky elements that remain constant throughout (and really, how could you go wrong when the Love Bug’s involved?). A few minutes later the boys turn up an unusual groover from legend Claudette Soares before moving on to “A Festa” by Silvio Cesar, a slinky, mesmerizing cut. Breakbeat heads will not be disappointed either. Drum master Chico Batera has you covered with “Oxossi;” or perhaps the Boogaloo Combo is more your style. The One Way/Al Hudson-esque jam “To Parado Na Tua” and Jorge & Olivetti’s “Aleluia,” which could be a Rodney Franklin outtake, showcase a slick ‘80s West Coast funk feel that rounds out the summertime vibe of the set. I’m running out of room, and I haven’t even mentioned the devastating Tim Maia jam, Wilson Simonal’s amazing Bacharach cover, or the ridiculously rare Jorge Ben and Azymuth cuts. This is a mix that anyone could enjoy, and an absolutely essential chapter for fans of Brazilian funk. -Monk

--------------------------------------------------------------------
VIVA O SAMBA!
One half of the team that brought us the Baile Funk/Brazilian Beat CD (one of our best selling mix cds of all-time), Greg Caz is serious about samba--don’t think this CD is some '60s Verve sambsploitation set, son. No Charlie Byrd chirps here, either. Just the pure cachaça, with a bit of sugar and lime thrown in to set it off. Now, I’m no expert, so I won’t pretend to have the wisdom to opine on whether or not Caz has selected Gordurinha’s best tune with “Oito Da Conceiçao” or whether Alcione’s “Acorda Que Eu Quero Ver” is out of context when juxtaposed with Fafa De Belem’s "Sirie.” Go read Wax Poetics for the dissertation, get back to me. All I know is that when Greg spins samba, women dance. It’s a simple and wonderful thing, like butterflies and iceys. And shouldn’t that be good enough for you? 29 tracks of the real deal, artists and titles noted (thank you very much), in a seamless blend so you have plenty of time to get out there on the floor and pretend you’re at a club with the Brasilian ladies’ soccer team. If you need further proof of the summer juice contained within, here are a couple more samples: Som Sete’s “Esquindindin,” “Boberia” by Edson Federico, and Wilson Simonal’s “Ninguem Tasca.” Recomendado, amigo. -Monk

The Morning News Does Tropicalia

2004-12-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

Here's a great article from The Morning News that helps to place Brazil's tropicalia movement into the larger context of Latin American late-twentieth century popular music.

If I had it to do all over again

2004-12-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

I'd major in Portuguese. Or at least, I would have gone to a university that even taught Portuguese at all, since most of them don't. Unfortunately, my curiosity around Brazilian music and culture had not yet fully taken hold at that point. My first real exposure to Brazilian music came in my senior year of college, when my friend Melissa played me some Caetano, Marisa, and Gal. She'd been exposed to MPB and samba due to her on-again, off-again romance with a Brazilian-American guy, and had fallen in love/lust with the music and language of Brazilian Portuguese just as much as she'd fallen in love/lust with him.

She was teaching herself Portuguese, and found it pretty easy to learn due to years of studying Spanish. As I too, had studied Spanish for a long time, I agreed with her that it seemed liked it would be pretty easy, once you got the hang of the differences in pronunciation. It seemed to me (and I was correct in this assumption) that there would be "rules" as to how things changed from Spanish to Portuguese (mujer becomes mulher, just as mejor becomes melhor, etc.), and once you could wrap your brain around those differences, then, voila, you'd be speaking like a Carioca in no time.

As for the songs she played me, I really clicked with them, in just the way she did. Both she and I loved the lightness of the music, the way it could bound around, with those singers bending their tongues around the fast-flowing syllables. And the rhythms, well, let's just say I was bored with the standard 80's pop/rock that I'd grown up with and this was a whole new sound opening up to me.

But somehow, for some reason, it would take me another four years before I would purchase my first Brazilian CD. (Looking back, I blame the general haze/malaise that was my Ph.D. lit program experience at the time. Can you say, "recovering academic"?) That first CD, which turned out to be a wise choice indeed, was the magnificent Luaka Bop compilation of the golden age of 60s/70s Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB), BELEZA TROPICAL.

From Jorge, Gil, and Milton to Chico, Caetano, Gal, and Bethania, I was a woman obsessed. This spectacular compilation was my gateway drug to what would turn in to the following seven years of my life: two trips to Brazil (so far), many Brazilian concerts/shows/dance parties in NYC, learning to samba, friendships with (and occasional dating of) Brazilians and/or like-minded Brazilian music fanatics, intermittent attempts to take my self-taught Portuguese to a level beyond basic conversational skills (best accomplished by talking to HOTT non-English-speaking Brazilians), honing of a sotaque bom (good accent), etc. (Oh, and last, but certainly not least: starting this blog.)

I guess it's because New Year's is right around the corner, which tends to make me take stock of where my life's been and where's it's going. All I know is, it makes me wonder how things might have been different if I had gotten bitten by the Brazil bug sooner. Would I have done a study abroad for a semester or a whole year? And if I had, would I have wanted to move to Brazil and live there for awhile (or forever)? It's tempting to wonder about these things.

But the truth of the matter is this: I'm glad that Brazil found me when it did. Better late than never, I say. Because my interest in the music coincided with my move to the city, that curiosity for all things Brazilian helped introduce me to a whole side of New York City that I never would have found otherwise. It wasn't because of New York that I discovered Brazilian music, but it was thanks to New York that my love for that music and culture could grow and thrive and evolve. It was thanks to Brazooka band at Cafe Wha on Mondays, which led me to Greg and his classic Brazilian vinyl, and to Anderson and his photos and friendship. And it was Sunday nights at Black Betty for Brazilian Beat where I got to know Doug, Diego, and Gary, and got interviewed for Brazilian TV by Rede Globo.

