Nicholas WhelanSenior Project Essay

”From Samba to Bossa Nova”

Music is a vastly accessible and universal form of expression and art;

transcending even language itself in it’s potential to be communicated beyond the

common barriers of dialect, education, and social stature. Whether it is portrayed

through a Mozart symphony or a street performer drumming on a garbage can, it is

music. Popular music has been defined as the integration of various influences to

create a specific sound for the majority of a population. Brazilian popular music

incorporates African, Portuguese, European, and American influences; each derived

cultural contribution was combined with the earliest form of samba to ultimately

create bossa nova. Brazilian popular music went through a number of different

phases as a direct result of the government’s nationalism, the social hierarchy of the

prominent cities, and the diverse tastes of interchanging generations.

Only in Africa can one find the true birthplace of the samba rhythm. African

spiritual rituals used rhythm as a medium between their deities and themselves

(Schusterman). “Orixá” is the word they used for their deities and the style of music

played for the orixá was referred to as “afoxé.” The goal of their rituals was to

hypnotize and entrance the priests and dancers with the combination of rhythm and

songs (Behague 342), making them feel as if they were possessed by the orixás. The

drummers, however, needed to maintain their complex and syncopated rhythms, so

they were not supposed to get possessed by the orixás. This ceremony of percussion

is extremely different from the music used for praise in Christianity and Judaism,

and that is what makes these musical aspects of African religion so interesting.

The rhythm used for the orixá Iansa (see track 1) is very close to a modern

Samba rhythm (see track 2) (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). It has a similar

pattern and it also shares the same feeling of time, 2/4 (see track 3). The average

pop song in America has a key signature of 4/4, which means each bar has a count of

four beats. The key signature 2/4 has a count of two beats, giving the rhythmic

pattern a faster and more repetitive feeling. The similarity of these two rhythms

goes to show more evidence how Latin music is rhythmically based off of ancient

African beats, which could go back to dates as early as the birth of Christ. The reason

for the African resemblance found in Latin music is none other than the great

enslavement of the African people which happened between four and five hundred

years ago.

In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese first took part in the Atlantic slave

trade, obtaining free labor in South America for growing things such as sugar cane,

tobacco, cotton and much more. Over the next three hundred years, around four

million slaves had been brought in to Brazil’s biggest slave port, which was first

called “San Salvador” by the Portuguese, but then later changed to “Bahia” (Brasil,

Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). Since European disease and the Portuguese explorers

killed off most of the Brazilian natives, the slaves became the majority of the

population in the region. This led to an extreme shift of culture, a wide variety of

musical genres, and the large black population that still makes up Bahia today.

The slaves were prohibited from practicing their religion and forced to pray

to the Catholic Church, however, they would continue to secretly pray to the orixá of

Africa instead of the “Almighty Catholic God (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa).”

These two religious views began to mix, and caused the emergence of a religion

known as “Candomble.” The rhythms of African orixás were still used for religious

purposes, and were still danced to by the women who followed Candomble. This

created a dance known as “semba.” The semba dance would be performed to

specific African drum patterns, and it is said that those drum patterns received the

name “Samba” because of the similarity it has with the word “semba.” The slaves

carried these rhythms along with them through generations since they were some of

the few remnants that reminded them of their homeland.

With the great European invasions of Napoleon, the entire Portuguese court

had fled Portugal in fear of losing their lives (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa).

Heading farther south than Bahia, they settled in a region known as “Rio de Janeiro,”

and declared it as the Portuguese capital in 1808. With the arrival of the Portuguese

came a style of music created by the fusion of folk forms and court poetry, called

modinha (track 4). It was a kind of love song that began as a genre of simple

melodies but was later embellished with ornate musical aspects for operas and

theaters. It is said that an extremely erotic monk, who used song to seduce women,

developed modinha. Modinha did not have a major influence on Brazilian Samba,

but it did add yet another influence to Brazilian music.

