Issue No. 7: Brazilian Jazz

This issue, we are taking a look inside of one of the biggest growing countries, Brazil. The Federative Republic of Brazil is the largest nation in South America, and the fifth largest in the world. Brazil was famously the landing place for almost 40% of all slaves during the African slave trade, and the last nation to abolish slavery in 1888. A governmental campaign between the early 19^th century and the end of the 20^th century brought about five million central European immigrants into the country. Brazil’s sociopolitical history is a complex and vibrant one. The mix between the indigenous Brazilian population, imported African slaves and central European immigrants, and European colonizers have woven an intricate and multifarious culture, where it’s residual effects have produced some of the most riveting and original music in the world.

Needless to say, looking at music as the microcosm of Brazil’s rich and varied culture was an intimidating task. Our articles for this issue were as much of a research project for us as it will be for our readers dropping in. One of our solutions was to call on some folks who have been doing this work for far longer than our very insignificant—in the grand scheme of things—2-month issue. We decided to collaborate with one of the most beloved music venues in NYC, Sounds of Brazil, aka SOB’s, a 29-year old mainstay of New York’s Brazilian music community. The owner Larry Gold, the amazing visionary who opened up the club in 1982 has so graciously offered to give tickets to Revivalist readers every week of the Brazil Issue for their amazing event “The Brazil Show” that has been a staple of SOB’s for 29 years, and still going strong.

The actual “sounds of Brazil” in our exploration, encompass expressions such as the Bossa Nova of the 1960s, to Baile Funk from Rio with sounds borrowed from Miami bass, to Axe—the dance genre native to Bahia that is influenced by Western pop and Caribbean calypso and reggae, and the unique blend between Catholicism and African polytheistic spiritualism as seen in the hybrid religion Candomblé, ripe still with Yoruban customs, sounds, and rhythms.

Our hope is to excavate deeply into the culture of Brazil, using music as the entry point. We want to understand the romanticism surrounding Brazil’s racial democracy, the spiritualism behind Carnival, their most commercial tourism staple, and the music that is the lifeblood of their very diverse people.

Ciao,

Boyuan Gao

Editor-in-Chief