And it's thanks to this blog that in the past (almost) year I've met people who love Brazil or love New York City or love both. I've made new friends who live here and made new acquaintance with people all over the world who don't think I'm crazy for being obsessed with this music.

I could go on and on, but I think I'll leave it at this for now. More on this later.

On the radio

2004-12-23T08:09:00.000-05:00

Listen to Sean Marquand guest DJing on WFMU. The wonders of the internets! Technology is our friend. Just click where it says, "Hear this show now: Real Audio." and you can hear Sean discussing artists such as Tim Maia, Banda Black Rio, Maria Bethania, etc. And playing lots of their best, rarest tracks, too.

And after you listen to that stuff, you might be tempted to get Sean and Greg's two "Baile Funk" CDs. Here's Turntable Lab's very apt description of both the Sunday night Brazilian Beat party and the Baile Funk 1 CD that you can buy at their website or store:

There's a party I go to sometimes where all these gorgeous Brasilian women are packed into this little spot, dancing to tune after tune of incredible music that I have never heard before. I mean, no party filler, no hits you've heard a million times, just a world of great music that happens to originate in the southern hemisphere planet of Brasil. This mix CD was put together by the three DJs who select the songs for the night, Sean Marquand, Claudio Medusa and Greg Caz, who some might know from his contributions to the TTL review crew, and I can vouch that it's a fair representation of how they get down (...if anything about this set can be called fair, I mean it's really un-fair to tantalize me with these great records I have no chance of finding). The mix eschews pure samba and batucada to focus on fierce sweet and sour melodies and funky orchestrations that groove for days. This is the kind of stuff you wish would make a comp but never does. Records you might find if you dug hardcore in Sao Paulo. OK, I've heard of Gilberto Gil, Azymuth and Tim Maia. You seen their Brasilian releases around anywhere though? Didn't think so. How about Trio Esperanca? Maybe Os Diagonais? Uh huh, now you're getting the picture: these are special records. The disc flows like sugar from a diner dispenser, right from Cassiano's Mayfield-esque opening cut through to a Tim Maia jam that bumps like Cutie Pie. Breakheads check out Carlos Dafe's offering. Blends are unobtrusive and right on, letting the songs breath. I like this CD a lot. And the party? Well you're going to have to get the CD for that info.--Monk

Actually, though, you already have the party info, thanks to this here blog. But I'll repeat those details for any newcomers:

Every Sunday, the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn Party is at Black Betty, 366 Metropolitan (at Havemeyer), Williamsburg, Brooklyn (take the L train to Lorimer or G to Metropolitan). Party starts at 9pm, really gets jumping around 11pm, goes late, usually til 2:30 or 3:00am.

OK, I'll be away from the internets for the next few days, so I wish you all a very Feliz Natal! Beijos!

Comfort foods, of both the Southern and Polish varieties...

2004-12-22T08:20:00.000-05:00

My two most recent posts on Gothamist are last week's review of Greenwich Village's 50-year institution of soul-food yumminess, The Pink Teacup and today's post about my adventures in babka baking. Check them out!

Keeping up with DJ Greg Caz

2004-12-21T20:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got a call from Greg telling me he was DJing tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday. Tonight at Baraza, tomorrow (Wednesday) his regular gig at Nublu, and Thursday with his friend Nat "DJ Busquelo" Rahav at his weekly Thursday salsa get-down at Bembe. Tuesday and Wednesday will involve the usual Brazilian greatness we expect from Greg, whereas Thursday he'll have a chance to dust off a few Latin and Afro-Cuban stormers to a very appreciative crowd.

Unfortunately, I'm probably going to have to miss all three of these gigs, but for those of you looking to forget this cold weather and get all sweaty instead, I couldn't recommend any of these gigs more highly.

Oh, and as a heads-up for my vast readership outside of the U.S. (ha!): things are looking good for a Greg Caz DJ Tour of Europe in February '05. We here at The Brazilian Muse are keeping our fingers crossed that this tour works out OK because it's been FAR too long since Greg's been outside of the country. Far, far too long. But not only that, we would love nothing better than to share his music collection and DJ skills with Europe, as long as NYC gets him back in the end. Will keep you posted on this as more info becomes available...

Brazilian Acoustic Ensemble at BARBES, 12/23

2004-12-20T23:38:00.000-05:00

Barbes is this really cool little music-oriented bar in my neck of the woods (i.e., Park Slope, Brooklyn) that I don't spend nearly enough time at. I'm always intending to go there, but it doesn't happen as often as it should. Last time I was there for Ned Vizzini's reading series (when RKB and Nichelle were guest-hosting) and I had a great time. I've also been there for crazy slavic music and other random stuff I can't remember at the moment. One of the things I like about Barbes is that often there's no cover charge for the live music, and they're not pushy about ordering drinks, which means you can have an inexpensive evening out there.

I wish I could go this Thursday, on Christmas Eve Eve, to hear this, but I can't (as I'll be visiting the folks):

Thursday, 12/23: BRAZILIAN ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE plays mostly Northeastern Brazilian music--frevo, baiao and maracatu--as well as choro. with Billy Newman-Acoustic Guitar; Dionisio Santos–Cavaquinho; Chris Michael–Percussion and Rob Curto–Accordion--all of which have been part of almost every major Brazilian ensemble in the Tri-State area including SoXote, Maracatu NY, Saveiro, Forro in the Dark, etc. They will play traditionals, orginial compositions and also premiere new works by composers from Rio de Janeiro. 9:00pm FREE

If you get to go, let me know how it was, as I've never seen this group before. I am a big fan of Rob's accordion playing, though, so I'm sure it'll be wonderful.