In 1822, Brazil broke off from Portugal to become an independent state

(Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). Sixty-six years later, slavery was finally

abolished making Brazil the last major country to abolish slavery. With the slaves

free to leave the plantations, many headed south to the Capital, Rio de Janeiro. It was

here that the African rhythms were combined with European models such as the

polka and the waltz (Perrone 107). No matter where they came from, influences in a

city that had such a large and diverse population were blended together to create

something different. Immigrants from Germany, Italy, and Spain had settled in Rio,

modeling the city after the metropolitan layouts of Europe and turning the area into

a rapidly expanding city of about half a million.

It was at the house of a Candomble priestess where the first Samba song

from Rio was performed (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). The man who

composed the song was called “Donga,” and the name of the first song he created in

1916 was “Pelo Telephone” (see track 5), which means “on the telephone.” The

house owner’s name was Tia Ciata, and since she had a decently large house, she

decided to have performers put on shows on a regular basis. Her house was a

musical environment filled with dancers, drummers, and lots of great food. Because

of surroundings such as those at the house of Tia Ciata, the music of Rio was able to

take new directions and construct a more ideal genre of Brazilian music. “Pelo

Telephone” was very well known in its time period and still is to this day, due to the

catchy melody it consists of and the fact that it is one of the first Brazilian samba

compositions.

An urban stylized version of samba was created a few years after the release

of “Pelo Telephone” (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). This new version was

known as “choro” (pronounced SHO-ru) (Collison) and it was formed when Afro-

Brazilian rhythms were blended with European dancing styles. It was the first

Brazilian genre to become popular in Europe, and it allowed Europe to get a taste of

this entirely different musical style. A major figure in the beginning of choro was a

man named “Alfredo Da Rocha Viana Filho,” or better known as “Pixinguinha.” He

was a composer as well as a musician, and some say he may have been the best

musician in all of Brazil. Along with Donga, Pixinguinha would also perform at the

house of Tia Ciata regularly. This goes to show how productive just a few very

talented musicians can be in the right surroundings.

As Pixinguinha excelled in his musical interest, he ended up with a band of

his own called “Os Batutas” (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). The group played

choro so well that they wound up being invited to give a European tour. This caused

an outrage in the white population of Rio, because even though black discrimination

was banned, white supremacy was still a prominent notion. It is quite fascinating to

see the black prosperity that music allowed in such prejudicial times. Aside from the

outrage of the public, Os Batutas toured throughout Europe, representing the music

of Brazil. In Europe, Pixinguinha heard American jazz for the first time, and began to

mix it with both choro and samba. He also switched from flute to saxophone due to

the influence of American jazz musicians. He learned two crucial lessons during his

journey to Europe. One being that Brazilian and western music are constantly

blending together, and the second lesson was that those who became too influenced

by the western styles were to be criticized in Brazil. Pixinguinha had to learn this

the hard way when his famous song, “Carinhoso” (see track 6) got highly criticized

in Brazil for having too much foreign influence. The criticism, however, was not

enough to ruin him; Pixinguinha remained as famous as he ever was, if not more so,

and went down as a player who pioneered Brazil’s connection with jazz.

The richer white population of Rio appreciated choro because of the

European twist that it consisted of, however, they did not appreciate the authentic

form of samba (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). Being that the samba artists

were mostly black workers who belonged to the poorer social class, the lyrics spoke

about the everyday suffering and struggling that one experienced when they lived in

poverty. This expression through song led to discrimination and even harassment

from the authorities. In 1928, the first so-called “samba school” was opened up. The

school was quite simple; it was a place for people to meet, rehearse, and plan

activities for the pre-lent carnival.

The police banned any dark skinned group from marching down the

predominantly white streets of Rio during the carnival (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba

to Bossa). The police also began to outlaw any samba related party. This was

because the samba culture romanticized the hustlers, scammers, and players of

Brazil, known as the “malandros.” With this new outlaw against samba, artists began

disguising their conventions using candomble. Tia Ciata was a priestess, and any

gathering that went on in her house was claimed to be a religious meeting. The

samba continued to be played discreetly, but that would all change soon.

