Nação Zumbi originated in the early 90s, climbing like a ‘crab with brains’ from the fertile mud of the delta on which the north-eastern Brazilian city of Recife grew. Back in the 90s Recife was struggling, suffering under... Read Article
Nation Beat‘s ability to meld American and Brazilian roots music seamlessly has never been as evident as on their latest EP, Carnival Caravan, a simmering summer-ready release which sees the Brooklyn-based group – led by maracatu master percussionist... Read Article
“Poetry, music and painting can’t save the world. But they can save a moment.” These were the words of the Portuguese poet Matilde Campilho, whose collection Joquei was the best-selling book at this year’s Paraty International Literary Festival,... Read Article
Here we present our first ever mix from Epic Vinyls from Brazil aka DJ Contracapa, a Danish musicologist and huge Brazilian music fanatic. This mix seeks to show the deep connection with Africa that exists in Brazilian music,... Read Article
This is a pure ‘roots’ (raíces) mix from French DJ and Brazilian music expert Boebis as he explores coco, samba de roda, pontos de macumbas, capoeira, maracatú, jongo and other afro, spiritual and folkloric music from Brazil on... Read Article
We’re big fans of Nation Beat and their mix of New Orleans gristle and Maracatu heartbeat, so we were pretty chuffed to see this video of the title song from their album Growing Stone:
Pernambuco is one of the musical epicentres of Brazil, full of infectious rhythms and traditions such as caboclinho, forró, candomblé and baião. Since the emergence of Mangue Bit in the early 90s this has been even more the... Read Article
In the second part of Sounding Out the Swamp: Recife, Pernambuco, and The Cultural Rise of Northeastern Brazil (read part one here) Gregory Scruggs looks at how manguebit affected the musical landscape of Northeastern Brazil, starting with the... Read Article
Growing Stone begins with the maracatu meets New Orleans energy of “Puxa O Boi”, which with it’s funky guitars comes across as a pacified Chico Science e Nacao Zumbi. It’s followed by “Bicu De Lambu” which plays forró... Read Article
Nation Beat are a due based in the US who combine maracatu (and other rhythms from northeast Brazil) with styles from America’s deep south; cajun music, zydeco, country. It may sound like an incongruous mix, but it works.... Read Article
Part one of a two-part series by Gregory Scruggs exploring the emergence of Pernambuco as one of the musical epicentres of Brazil. The first part looks at the history of Pernambuco and the beginnings of a musical revolution in the state, brought on by Chico Science and the Manguebit movement.
“Volteeeeeiiii Recife…!” (Recife, I’m back!) “Foi a saudade que me trouxe pelo braço…” (Missing you has dragged me back). When I think of Carnival in Recife and Olinda in the North East of Brazil, the first thing that... Read Article