Unsilent Night

2004-12-17T18:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry that this is such short notice, but for those of you in NYC who can withstand cold temperatures, I highly recommend Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night." Here's his description of it from his website:

Every year since 1992 I've presented Unsilent Night, an outdoor ambient music piece for an INFINITE number of boom box tape players. It's like a Christmas carolling party except that we don't sing, but rather carry boom boxes, each playing a separate tape which is part of the piece. In effect, we become a city block long stereo system!

In 2004 the piece will happen on Saturday December 18th. We will meet at the Arch in Washington Square at 6:45 pm, begin at 7 pm and proceed eastward to Tompkins Square Park, where the piece will end around 8 o'clock.

It would be really cool if you could join us and bring a boom box. The more tapes we run, the bigger and more amazing the sound will be. This past Christmas we had 100 boomboxes and over 500 people total, it was really spectacular... If you'd like to do it, please email me at boombox@mindspring.com so I will know how many tapes to make. If you'd like to do it but don't have a boombox, I have several dozen and you can grab one...and if you want to come and just listen, that's cool, too. Help us make a BIG (and joyful) noise.

I went to Unsilent Night last year for the first time, after meaning to go for several years before that. What got me to go was the fact that my friend Michelle Mercer was doing a piece on the event for NPR.

Last year, when we went, it was unbelievably cold, as the weather forecast for tomorrow is promising. But we had a wonderful time. Michelle got to run around with her microphone interviewing everyone (including me!) and recording the sound of the music itself. You can hear her piece on NPR's site, including where I describe what the music sounds like to me.

And speaking of Michelle, I'm so excited that her first book, Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, is available now. It's gotten two great reviews already, including this one from Publishers Weekly:

Legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter gets an appreciative appraisal in this excellent biography by music journalist Mercer, who follows this "determinedly eccentric" genius from his early days with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the late 1950s, through his stunning work with the Miles Davis Quintet in the 1960s, to his popular jazz-rock fusion band Weather Report in the 1970s and his ongoing recording and performing. She carefully details his early influences, including his mother's tireless indulgence of his creative whims and his fascination with the 1948 film The Red Shoes, whose central conflict—living for oneself versus living for one's art—would define his career. Mercer expertly investigates Shorter's relationships with the two pianists who most influenced his music, fellow Davis Quintet member Herbie Hancock and Weather Report co-leader Joe Zawinul, as well as the impact of his Buddhist faith on his music. Mercer also shines in her consideration of some Shorter's less critically acclaimed efforts, including his genre-defying work with Joni Mitchell and Brazilian pop singer and composer Milton Nascimento. Interviews with Shorter, Carlos Santana, Amiri Baraka and dozens of others lend depth and tone to this clear-eyed account.

Michelle has also covered Brazilian music for NPR, like in these pieces, on forro music, Egberto Gismonti, and CDs by Tribalistas and Celso Fonseca. And here's a link to all of her NPR stuff.

The Lesson for Today Is in Portuguese, Part 2

2004-12-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

When I critiqued the New York Times for overlooking the fact that over half of Latin America speaks Portuguese, not Spanish, I was being a bit hard on them, I'll admit. But when Daily Candy decides to promote the new Brazilian-themed Caviar and Banana Brasserio with an email entitled, "Caliente en Nueva Yorke" I am completely within my rights to give them utter crap about this.

What is with the Spanish-language "Hot in New York" title? And if you're going to write in Spanish, please note that it's "Nueva York", not "Nueva Yorke". Sure, most gringo-American types can figure out that "Caliente en Nueva Yorke" is supposed to mean "Hot in New York." And those same monolingual Americans won't know that "Quente em Nova Iorque" is Portuguese for "Hot in New York." They won't even know what language it is, most likely.

So take a different tack in your humor next time, OK? Throw in a Carmen Miranda reference, or a samba/soccer/bunda reference. Go ahead and traffic in those cliches. But, please, oh, please, don't perpetuate the misleading idea that brasileiros se hablan espanol. Cuz they don't, certainly with no more frequency than your typical gringos do. Obrigada.

NYC Pizza!

2004-12-08T22:31:00.000-05:00

My latest Gothamist Food post is up, this time about the new upstart Una Pizza Napoletana of the East Village, which tries to take New York-style pizza back to its Neapolitan roots. I decided to compare it to one of New York City's great pizzerias (and one of my favorites), Brooklyn's Grimaldi's. You can read my article--and the uproarious commentary of my fellow pizza-obsessive Gothamist readers--here.

2 More ALMA Parties This Year

2004-12-04T01:04:00.000-05:00

The ALMA crew and friends--DJ True, Joann Jimenez (Muzikbutrfly), Miller Cruz, Manchildblack, and Reggie Johnson--are throwing it down once again next Friday. Here's the details:

Friday, December 10th, 2004
10pm - 4am
$10 w/RSVP to muzikbutrfly@earthlink.net
$15 General Admission
Sullivan Room
218 Sullivan Street (btwn 3rd & Sullivan)
Contribute a toy for ALMA's toy drive, & receive a free shot of cachaca

And here's their New Year's Eve "White Party" details:

In every city in Brazil, Brazilians have a big party on New Year's Eve, especially in Rio de Janeiro where people go to the beaches to watch fireworks. They usually wear white clothes on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and peace for the year that will follow. The party used to be a kind of religious party, but today it has become a big show for tourists and citizens. In Brazil, most New Year's Eve customs are related to good luck or fortune. After midnight people go to the beach, jump seven waves and throw flowers in the sea while making a wish. This will bring them good luck and fortune. They say that the goddess who protects the sea (YEMANJÁ: Ye + omo + eja) will make their wishes come true. Because of that, some people also light candles in the sand on the beach.

