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Zeca Pagodinho - Samba Master

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With such a rich history and so many influences, it is difficult to define the music of Brasil. From my prospective, music is a backdrop for all human activity.

I will present some of my favorite artists here, but I do prefer complete musicians, who write and perform their own music, rather than song interpreters. In a contest between John Lennon and Elvis, for example, Elvis would not stand a chance. (no hate male please - this is just my own opinion)

Zeca Pagodinho was born in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. He has spent his entire adulthood perfecting the urban Samba, and he does it with style, using traditional instruments like the cavaquinho (small four stringed instrument), the pandeiro (tambourine), and various drums.

The presence of the pulsating samba drums take some getting used to, but is is the message in the words and the feeling in the delivery that make Zeca's music so popular with the masses.

Since 1986, he has released 14 recordings (record or CD), which have all been at the tops of the charts, and of these, 7 were gold, and 5 were platinum.

Usually collaborating with others in songwriting, his music is happy, mischevious, street-wise and cocky, amorous, creative, and even disposessed. His works are true chronicles of the modern life in this country with so many social and economic hardships.

Notable sucesses in recent times were "Descubrí que te amo demais" (I discovered that I love you too much", "Faixa Amarela" (Yellow Ribbon,- the story of a man is planning to string across the portal to the favela to show how much he loves the woman), and "Deixa a Vida Me Levar" (Let Life Take Me Where it Will, which was the unofficial theme song of the Brazilian National Football (soccer) Team in the last world cup)

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DJAVAN

DJAVAN - The Natural Succession of Bossa Nova

Born to a poor family in the northeastern state of Alagoas, Djavan has enjoyed a career of nearly 30 years of composing and performing. Djavan is categorized as being in the "MPB" genre of music, which translates as Musica Popular Brasileira, or Popular Brasilian Music (pretty easy translation, that one)

MPB is the overwhelming most popular category of music in Brazil, and it encompasses music like english speakers would call middle-of-the road, pop, easy favorites, things like that.

His maturity and his art seem now to be in full bloom, and show the results of his lifetime acheivements. Having worked with all of the major artists of Brasil, a well as international artists, he has developed a recognizable style and a rich repertoire of original compositions.

Drawing on bossa nova, jazz, funk, rap, and traditional music from Brasil, he has adapted to modern tastes and is probably more popular than ever right now. His two CD live set (each CD sold individually in Brasil) was an instant success, with tremendous sales.

His voice has a very distinctive, and readily recognizable quality, and his guitar work is fluid and tasteful, and never dominant in his songs. I first noticed the music of Djavan in 1998, while riding in a taxi cab in Rio, and I asked the driver who that was that was making such an original sound.

I asked the driver to take me to the music store, which happened to be Birimbau Music at the corner of N.S. de Copacabana and Prodo Junior in Rio, and I purchased the CD Bicho Solto, which is still my favorite.

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Jorge Ben Jor - with a few friends in Rio

Jorge Ben Jor - Samba Rock

A longtime Rio de Janeiro favorite, Jorge Ben grew up in Madureira, a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. From an early background of church and Carnaval music, he sprung into the Bossa Nova scene of the early 60s. He was signed with a local record company, and several of hiis works were recorded by interpreters such as Sergio Mendes, Herb Alpert, José Feliciano, and Trini Lopez.

He had several major hits in Brasil in the 60s and appeared often alongside such greats as Elis Regina, Robert Carlos, and the tropicalistas Caetano and Gil. In 1969 he had enormous success with several songs, and became a television hit. After several hits in the 70's he left the center spot of success in Brasil for nearly a decade. He toured extensively outside Brasil and gaining a significant following. In 1989, he changed his performing name from Jorge Ben to Jorge Ben Jor, and in 1991 and 1992 launched a new phase and his music was again at the top of the play lists in the dance halls and at the top of the charts in Brasil.

His trademark is his eclectic instrumentation, with electric guitar, horns, and his iinfluences of American Funk and Soul on the traditional Brasilian Samba. The result is an original loud and full sound (it has been called noisy), and it is another original Brasilian style, that has been copied by numerous imitators. This is party music, grouped in the record stores somewhere between the Rock and the Samba. My favorite song is "Pais Tropical", which was recorded originally in 1969, and it remains one of his mainstays.

