Capoeira is a Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality.
Samba is a name or prefix used for several rhythmic variants, such as samba urbano carioca, samba de roda, amongst many other forms of samba, mostly originated in the Rio de Janeiro and Bahia states. Samba is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, having continued its development on the communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Having its roots in Brazilian folk traditions, especially those linked to the primitive rural samba of the colonial and imperial periods, is considered one of the most important cultural phenomena in Brazil and one of the country symbols. Present in the Portuguese language at least since the 19th century, the word "samba" was originally used to designate a "popular dance". Over time, its meaning has been extended to a "batuque-like circle dance", a dance style, and also to a "music genre". This process of establishing itself as a musical genre began in the 1910s and it had its inaugural landmark in the song "Pelo Telefone", launched in 1917. Despite being identified by its creators, the public, and the Brazilian music industry as "samba", this pioneering style was much more connected from the rhythmic and instrumental point of view to maxixe than to samba itself.
The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo, samba, bossa nova, MPB, gaucho music, pagode, tropicália, choro, maracatu, embolada, frevo, brega, modinha and Brazilian versions of foreign musical styles, such as rock, pop music, soul, hip-hop, disco music, country music, ambient, industrial and psychedelic music, rap, classical music, fado, and gospel.
Axé is a popular music genre originated in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil in the 1980s, fusing different Afro-Caribbean genres, such as marcha, reggae, and calypso. It also includes influences of Brazilian music such as frevo, forró and carixada. The word Axé comes from the Yoruba term àṣẹ, meaning "soul, light, spirit or good vibrations". Axé is present in the Candomblé religion, as "the imagined spiritual power and energy bestowed upon practitioners by the pantheon of orixás". It also has ties with the Roman Catholic Church and the Lenten season, which represents the roots of Bahian Carnival.
Capoeira music is the traditional musical accompaniment used in Afro-Brazilian art capoeira, featuring instruments like berimbau, pandeiro, atabaque, agogô, and reco-reco. The music plays a crucial role in capoeira roda, setting the style the energy of a game.
The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival", from carnelevare, "to remove meat."
The term forró refers to a musical genre, a rhythm, a dance and the event itself where forró music is played and danced. Forró is an important part of the culture of the Northeastern Region of Brazil. It encompasses various dance types as well as a number of different musical genres. Their music genres and dances have gained widespread popularity in all regions of Brazil, especially during the Brazilian June Festivals. Forró has also become increasingly popular all over the world, with a well-established forró scene in Europe.
Samba rock is a Brazilian dance culture and music genre that fuses samba with rock, soul, and funk. It emerged from the dance parties of São Paulo's lower-class black communities after they had been exposed to rock and roll and African-American music in the late 1950s.
Batucada is a substyle of samba and refers to a percussive style, usually performed by an ensemble, known as a bateria. Batucada music is characterized by its syncopated style and fast pace with a marked rhythm.
The timbau or Brazilian timbal is a membranophone instrument derived from the caxambu drum, usually played with both hands. Slightly conical and of varying sizes, it is usually light in weight and made of lacquered wood or metal with a tunable nylon head. It is in the shape of an ice cream cone with the top and the point cut off.
Samba de Gafieira is a partner dance to various Brazilian samba musical rhythms. Unlike street and club forms of Brazilian samba, it evolved as a ballroom dance.
The surdo is a bass drum or a large floor tom-like drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. The instrument was created by Alcebíades Barcelos during the 1920s and 1930s as part of his work with the first samba school in Rio de Janeiro, Deixa Falar. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near East.
The term afoxé refers to a Carnival group originating from Salvador da Bahia, Brazil in the 1920s, and the music it plays deriving from the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion. It came to indicate a musical rhythm, named ijexá derived from the ijexá nation within Candomblé. Cultural performances of the afoxés, typically at Brazilian Carnival, incorporate choreography, song, ritual language and ceremonies deriving from the Candomblé religion. In Brazil, afoxé is generally performed by blocos, afros-groups of mostly black or mulatto musicians who are familiar with African Brazilian music. Afoxés are a cultural and religious entity that preserves a tradition of Afro-Brazilian culture.
Timbalada is an Afro-Brazilian musician group from Candeal, Salvador, Brazil. It was founded by drummer Carlinhos Brown, and the composer and percussionist Tony Mola. The musical style is between samba reggae and axé, with strong influences from African music. They are a highly popular group which regularly performs sold-out concerts throughout Brazil.
Samba-reggae is a music genre from Bahia, Brazil. Samba reggae, as its name suggests, was originally derived as a blend of Brazilian samba with Jamaican reggae as typified by Bob Marley.
Batalá is an international samba reggae music project. The name Batalá is a combination of the phrase "bate lá" meaning "hit there" in Portuguese and Obatalá (Oxalá), the Candomblé deity who is the father of the Orixas and of all humanity.
Periperi is a subdistrict north of Salvador, in the Brazilian State of Bahia.
Chula is a dance and music genre which originated in Portugal, dating at least from the eighteenth century.
Afro-Brazilian music consists of a mixture of musical and cultural influences from Sub-Saharan Africa, Portugal, and on a smaller scale, Amerindian music, creating a large variety of styles. Lyrics, instruments, and even melodies often have connections to African culture and even influence culture and music in other countries today. It is strongly influenced by African rhythms. The most well known sub-genres of Afro-Brazilian musical genres are samba, marabaixo, maracatu, ijexá, coco, jongo, carimbó, lambada, maxixe, and maculelê.
Afro-Brazilian culture is the combination of cultural manifestations in Brazil that have suffered some influence from African culture since colonial times until the present day. Most of Africa's culture reached Brazil through the transatlantic slave trade, where it was also influenced by European and indigenous cultures, which means that characteristics of African origin in Brazilian culture are generally mixed with other cultural references.