Friday, December 31, 2004
9pm - 3am
$25 general admission (includes complimentary caipirinha)
Sullivan Room
218 Sullivan Street (btwn 3rd & Sullivan)

The Lesson for Today Is in Portuguese

2004-12-03T08:35:00.000-05:00

While I have to give props to The New York Times for praising El Museo del Barrio's new show, Retratos: 2000 Years of Latin American Portraits, I really wish they hadn't titled the article "The Lesson for Today Is in Spanish," considering the fact that more Latin Americans speak Portuguese than speak Spanish. (Of course if one really wanted to nitpick, one could also point out the many other indigenous languages that were once spoken or are still spoken.)

Nevertheless, reading these words makes me want to go check out this exhibit:

How great that New York City's big art institutions are finally catching up with El Museo del Barrio, which started tiny in an East Harlem storefront in 1969 and now perches, larger, grander, still venturesome--and under-visited--on upper Fifth Avenue.

For 35 years the museum has devoted itself to showing Latin American artists, which basically meant introducing them, as almost no one else was doing so. And all that time, it was contributing to a huge new history. Today New York is a Latin American city: well over a quarter of its residents have roots there. That percentage continues to grow, and El Museo, where an eye-opening survey of Latin American portraiture opens today, is growing with it.

So is a broad interest in art from Latin America, to judge by its visibility in museums. Tops among special exhibitions is "The Aztec Empire" at the Guggenheim, focused on material from pre-Columbian Mexico. The show is just fantastic, a killer. It's not only the most intense art experience in Manhattan, but possibly the most intense theatrical experience, too. It will turn your notions of art-as-beauty-and-goodness inside out and infiltrate your dreams.

The Return of GlobalFEST

2004-12-03T07:31:00.000-05:00

This event likely doesn't need any publicity that I might be able to give it, as last year's event was completely sold out and a critical and popular success. So that's not why I'm telling you about it. I'm telling you because it promises to be great. I missed last year's show, but I'm not missing this year's.

World music—-which encompasses traditional and roots sounds from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, as well as hybrid music that draws from many different cultures—-is now established throughout the world as a force to be reckoned with. This broadly defined label ranges from classical to pop with influences from jazz and electronica and its audience has grown tenfold in the past decade. globalFEST, which sold out its debut last January to wide critical acclaim, showcases world music in all its diversity. This year’s festival, which brings thirteen musical acts from five continents to three stages at The Public Theater on January 8, 2005, simultaneously satiates the growing hunger for global sounds, and plants seeds for future touring. A $40 ticket allows all-night access to all three stages, which run from 7:30 p.m. till after midnight at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. (at Astor Place), in New York City. General admission tickets can be purchased in advance from www.telecharge.com or 212-239-6200, or at The Public Theater box office.

The artists that I am particularly curious to hear and see are Ollabelle (I love their debut album), Noche Flamenca (my favorite flamenco troupe ever), Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and Warsaw Village Band. You can also see a complete list of the artists HERE.

World AIDS Day

2004-12-01T22:36:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier today, but I did want to post these links before December 1st, World AIDS Day, was over.

I read a couple very interesting articles about AIDS in Brazil, and what the government (and non-governmental organizations, too) are doing to fight it.

This article talks about smart decisions Brazil has made as a country to fight AIDS, including rejecting an abstinence message (unrealistic, unworkable) in exchange for a use-condoms message, including giving out millions of condoms per year, including to prostitutes.

Brazil's successful prevention outreach to prostitutes may now be off-limits to other AIDS-affected countries, since it conflicts with current U.S. government policy. For example, this memo was sent recently under the signature of Secretary of State Colin Powell to foreign missions of the U.S. Agency for International Development. It warns against directing American taxpayer dollars to any anti-AIDS organization condoning prostitution.

AIDS activists fear the policy effectively bars the 14 nations targeted for assistance under President Bush's new global AIDS initiatives from using U.S. dollars to fund programs like Brazil's. There's little doubt that Brazil's prevention efforts have paid off. New infections have leveled off among homosexual men and they've fallen among intravenous drug users.

The second article talks about the Brazilian government's decision to break AIDS drugs patents:

In a separate interview on Tuesday, he accused major drug companies of collaborating to "keep developing nations hostage to the multinational industry".

Brazil began free drug provision in 1997 in an attempt to prevent the spread and impact of the disease among its young and sexually active population.

About 150,000 Brazilians receive free treatment - out of only 350,000 throughout the developing world.

The number of Brazilians living with HIV has remained at about 600,000 for several years.

But the cost of foreign imported drugs has soared, from about 50% to 85% of the Aids programme's cost.

So, much like their choice to go open-source and fight against Microsoft's financial control of technology, Brazil is refusing to let AIDS spread further and kill faster just to put money in the pockets of the heavily unregulated, completely corrupt, high-profit drug companies. Yet another reason I love Brazil.

BAILE FUNK 2: Feeling the love from DustyGroove

2004-12-01T01:34:00.000-05:00

It's been several months now that Baile Funk 2 has been available for purchase at the Brazilian Beat party itself and at Turntable Lab. I have been meaning to write up a review of it that would do it justice, so that I could convince each and every last one of you that you MUST buy this CD. Not because I'm friends with its makers (I am, I freely admit that), but because it's killer. Because it's unlike anything else out there on the market. And with it in your posession, you can have your own funky Brazilian house party (whether it's a party of one or as many people as you can squeeze into your tiny-ass NYC apartment).