With military help, Getúlio Vargas seized power over Brazil in 1930 (Brasil,

Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). He began as a dictator, influenced greatly by figures

such as Hitler and Mussolini, and as such he had complete control. He did not allow

strikes, but he promoted industry and social welfare because he was not only a

dictator but also a populist. He figured that banning samba was not the correct way

of terminating the malandro culture. Instead, he appropriated the music and used it

as a tool of unification by making a few changes in the genre’s theme. The lyrics

changed from stressing the pain of poverty to teaching patriotic lessons of Brazilian

history. Samba schools were encouraged, but with strict rules of using nationalism

as the theme of the music. With the spread of radios and the lessons being put in the

music, one could learn the history of Brazil by listening to carnival samba also

known as Samba Carnavalesca (Reily 313) (see track 7).

With the new patriotic samba that was encouraged by Vargas came a split

between two social classes. While the lower class still sang about the malandros in

their Samba, the middle class preferred the more melodic and sophisticated style

that sung about Brazil, “Samba Canção” (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). A

guitarist, singer, and composer named Dorival Caymmi contributed to this middle

class appeal of Samba. Unlike the other styles of samba, an individual as well as a big

band could sing Samba Canção. Caymmi was a huge figure, being the first celebrated

solo singer songwriter. His guitar playing was peculiar and soft, creating a subtle

background harmony for his deep and delightful voice (track 8). The compositions

he created were fresh and simple and his lyrics sang about Bahia, the sea, the

fisherman, and all of the wonderful aspects that make up Brazil.

In 1939, president Vargas signed the “Good Neighbor Agreement” with the

U.S.A (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). This ended the connection with Nazi

Germany and strengthened links with America. This was just in time for samba’s

first international super star and most famous Hollywood actress, Carmen Miranda.

Although Miranda was not considered a true Brazilian because she was born in

Portugal, she still managed to conquer the public of Brazil in the 1930’s, and later,

that of the United States. Her samba style was not very authentic in the sense that it

was not simple and related to the struggles of poverty, but instead was rich with

instruments and humorous (track 9).

Miranda’s music was written by some of the best samba songwriters of the

time, Dorival Caymmi and Ary Barrosso (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). She

sang on broadway, starred in Hollywood films, and even sang at the whitehouse for

President then Franklin Roosevelt. After her visit to the U.S.A, she came back to Rio

and was booed off of the stage for being too Americanized. This led her to her album

called “They say that I came back Americanized” (track 10), which was a witty and

graceful masterpiece. Although many appreciated Miranda for her musical talent,

many thought that her comical style was a disgrace to the genre of music that once

represented the struggle of the Brazilian people.

In the northeastern region of Brazil, another large musical figure had been

born. Being the son of a farm worker, Luiz Gonzagas was around the poorer

population of Brazil (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). His life soon changed

when he appeared on a radio show in Rio, which was hosted by none other then the

great samba songwriter Ary Barrosso. Gonzaga proved that Barrosso’s nationalistic

samba could be matched by fast paced dance music from the northern countryside.

It was called “Forro” (track 11), and Gonzaga was the advocate for this style, which

soon swept down through Brazil from the remote northeast. Forro was not similar

sounding to samba, but what linked the two was the great popularity they both had

in Brazil.

A new era of migration resurrected when the people of the northeastern

farmlands moved down south to big cities such as Rio and Sao Paulo in search of

work (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). At the time, Luiz Gonzaga wrote songs

and sang about the lives of the migrants and everything they left behind. The songs

often had a sad feeling to them because the fate most men had in the city was

dreadful. Since Gonzaga himself was from the northeast, he could relate to the men

and represent the spirit within each of them with his songs. In the northeast, people

had to deal with things such as social injustice, drought, and great poverty, so life in

the city in comparison sounded satisfactory.

