Brazilian Music

Forró music may be defined for many by the centrality of the accordion, but as Analog Africa’s new compilation, Camarão: The Imaginary Soundtrack to A Brazilian Western Movie 1964–1974, demonstrates, a forró trio is two-thirds percussion. The triangle and zabumda form the backbone that Reginaldo Alves Ferreira’s accordion swoops and bounds on. It is forró at its widest definition, a blanket term for a number of northeastern dance genres that use the accordion. It’s Camarão’s compositions playfully orchestrated and filled out with big booming horns and subtle electric guitar licks that would sound at home next to pieces by Ennio Morricone or Ry Cooder, but always driven by the beat.

Putumayo Presents: Brazilian Beat features 11 tracks that cover the spectrum of MPB, or Brazilian popular music, in its current forms. Of course, bossa nova and samba are here, virtually part of the nation's musical DNA by now. Some of it's not even Brazilian – BungaLove, for example, are Italian, but play perfectly convincing Brazilian music, while singer Monica da Silva was born in the U.S. yet manages a laid-back, suave groove on "Ai Então." There's plenty of Brazilian-flavored funk, with both Bruna Caram and Rogê carrying on and updating the '70s sound, adding more beats to the mix. What's apparent from this selection is that there is plenty of good Brazilian music around, building on the traditions that have been forged over the years, and that in artists like Tita Lima and Fino Coletivo the future is in sure hands.