But now DustyGroove.com, one of the best places on earth for Brazilian music, is featuring the CD for sale, too. So you don't have to take my word; here's what THEY have to say about it:

Massive funk from Brazil--a heavy-hitting non-stop mix of tunes that will open your ears to grooves from a source you'd never expect! The set's the handiwork of a team of DJs [Greg Caz and Sean Marquand] that have been grooving the New York scene with Brazilian rarities for the past few years--and the feel of the mix is very much in the spirit of their well-attended Baile Funk nights [at Black Betty]. Tracks are presented in a style that offers most of them in their entirety--never cut up or mixed too much--but rolling into one another with tight segues that really keep up the joyous spirit of the grooves! There's no full set list for the mix, but the CD is compiled from 31 different Brazilian funk classics--by artists that include Carlos Dafe, Os Incriveis, Chico Batera, Som Tres, Boogaloo Combo, Gerson King, Tim Maia, Tony Bizarro, and many others!

So what are you waiting for? Buy it. Hell, buy a couple copies, and give them as Christmas gifts.

Tchau, Rocco

2004-11-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

I had to laugh when I read in the New York Times tonight that

CLAUDE TROISGROS, who once owned CT on East 22nd Street, will start commuting to that street next week with the opening on Thursday of CAVIAR & BANANA BRASSERIO, a Brazilian restaurant with a French inflection. Mr. Troisgros, who owns two restaurants in Rio de Janeiro, said the name referred to his signature beads of tapioca "caviar," which he serves with plantain chips. The executive chef will be BOBBY VARUA. The restaurant, a partnership with [convicted felon] JEFFREY CHODOROW, replaces Rocco's and has been redone with cream, ocean blue and swaths of lace. Mr. Chodorow and Mr. Troisgros also work together at the Blue Door in Miami Beach.

So, the cheesy saga that was Rocco DiSpirito's "The Restaurant" is finally completely and utterly over (thank God) and is being replaced by a Brazilian restaurant, of all things.

I wonder if the food is any good--I'm curious about that tapioca "caviar". I'll have to see if I can find out if they're having any sort of preview for the press--I'd love to go check it out for Gothamist.

If you can't dance, you STILL can't join the revolution

2004-11-30T08:08:00.000-05:00

OK, I posted this last week and somehow misunderstood and thought the event was taking place the day after Thanksgiving (when I was visiting family) instead of Friday, December 10th, as it clearly states in the information below. So I'm clueless sometimes; so sue me. Anyway, I am excited that I'll get to go to this party after all. See y'all there?

"If you can't dance, you can't join the revolution."
(with apologies to Emma Goldman)

Bummed out by the election? Come dance your blues away by celebrating America’s rich tradition of resistance. Commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Emma Goldman, Harvey Milk and Cesar Chavez. Come celebrate human rights in the United States and dance to brazilian, bhangra, arab, latin, hip-hop, african and bollywood beats.

Sholay Productions and Breakthrough present
Desiliscious Dance for Our Human Rights

Upstairs GlobeSonic DJ's Acidophilus and Fabian Alsultany spin 21st Century World Music
dj Stimulus (Real Live Show) spins hip-hop
Greg Caz and Sean Marquand spin Brazilian samba-funk and soul

Downstairs Ashu Rai spins House, 80s, bollywood and bhangra beats

Friday, December 10th--Human Rights Day
10pm to 4 am
Pepper, 95 Leonard Street in Tribeca (Broadway and Leonard)
A/C/E to Canal Street
$10 before midnight $15 after Midnight

Part of the proceeds benefit Breakthrough’s ongoing campaigns for immigrant and women’s rights.

Breakthrough is an international human rights organization that uses education and popular culture to promote values of dignity, equality and justice.

NYC Forro Times Two

2004-11-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

Something I've been remiss on not reporting to you guys sooner is the fact that there are now TWO different forro bands playing in NYC on Wednesday nights. That's right, two. Which I find to be kind of crazy when you really think about it. I mean, here you have this regional, "country" music from Brazil that is hardly known outside of Brazil (in comparison to bossa nova, samba, and even MPB). This music "of maids and taxi drivers". This music that, even in Brazil, is seen as fun but not particularly important.

And yet, in New York City, you now have two different options for dancing (or just listening to) live forro music on Wednesday nights.

This head-to-head competition stems directly from the split of one original band (Forro in the Dark) into two bands (Forro in the Dark and Forro SoXote). Rob Curto, who had played accordion with the original band, left to start the new one after a falling out with with Mauro Refosco, the percussionist who founded Forro in the Dark.

Before the split occurred, Forro in the Dark had built up a raucous Wednesday night following at Nublu that included DJ Greg Caz providing old-school batucada-style sambas to keep everyone's feet moving. I only went to the Nublu parties a few times because they were so late-night (starting around 11:30pm) and so unbelievably packed that I found them to be a bit too overwhelming for me. But lots of my friends loved the party and would encourage me to go more often. DJ Greg always tried to sucker me in by telling me how later in the evening the full-on crush of the crowd would die down a bit into a nice vibe of a party. "When does that happen, Greg?" I would ask innocently. "Oh, around one in the morning," was his reply. Unfortunately for me, my need for sleep trumped my desire to party at Nublu, and so, I didn't get to go too often.

