SONS BRASILIS
DOCUMENTARY SERIES
13 episodes of 30 minutes each
Production by: Cláudia Dutra
Directed by: Adriana L. Dutra
SYNOPSIS
Brazil is synonymous with cultural diversity. Each region of our country has its own unique identity: customs, food, dances, music, outfits, and countless rhythms that make up the varied traditions of our people. It is from these rhythms, representative of our cultural heritage and our capacity for reinvention, that the documentary series Sons Brasilis starts its journey.
EPISÓDIOS
01 - CHORO
Choro enters the third century of its existence with the culmination of more than a hundred thirty years, established as one of the Brazil’s main musical genres. It can be considered as the first typically Brazilian urban music, having been directly influenced by the arrival of the Portuguese court in 1808. It maintains an attentive audience with fans of this genre, filling dance halls, squares, and bandstands around chorinho to this day. The episode was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and features Yamandu Costa, Luciana Rabello and Paulo Aragão, amongst others.
02 – TECNOBREGA
Technobrega emerged in Belém do Pará in the 2000s, a mixture of electronic and pop music elements with regional genres such as Calipso and Electronic forró, particularly based on the use of synthesiser, guitar riffs and drum boxes. The themes of the songs wander through the romantic, the humorous and the protest. The episode was recorded in Belém do Pará and features Tony Brasil, David Sampler and Keila Gentil, amongst others.
03 – ERUDITA
The history of Brazilian classical music or Brazilian erudite music begins during the Portuguese colonization, heavily influenced by European roots. With the rise of the baroque from Minas Gerais, a generation of composers flourished who changed the Brazilian classical music landscape at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. The episode was recorded in Curitiba and features Harry Crowl, Janete Andrade and Leandro Monbach, amongst others.
04 – FORRÓ
Forró became a popular phenomenon in the early 1950s through Luiz Gonzaga’s voice, who accompanied the intense migration from the northeast to other regions of the country, especially to the capitals. After a period of disinterest in the 1980s, Forró gained new momentum from the 1990s onwards with the success of new forró trios and artists. The episode was recorded in Recife and features Elba Ramalho, Alceu Valença, and Lula do Acordeom, amongst others.
05 – RASQUEADO
The history of the ‘rasqueado cuiabano’ dates back to the end of Paraguayan War, when war prisoners and refugees did not return to their country, integrating with coastal populations in Brazil. From the fusion of customs of these two cultures, rasqueado was born, which has its origins in the rhythms that shaped Brazilian popular music: lundu, cateretê, and habanera. From the 1990s onwards the rasqueado cuiabano took impetus and its events began to gather thousands of people. This episode was recorded in Mato Grosso and features João Eloy, Alcides Ribeiro and Leonice Bulhões, amongst others.
06 – MARACATU
Maracatu is a rhythm that originated in Pernambuco. According to the “beat” there are two types: “Baque Virado” (Maracatu Nação) and “Baque Solto” (Maracatu Rural). The first, quite common in the metropolitan area of Recife is the oldest Afro-Brazilian rhythm. The latter is typical of Pernambuco’s Zona da Mata Norte. They are similar in essence to each other but different in the way they carry out their activities, from the relationship with religion and their communities, right down to the performance of their music. The episode was recorded in Pernambuco, and features Marivalda dos Santos, Mestre Chacon Viana and Manoel Salustiano Filho, amongst others.
07 – RAP
Rap is a style of music part of the hip hop movement. Known for its syncopated beats and rhythms, rap arrived in Brazil in the late 1980s. Today it is considered “the voice of peripheries” with the lyrics that reflect the dreams and daily struggles of those who live on the margins of the privileged areas of the large urban centres. The rap battles became the meeting point for young people who come together to debate issues that are pertinent to their reality. The episode was recorded in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and features Nega Giza, Rincon Sapiência and Criolo, amongst others.
08 - FREVO
Of urban origin, it emerged on the streets of Recife at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, bringing together with its contagious rhythm crowds of people dancing frantically. A boiling cauldron of joy. This fervour constitutes frevo, the great hallucination of Pernambuco’s carnival, an immaterial cultural heritage of humanity. The episode was recorded in Recife and features Elba Ramalho, Alceu Valença and André Rio, amongst others.
09 - BOSSA NOVA
Bossa Nova emerged in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 1950s through the hands and voices of João Gilberto, Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and other young middle-class singers and/or composers from the city’s South Zone. With direct influences from samba and jazz, initially it was just a term referring to a new way of singing and playing. However, over the years Bossa Nova has become one of the most influential movements in the history of Brazilian popular music, revered all over the world. The episode was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and features Marcos Valle, Carlos Lyra and Mariana de Moraes, amongst others.
10 - AXÉ
Axé music emerged in Bahia in 1980s during carnival, mixing a variety of rhythms (ijexá, samba-reggae, pop rock, candomblé, merengue, forró, amongst others). In 1985, Luiz Caldas and Paulinho Camafeu composed the first great hit of the genre: “fricote”. Even though it went through a phase of decline, axé, its songs and the artists it launched, maintains a massive fanbase. The episode was recorded in Salvador and features Luis Caldas, Margareth Menezes and Banda Eva, amongst others.
11 - SAMBA
Samba has its roots in Africa brought over by black slaves during the Brazilian colonial period. Mixing percussion and dance, it was persecuted, threatened, and censored, but never silenced. It has become a vital heritage of humanity and can be considered one of the greatest symbols of cultural and historical resistance in Brazil. The episode was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and features Theresa Cristina, Tia Surica and Grazzi Brasil, amongst others.
12 - COUNTRY MUSIC
Country music emerged in the 1910s. It was ‘caipira’ music sung in the rural regions between São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás. Today it makes up one of the greatest and most successful movements in the Brazilian music industry, made up of caipira music, romantic country music, university sertanejo, and its most recent incarnation, but no less important: feminejo. The episode was recorded in Goiás and São Paulo, it features Almir Pessoa, Denis Malaquias and Max & Luan, amongst others.
13 - FUNK
Originated in the USA in the 1950s, inspired by soul music and originally played and enjoyed by black communities, funk arrived in Brazil in the 70s still in English lyrics. Its rhythm was quickly embraced by audiences in the outskirts of urban areas with the creation of the first funk dances. In the 2000s, there was a boom in the funk market boosting sales of music, records and music videos which transformed the genre into an industry that generates millions annually. The episode was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and features DJ Marlboro, MC Leonardo, and Tati Quebra Barraco, amongst others.
