Forro Music comes to San Francisco.
At the newly opened FAVELA, I am taking a leap into something completely new and refreshing. Having a House-Music and Jazz background and growing up in a Brasilian household it was second nature to love Brasilian music. I was hooked from then on. Brasilian music is a very general statement, and believing it's all about Samba and Bossa Nova is naive. I came out of the Samba block as a child where my mother Rosa would blare it and dance all over the house barefoot with my grandmother, (along with some Julio Iglesias does-Brasil shit) and also a jazz based form of Samba called Pagode. Bossa Nova caught my ear me when I began smoking pot and understaning the love I have for Rio and all of my feelings for the Portuguese language. I was inspired by Antonio "Tom" Jobim, and later Vinicius and Baden Powell. Aside from playing deep house at underground House parties, I would enjoy my private collection of Jazz and Bossa Nova. As i got older and the more trips I made to Brasil the more I began to learn.
During my 6 month visit to Rio in 2000 I discovered Forró (Fo-ho), which translates to FOR ALL. Developed in almost all states of the Northeast, the forró was played by "BANDAS DE PIFANOS" for private parties or ballroom and for many different celebrations. The band was composed of two pífanos ( small bamboo or PVC tube flute), zabumba ( bass drum played with two sticks-The top one giving the open bass tone and other stick giving the higher pitched sound ) and caixa ( snare drum ). These instruments can be traced back to those used on the Iberian peninsula and in Italy hundreds of years ago and that are still played to this day for many different events-religious festivals, etc. In Portugal and Spain there was a heavy Arabic influence, namely through the guitar and it part was brought to Brazil where it blended with indigenous music giving us what is forró. There is also the famous accordion that graces the sound of Forró with the village and earth quality. There are several forms of Forró: Xote, Xaxado, São João; the rhythm is in constant flux and to dance to Forró is not to be taken as serious as say Salsa, Cumbia, or Merengue. The dance is a two person ballroom position, though the movements are up to the dancers based on mood of the room, tempo, and style.
Check out this compilation released by Luaka Bop: http://www.luakabop.com/brazil/cmp/lyrics3.html you can get a feel for the lyrics and thanks to Luaka Bop and David Byrne (to name a few) that made Forró a name in the States, and Canada.
Some Famous Forró musicians:
1) Luiz Gonzaga
2) Jackson do Pandeiro
3) Gal Costa
4) Gilberto Gil
5) Marinalva
"This is party music. It's party music from people who've been through hard times, who live in a parched, unforgiving area of Brazil, the Northeast... The people who make and dance to the music are most often brown. Like their earth. It is the brown sound. Chão." — David Byrne
Comments