Once the new Forro SoXote party started up at Guernica, I decided to check it out because (1) it started earlier (10pm) and (2) my friend Pedro Ramos (their guitarist) personally invited me. I'd never been to Guernica before (though I'd wanted to check it out for a couple of years, as I'd always heard good things about the place), so the first time I went, I didn't know quite what to expect. Would the Nublu crowd have all migrated over to Guernica? (At the time, Forro in the Dark was on break from Nublu, so Forro SoXote had no competition and could attempt to build up a loyal following.)

Turns out that the true die-hards, those who love to dance forro--and are damn good at it--were there. But the place wasn't packed, or even full--not quite. You could feel the potential for a great party, but it wasn't there yet. DJ Claudio Medusa was spinning vinyl (and CDs) of a Brazilian-Beat variety, but it wasn't the full-on batucada assault that Greg threw down at Nublu.

A few months went by and I didn't get a chance to return. Chalk it up to laziness on my part, not an indication of what I thought of the band or the venue.

Now recently it has come to my attention that since his return from a European tour with David Byrne, Mauro Refosco has gotten together a new line-up of Forro in the Dark and the crowds are returning to Nublu. What this will mean for Guernica's Forro SoXote, I'm not sure. The truth is, I wish that both these bands could succeed, even while going up against each other on the same night. But I worry that even in the amazing city that is New York, that there aren't enough forroistas to support both. I wish there were. But it's kind of like with TV programming, when two medical shows or two cops shows go up against each other--the audience gets divided, and either dilutes the ratings of both, or one wins and the other loses.

Chances are, we won't have two winners in the Battle of Forro. But I wish that it could be so.

UPDATE: Be sure to read Greg Caz's comment (in the comments section), as he provides info on what the future may hold for both of these parties.

My other obsession in life, besides Brazilian music...

2004-11-29T08:10:00.000-05:00

is baking (and cooking). Especially chocolate cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies. From scratch, of course. (Otherwise, what's the point?)

So when Ms. RKB interviewed Clare Crespo over at Gothamist about her fanciful cupcake cookbook, Hey There, Cupcake!, I knew that sooner or later I'd be making some of these crazy cupcake creations, that resemble everything from houses to igloos.

I decided to make the Panda Bear, Koala Bear, and Brown Bear "cubcakes" from the book for Nichelle's birthday party (photos of party here) and they were a huge success, so I wrote it up for Gothamist's "Cook by the Book" column that's usually done by GirlyNYC. It was so much fun, I'm going to make the cupcakes again next weekend for a panda-bear-obsessed friend who's visiting.

Here's a link to the Gothamist piece, but be warned that Gothamist's site's been crashing today.

In looking for a picture of Elis, I found this.

2004-11-28T20:14:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to write about the late, great Elis Regina and her daughter Maria Rita, whose debut album is all I've been listening to lately.

I haven't had a chance to write that up yet (will soon, promise), but in searching for a good photo of Elis that would show the resemblance between her and her daughter (in particular, their smiles), I stumbled across this wonderful photo of Elis with my beloved Caetano.

As far as I know (and I swear I am no expert in these matters) they didn't ever work together musically, and in fact, came down on different sides of the Tropicalia/folk music divide. But based on this photo it seems they hit it off and were friendly. (Given the reported charisma of Elis and the personally witnessed charisma of Caetano, I wouldn't be surprised at all.) If you know more than I on this subject, please feel free to enlighten me in the comments section.

Not quite Brazilian music, but I like it.

2004-11-19T17:26:00.000-05:00

I reserve the right to like all kinds of music, even here on my blog, where I'm supposed to be giving you guys the Brazilian HOTTNESS™ on a regular basis. But I have to tell you about PACHA SoundSystem. I first heard them when they opened for Yerba Buena this past September at Southpaw. I'd gone to hear Yerba Buena, and wasn't really too curious about the opening act, since I'd never heard of them. Wasn't expecting to be impressed or anything. And it's great sometimes, when you have no expectations, that you get totally blown away. Simply put, this band had great stage presence, some fat beats, and I was totally groovin'. The crowd was definitely into it, too, and paid attention for once, instead of talking over the music. I snapped some photos and was even going to post them here, but never got the chance. Now I just found out that they'll be playing at Joe's Pub on Wednesday, December 1st. Here's what it says on the Joe's Pub website:

Expanding on the new global electro sound PACHA (from Pachamama, meaning mother earth) is sending ripples through out the scene. Exposed from birth to the pulse of Palo, Son, Cumbia, Reggae and the whole gamma of the Afro-New World tradition, PACHA's core members Maya, Camila Bancelin and Nova concoct a positively charged blend that will hit you like a rum laced organic smoothie on the hottest summer day. On stage Pacha consists of Maya on Bass, Nova on Beats and Keys, and Camila on Guitar. They are joined by some of the best musicians from New York and abroad, hailing from places as diverse as Japan, Columbia, Dominican republic, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the US, blending styles and influences and keeping the grooves always fresh.

Right now while writing this, I'm listening to this looping sound clip on their website, www.pacha.us. At this point, it's played like six times but I don't even want to turn it off. Such a great groove.

Apparently they also play on Saturday nights at Bembe, in Williamsburg, but I haven't had a chance yet to check them out there. I think it's a stripped-down version of the band, though. Will check it out and let you people know more soon.

Oh, and I also recommended them for Gothamist's next Movable Hype show. We'll see if I can get them (or some Brazilian band) up for consideration. I'm hoping to wield my massive power as a tastemaker of New York (shyeah, right!) to convince Jen Carlson that the next Gothamist music event would do well to have a bit more flava. And perhaps even the type of music that induces dancing in the hipster masses.

Mosquitos: I can't go see them--maybe you can?

