Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
composing stirring anthems and a passion for charting both the experience of blacks
in Brazil and the traditions of his native Minas Gerais.
Fagner
,
Morães Moreira
,
Zé
Ramalho
,
Elba Ramalho
and
Alceu Valença
are leading modern interpreters of
Northeastern music and strikingly original singers.
Renato Borghetti
, from Rio Grande
do Sul, has done much to popularize
gaúcho
-influenced music through his skill on the
accordion and his adaptations of traditional tunes.
Jorge Ben
is arguably the most
danceable of all Brazilian musicians, although the late, great
Tim Maia
, heavily
influenced by US funk and soul (although Brazilian to every last centimetre of his
enormous girth), runs a close second.
Vinícius de Morães
and
Toquinho
are (or were, in the case of Vinícius) a good
singer-and-guitarist team, and
Dorival Caymmi
, who died in 2008, was the grand old
man of Bahian music. While all these figures have been going strongly for decades now,
Zeca Baleiro
from Maranhão, with a
bumba-meu-boi
- and reggae-influenced style, and
Seu Jorge
, born Jorge Mário da Silva and raised in a Rio
favela
, are also popular. Jorge
is no mean actor too, and can be seen basically playing himself in the superb film
Cidade de Deus
- “City of God” (see p.669).
More recent stars of the genre have included
Vanessa da Mata
- her 2004 hit “Ai, Ai,
Ai” is still popular -
Comunidade Nin-Jitsu
, electropop outfit
Bonde do Rolê
, and
rock
bands
such as
Detonautas Roque Clube
,
NX Zero
,
Fresno
and
Vespas Mandarina
. One
of the hottest Brazilian bands right now is
Boogarins
, a psychedelic rock outfit that
started out in humble Goiânia, light years away from the scenes in São Paulo and Rio.
Their 2013 album “As Plantas Que Curam” garnered a favourable reception not just at
home, but also from indie fans in the US and Europe.
