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.