2004-11-19T17:17:00.000-05:00

A Brazilianish band, Mosquitos, are going to be in NYC on Thanksgiving Eve (Wed., Nov. 24th) to play Joe's Pub but I will be on my way home to see the folks for Thanksgiving. But maybe some of you can check them out? I've never heard their stuff, but it sounds cool from the description:

The folks in Mosquitos have quickly carved out their own unique niche in the world of music. The trio consists of Brazilian singer Juju Stulbach and Americans Chris Root (vocals, guitar) and Jon Marshall Smith (keyboards, samples, studio trickery). Together, these folks create Brazilian-flavored alterna-pop that goes down nice and easy. The band's music is reminiscent of Ivy, but that is mainly due to Stulbach's breathy vocal style. Sunshine Barato (translated to mean "cheap sunshine"), the band's second full-length, is even better than their debut. And considering what solid footing they started out on, that is really saying something. Barato is bound to be on a great many best of lists for this year. The songs are extremely strong and feature superb arrangements that support the main melody in a variety of intriguing ways. The band's straightforward pop music laced with hints of bossa nova is intriguing and soothing. Both Stulbach and Root have fantastic voices which pushes their music to a higher level. A cool spin from start to finish...featuring killer tracks like "Flood," "Xixizinho no Oceano," "Blue Heart," "Domesticada," and "27 Degrees." A MUST HAVE.

Wednesday November 24
9:30 PM
$15.00

Ed Motta at Joe's Pub This Sunday, November 21st

2004-11-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

This is BIG NEWS. First off, Ed Motta's a big deal (especially because this is only the second time he's played New York, and who knows if he'll be around again any time soon). And my boys, DJs Greg Caz & Sean Marquand (of Brazilian Beat fame) will be spinning the vinyl between sets. I am SO there, and you should be too, especially because after Joe's we can head over to Black Betty for the Brazilian Beat party (yes, my guys will be pulling double duty that night) and you never know, Mr. Ed Motta might decide to join us, if we all cross our fingers and send good vibes his way. How cool would that be?

Anyway, here are the official details, hot off of Joe's Pub presses:

Don't miss this rare NY appearance by Brazil's leading soul man Ed Motta. Motta has established himself as one of the most creative contemporary musicians in Brazil, bringing his rich, deep voice and smooth jazz-funk sensibility to sophisticated MPB (Musica Popular Brasilera) as he extends the samba-soul tradition of his legendary uncle Tim Maia, as well as drawing from such international influences as Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, and Roy Ayers, with whom he collaborated in his last major NY show, at Central Park SummerStage in the late 90's. Dustygroove calls Motta's latest, Poptical
(Trama) "A bold leap forward for . . . the darling of the jazz groove underground! The album's even more experimental than Ed's groundbreaking Dwitza set--and has him working through a warm blend of jazz and soul styles--heavily drenched in 70s-styled keyboard work, with Ed's lush vocals sounding even better than before! The range of expression on the set is amazing--Ed will be scatting at one moment, crooning another, always in perfect step with the album's jazzy keyboard work--soaring along with a really righteous sound."

www.edmotta.com

DJ's Greg Caz and Sean Marquand of Brazilian Beat Brooklyn will spin a sampling of the 70's samba-soul, samba-rock and samba-funk that have made their Baile Funk compilation an underground favorite and turned their weekly parties at Williamburg's Black Betty into the place to place to be on Sunday nights for Brazilian music junkies.

7:30 & 9:30pm, $30

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street (between East 4th Street & Astor Place). Tickets can be purchased at The Public Theater box office Tues-Sat, or via Telecharge at 212.239.6200 or www.telecharge.com. Dinner reservations strongly recommended: please call 212.539.8778 (a ticket does not guarantee a table); and for further show information please call 212.539.8770.

Giving thanks for the Choro Ensemble

2004-11-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

The last time I saw Choro Ensemble at Zinc Bar, they were wonderful--Zinc Bar's a fabulous setting and it suits their music perfectly. Guess Zinc agreed, because they've invited them back for Thanksgiving week next week. Here's the info I got from Pedro Ramos:

Dear Friends and Brazilian Music Lovers:

The Choro Ensemble is pleased to invite you for a three-day concert series at the Zinc Bar on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th of November. If you didn't have a chance to hear us at Carnegie Hall last month, it's time to catch us playing some new repertoire that includes originals by Dom Salvador, Esmeraldino Sales, Anat Cohen and Pedro Ramos. If you did hear us at the big theatre, well, it's time to enjoy our music in a very intimate and cozy place. We hope to see you there.

Your support is essential to our journey. Thank you!

Here's the info:

When: 23, 24, 25 of November, 2004 (Tues, Wed, Thurs)
Three sets starting at 9:30pm sharp.
Where: Zinc Bar, 90 West Houston Street (at La Guardia Place) tel:212-477-8337
How much: $5 cover charge

The Choro Ensemble:
Anat Cohen-clarinet and bass clarinet
Carlinhos Almeida-7 string guitar
Gustavo Dantas-7 string guitar
Pedro Ramos-cavaquinho and tenor guitar
Ze Mauricio-pandeiro

Now I just need a shirt that says"Dulce de Leche Chica" (or "Doce de Leite Garota")

2004-11-15T18:18:00.000-05:00

Rachel's Naughty Spanking Stories: From A to Z
book party was a blast. A few of you read about it here and showed up and even bought copies of the book, which made me happy to have such great, supportive friends.

At the party, I debuted my "chocolate girl" shirt (courtesy of Chocolate Bar) that I bought at the 7th Annual New York Chocolate show, which I covered for Gothamist.