Gonzaga became both a musical icon and a social icon, for he was also

responsible for the stereotype that all northeasterners wear leather as he did

(Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). After his death in 1989, a statue of him was

erected near his hometown in Recife. He reminded Brazil of the depth that country

music consisted of, and also showed how music is as important in the remote areas

of Brazil as it is in Rio and Sao Paulo. He opened the way for other northeastern

musicians such as Jackson do Pandeiro. Pandeiro was best known for creating a new

style known as “coco”, with his most popular song called “Chiclete com Banana”

(track 12). The lyrics of the song made fun of America’s lack of understanding

Brazilian music.

“I’ll only put bebop in my Samba, when Uncle Sam plays the

tambourine. When he gets a pandeiro and zabumba, when he

learns that samba isn’t rumba. Then I’ll mix Miami with

Copacabana, I’ll mix bubblegum with banana, and that’s how my

samba will be.”

Getulio Vargas, the president who appropriated samba to promote

nationalism, died in office in 1954 (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). After

hearing about a government corruption scandal, the people of Brazil demanded his

resignation, however, he shot himself in the heart before any of the people’s

demands took action. Less than a year later, Carmen Miranda died in Hollywood at

the age of just forty-six. She was then flown to Rio where a million people followed

her coffin. Vargas and Miranda were not the biggest idols musically because of

Vargas’ strict rules and Miranda’s Americanized style of Samba. Although their ideas

with music were not so appreciated, they still helped to transform the international

image of Brazil by promoting both samba and carnival.

During the last years of Vargas’ rule, the Brazilian carnival became much

more popular (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). Tourists from foreign countries

came to watch the magnificent event, and listen to the wonderful music being

played by the samba schools. Elza Soares is an extremely flamboyant samba diva

that carries the spirit of carnival with her wherever she goes. She is a singer, and she

performs with one of the many samba schools that compete during the carnival. To

Soares, carnival is not just about jumping around and going crazy, but it is about

telling the story of Brazil. It was promoted by Vargas many years ago and is now a

world famous event of Brazil.

Less than two years after the death of Vargas came “Bossa nova”, or “the new

way” (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). Bossa nova arrived at the beginning of a

new political era in which the president at the time, President Juscelino Kubitschek,

made the promise of fifty years development in only five. Because of their world cup

win in 1958, it seemed as if Brazil was succeeding at everything. With all of these

modern aspects coming together, this specific time period seemed like a golden age

to the population. Bossa nova was a cool and futuristic form of samba that reflected

the national optimism going on at the time. Aimed at the richer social class, bossa

nova consisted of western classical music, jazz from America, and the nationalistic

samba canção, turning it into a more sophisticated style of music.

Bossa nova at its very beginning was played with nothing more than a guitar

and vocals. The samba style of guitar was jittery and unpredictable with short and

jumpy notes (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa) (track 13). The bossa nova style

was more defined and a lot smoother, made up of soft and even strokes with the

thumb (track 14). Joao Gilberto, the king of bossa nova (Thompson), played the

gentle Bossa nova style in his early years of music. Gilberto practiced his thumb

strokes so often that his cat once jumped off of an eight-story building and

committed suicide out of boredom. He also used to try and seek out different chords

from classics that he had been playing for forty years. It just shows his dedication

and obsession for the music he played, which is necessary for any outstanding

musician.

If Gilberto was the greatest bossa nova performer, then a man named

Antonio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim) was the greatest composer (Brasil, Brasil: From

Samba to Bossa). He composed many of Gilberto’s songs and even sung and played

piano quite nicely himself (track 15). People such as Celso Fonseca, a Brazilian

singer and composer, believed that he was the most important songwriter because

he was made up of Brazil. He lived on the countryside in a small house surrounded

by waterfalls, streams, trees, and mountains. All of these commodities make up

Brazil, and influenced the songs of Jobim, for it was in the countryside where he

would write most of his music. The third member of the team that dominated Bossa

nova was the poet, Vinicius de Moraes. He was a very influential person as well as an

amazing lyricist. According to a Brazilian composer and singer, Carlos Lyra, Moraes

was the best lyricist and never made any mistakes with the lyrics he wrote.