The original picture on the left features Jorge with some of my friends from Brasil, from left to right: Regina, (do not know), Christina, Jorge Ben, and Grace.

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Aquarela - Watercolor by Gabriela Stelz

AQUARELA

Aquarela is a beautiful song about travel through watercolor. Currently very popular currently in Brazil, especially with children, it offers pleasant imaginary visuals - but voices trepidation about futuristic invention.
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AQUARELA - Toquinho
WATERCOLOR

Numa folha qualquer
On whichever piece of paper

Eu desenho um sol amarelo
I draw a yellow sun

E com cinco ou seis retas
and with five or six strokes

É fácil fazer um castelo
It?s easy to make a castle

Com o lápis em torno da mão
With a pencil in the curve of my hand

Eu me dou uma luva
It is like a glove

E se faço chover
and if I make it rain

Com dois riscos tenho um guarda-chuva
With two quick scribbles, I have an umbrella

Se um pinguinho de tinta Cai num pedacinho azul do papel
If a drop of ink falls in a blue spot on the paper

Num instante imagino
I instantly imagine

Uma linda gaivota a voar no céu
a pretty gull flying in the sky

Vai voando
And he goes flying

Contornando a imensa curva norte-sul
Skirting an immense North-South curve

Vou com ela, Viajando, Havaí, Pequim ou Istambul
And I go with her, traveling to Hawaii, Peking, or Istambul

Pinto um barco a vela branco, navegando
I paint a small boat with a white spinniker, sailing

É tanto céu e mar num beijo azul
With so much sky and sea in a blue kiss

Entre as nuvens
Between clouds

Vem surgindo um lindo avião rosa e grená
There appears a pretty pink and green airplane

Tudo em volta colorindo
Everything in return coloring

Com suas luzes a piscar
With its lights blinking

Basta imaginar e ele está partindo
It's enough to imagine and the plane is taking off

Sereno, indo
Serenely, going

E se a gente quiser
and if we wish

Ele vai pousar
The plane will land

Numa folha qualquer
On whichever piece of paper

Eu desenho um navio de partida
I draw a ship casting off

Com alguns bons amigos
With some good friends

Bebendo de bem com a vida
Drinking to the good things in life

De uma América a outra
From one America to another

Eu consigo passar num segundo
I can travel in a moment

Giro um simples compasso
I turn a simple compass

E num círculo eu faço o mundo
and in a circle I make the world

Um menino caminha
A boy who is walking,

E caminhando chega no muro
And walking, he arrives at a short
wall

E ali logo em frente
and there in front of him

A esperar pela gente o futuro está
waiting for us is the future

E o futuro
And the future

É uma astronave que tentamos pilotar
Is a spaceship that we try to fly

Não tem tempo nem piedade
it does not have time nor mercy

Nem tem hora de chegar
Nor does it have any scheduled arrival time

Sem pedir licença, muda a nossa vida
Without asking for permission, it changes our lives

E depois convida a rir ou chorar
And later invites us to laugh or to cry

Nessa estrada não nos cabe
In this path we are taking, it does not suit us

Conhecer ou ver o que virá
To know or to see what it will come

O fim dela
At the end of it all

Ninguém sabe bem ao certo
Nobody knows with certainty

Onde vai dar
Where it will lead us

Vamos todos numa linda passarela
We all follow a pretty pathway

De uma aquarela que um dia enfim,
Of a watercolor that one day at last

Descolorirá
It?s color will fade

Numa folha qualquer
On whichever piece of paper

Eu desenho um sol amarelo
I draw a yellow sun

E descololirá
and it?s color will fade

E com cinco ou seis retas
and with five or six strokes

É fácil fazer um castelo
It's easy to make a castle

E descolorirá
and it?s color will fade

Com o lápis em torno da mão
With the pencil around the hand

Eu me dou uma luva
It is like a glove

E descololirá
And it will fade