Last week, I did another post for Gothamist all about the Latin American culinary wondrousness known in the U.S. as "dulce de leche." This yumminess goes by several other names: doce de leite (in Brazil), arequipe (in Colombia), manjar (in Chile), cajeta (in Mexico), etc.. It's one of my favorite sweet tastes in the whole world, whether in the middle of an alfajor cookie or straight from the jar, served with a spoon.

Sorry I've been kinda slacking on the posting-about-Brazilian-music, which is the whole purpose of this blog. Seriously, I could spend all day and night doing that and would still forget to write about important stuff going on in the Brazilian music scene in New York City. That's why I love New York, but it can also drive me crazy, that there's so much to see and do and not enough time/energy to do it all.

But here's one new, interesting Brazilian-music related link for ya: a brand-new, kick-ass MP3 blog on Brazilian music (mostly) from a fellow Brooklynite, Acid Cowboy. The site has a great name, too: "an order of progress and a side of fries." (if you don't catch the "order of progress" reference, here's a hint.) Here's the link to his blog, and I'll add it to my "blogs + friends" links on the right-hand side so you guys can always find it. Do check it out!

All these Scorpios...

2004-11-10T18:40:00.000-05:00

No, not me. I'm an Aries, baby. But it seems like over the years I've been acquiring more and more Scorpios in my life. And that's a very good thing.

One of those Scorpios, Rachel Lusty Lady, is celebrating her birthday today and she's also got a book party this Sunday night that you should join us for. It's FREE, there's an OPEN BAR for the 1st hour, and there will be CUPCAKES. Oh! and if you buy a copy of the book (only $10!) you'll even get a SPANK!

And that's because the book is called NAUGHTY SPANKING STORIES: FROM A TO Z
.

Here are the details for the party:

From: Rachel Kramer Bussel
Location: Suede, 161 West 23rd Street, New York, NY
When: Sunday, November 14, 10:00pm to 11:59pm
Phone: 212-633-6113

Please join me and local contributors to celebrate the release of the brand new, red hot spanking erotica collection NAUGHTY SPANKING STORIES FROM A to Z, just out from Pretty Things Press, and featuring stories by Jonathan Ames, Kate Dominic, Michael Hemmingston, Tsaurah Litzky, Bill Noble, Barbara Pizio, Thomas Roche, Simon Sheppard, Sage Vivant, Playgirl editor Michele Zipp and many others. These 28 (I do know my alphabet--there are 2 bonus stories) stories are HOT HOT HOT and books will be on sale for the very low price of only $10. The party is NEXT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 10 pm to midnight at Suede, 161 West 23rd Street. 21+

There will be complimentary drinks from 10-11 and free cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine (yum!), and maybe, just maybe, if you buy a book you can get (or give) a spanking.

Please RSVP to rsvp@goddessy.com with "Rachel's Book Party" in the subject line and your name/names of guests in the body. If you don't get around to it, you can still come, just mention "Stephanie Adams" or me at the door but if you think you'll be attending, please RSVP so I know how many people to expect/cupcakes to bring. Let me know if you have any questions.

Last-minute change of show at Joe's Pub

2004-11-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for Brazilian music tonight:

The brilliant Brazilian pianist and arranger Benjamim Taubkin, principal collaborator and accompanist for Monica Salmaso, and curator of Bahia's Mercado Cultural, will feature his improvisational takes on Brazilian rhythms inlcuding maracatu, choro and maxixe. In addition to his acclaimed work with Salmaso, Taubkin has played with Rafael Rabello, Paulo Moura, and Marlui Miranda, among others. Playing with Zizi Possi, he participated in her CD "Valsa Brasileira"--chosen as the best Brazilian Popular Music album by the SHARP Award in 1993--and also participated in her program "Sobre todas as Coisas". His idiosyncratic arrangements for Samaso, and other artists, have been praised for their interplay of complex and simple.

Tonight's concert will also feature an appearance from members of Samba NY. Led by percussionist-ethnomusicologist Philip Galinsky, one of the foremost experts on samba in the US, Samba NY comprises a culturally diverse group of seasoned samba performers, reflecting the richness and talent of New York and Brazil, and their repertoire spans pagode, choro, batucada and more.

Please note that Monica Salmaso will be unable to perform due to illness.

WYSIWYG video now up

2004-11-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

Today's my lucky day. First I go vote for John Kerry for President, then I come in to work and find that the video of my WYSIWYG performance has now been put up on the web. So, if you weren't able to make it out for the real thing last month, you can check out the video HERE.

Also, speaking of voting, don't forget to vote in my "Quick, name a famous Brazilian!" post, right HERE.

Quick, name a world-famous Brazilian celebrity

2004-11-01T08:07:00.000-05:00

I got an email this morning from a reporter in Brazil:

Hello, Alizinha.

I am a journalist from Brasil and I'm doing a work about Brazilian celebrities around the world.

I have a list of world famous Brazilian artists, but I'm not sure about the precision of that.

I'd like to know if you could help me to build that list in a more accurate way.

So, who are the most famous Brazilian people in USA?

I hope you can help me.

Thanks a lot.

So, people, I'm throwing this out to you--who comes to mind for you when you think of famous Brazilian people? They can be soccer players or models (see photos above), actors, singers, anything.

I already know of way too many Brazilians--Lula, Fernanda Montenegro, Xuxa, and Walter Salles, for example--to be a good judge of this. (And that's not even going in to the musicians I know. That list would be several pages long.)

So, please offer your thoughts in the Comments section, and I'll be sure to post the article (along with a rough translation of it by me) when it's published.