In Rio, there was an alleyway just off of Copa Cabana beach called “Bottles

Alley,” an area known as the main focus for music around the early sixties (Brasil,

Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). Within the alleyway was “Bottles Bar,” a spot where

Bossa nova groups first started meeting up with jazz enthusiasts and collaborating

their styles. Pianist and bandleader Sérgio Mendes was one of the jazz enthusiasts

who played with figures such as Jobim. Charlie Byrd is another musician who had

played at bottles alley a few times, and brought Bossa nova back to the U.S as “The

Brazilian Jazz.” He hyped up the movement to his friend, Stan Getz, one of the great

American saxophonists. They released an album in 1962 called “Samba Jazz,” which

reworked Gilberto and Jobim’s song “Desafinado.” The album was a best seller, and

stayed on the American charts for an astonishing seventeen weeks. Bossa nova

suddenly became a new American craze flooding stores with albums of Brazilian

and American influence.

Gilberto, Jobim, Mendez, and Lyra made up what was known as the “Bossa

Hierarchy.” They were invited to Carnegie Hall to play a big concert in November of

1962 (Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa). After all the time spent in America, the

group began to split up, leaving Jobim in America. He didn’t like what was

happening to bossa nova in America; he thought it was getting too commercialized.

Also, Carlos Lyra was despised in Brazil for playing bossa nova that was too

Americanized. There was too much jazz in the new bossa nova songs played by Lyra,

so he was to leave Brazil for Mexico. In early 1964, the “bossa boom” of Brazil was

coming to an end. It had moved up to America, where the best-known bossa nova

song of all time was about to become a massive hit. The song was called “Garota de

Ipanema” (track 16), and was written by Jobim. It became a big hit when translated

into English (Girl from Ipanema) and sung by Astrud Gilberto (track 17), Joao

Gilberto’s wife. Astrud was just an ordinary housewife until Jobim heard her singing

to herself and turned her into a star (Mckusic). After Jobim’s success, he continued

to play music around the world, leaving the bossa nova period to slow down in both

Brazil and America.

Although the entire notion of popular music pertaining to a specific culture is

about the fusion of varied heritages, the American rendition of bossa nova wasn’t

quite appreciated by the Brazilians. They preferred their own authentic, and

perhaps simpler, style to the American style, which seemed overly affected by jazz.

The distaste for foreign-influenced Brazilian music is first seen in Pixinguinha, then

Miranda, and finally Lyra. This process of continuously manipulating and changing

what was originally samba to become what can be considered an entirely new genre

of music is not a new concept by any standard; the emergence of American jazz

came about in part by blending of European music styles and the rhythms of

American slaves in the south, effected by many other factors along the way. The

evolution of samba to bossa nova contributed to an era of productivity, its

ubiquitous quality bringing the people together and encouraging patriotism; the

actual music served as the heartbeat and livelihood of Brazil at the time.

Works CitedBehague, Gerard. "Afro-Brazilian Traditions." The Garland Encyclopedia of World

Music; South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean . New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. , 1998. 342-343.

Brasil, Brasil: From Samba to Bossa. 20 Oct. 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF0DTzkpsHo&feature=related>.

Collison, Ellen. A Brief History of Choro. 04 Jan. 2010 <http://www.dirtylinen.com/linen/92/brazil.html>.

Mckusic, Hal. Bossa nova Nick Whelan. 08 Oct. 2009.

Perrone, Charles A. "Popular Music of Brazil." The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music; South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Vol. 2. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998. 107-111.

Reily, Suzel Ana. "Brazil: Central and Southern Areas." Sheehy. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music; South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998. 312-317.

Schusterman, Michelle. The Music of Candomble and Afoxe; African Religion and Rhythms in Indigenous Brazilian Music. 15 Jul. 2009. 20 Nov. 2009 <http://indigenous-music.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_music_of_candomble_and_afoxe>.

Thompson, Daniella. Joao Gilberto is bossa nova. 04 Jan. 2010 <http://www.brazil-brasil.com/p43may98.htm>.