{"id":207207,"date":"2019-01-08T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=207207"},"modified":"2019-01-09T21:12:50","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T23:12:50","slug":"musica-nordestina-sons-mouros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/musica-nordestina-sons-mouros\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian music, Moorish sounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Alceu Valen\u00e7a, Elba Ramalho and repente singers. Now add Arab music instruments, a Brazilian singer and the Parisian environment. Put together, these mixed influences are a large part of Brazilian singer Caro Ferrer<\/a>\u2019s new work. \u201cI\u2019ve always seen the Arab influence in Brazilian Northeastern music. The Moorish people had been in the Iberian Peninsula and, naturally, when the Europeans discovered Brazil, this Arab presence arrived here,\u201d the singer told in an interview to ANBA.<\/p>\n

Having released her album \u201cBrisa Mourisca\u201d in November, she says the Arab traces are in the waythat repente singers and Northeastern singers perform. \u201cOne of my favorite artists, Alceu Valen\u00e7a, who I deeply admire, is the most Moorish among the Northeastern composers. Z\u00e9 Ramalho has a quite Arab vibe in the way he sings and the viola he plays. It was about time someone talked about that,\u201d the musician said.<\/p>\n

\"O<\/a>
To get the Arab sounds, the artist chose to ornament the Northeastern percussion base with foreign instruments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Caro, the vibrato, a string oscillation technique that the Brazilian Northeastern singers use on their voices is an Arab characteristic. \u201cWhen you listen to Elba Ramalho and other singers, they have a vibrato that the Brazilian Southeastern music doesn\u2019t. Another example is Z\u00e9 Ramalho, who half talks half sings. Repente has a completely Arab origin,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Arab sound<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Caro lived in Natal (RN) and Fortaleza (CE) and works with Northeaster rhythms since her first album. \u201cAll of my records have at least a baiao, a samba, a coco. When it was time to think about my fourth album, I decided to work only with Northeastern rhythms. I\u2019m from Rio, but, as a musician, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair that people think that\u2019s all there is in Brazil,\u201d she mused.<\/p>\n

Alongside the wish to immerse herself into the Northeastern culture, came the Moorish breezes she scatters into ten songs. \u201cI decided to create the album with Arab instruments. It\u2019s the first time I do that. All off the lyrics and melodies are mine,\u201d she says. Among the musicians that work with the singer, more diversity: Pedro Barrios is Colombian, Rodrigo Samico is from Pernambuco, Brazil, and Lameck is Angolan but almost Brazilian according to her. There is also the French musician Herv\u00e9 Morison she works with since 2010, and in this project he plays guitar, bandurria (picture above), which is like a lute from the old Persian region, and acoustic guitars of six and seven chords.<\/p>\n

To get the Arab sounds, the artist chose to ornament the Northeastern percussion base (formed by zabumba, tambor d\u2019\u00e1gua and congas) with foreign instruments. Among them, the goblet drum (tarabuka), more used in the percussion in the North Africa, according to Caro, and also the reqqes and carcabous present in the Arab percussion.<\/p>\n

The album brings Moorish sounds to Brazilian rhythms such as cocos, cirandas, and maracatus. \u201cI wanted tarabuka in some way. I wanted daffs. The percussionists brought reqs and other kinds of pandeiros I didn\u2019t even know existed,\u201d explained the artist, who also produced the record. While studying for the album, other inspirations included musicians such as Amar Chaoui and the Brazilan Z\u00e9 Lu\u00eds Nascimento, who specializes in Arab music.<\/p>\n

Migrant peoples<\/strong><\/p>\n

The album \u201cBrisa Mourisca\u201d was conceived, recorded and mixed entirely in Paris and is more than just a musical study. The singer is also a researcher and tried to get a deep understanding of how Brazilian and Arab cultures are connected. \u201cWe should learn a little more about our origin in school. We are influenced by these desert peoples,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The curiosity about what she didn\u2019t learn while growing up became a Masters in Brazilian Literature and Civilization from Paris Nanterre University. \u201cI studied about Brazilian Northeastern music and how the Northeast came to be. About how their identity was created and how it became a region. The region has its own traits and one of them is a strong Moorish influence,\u201d stated Caro.<\/p>\n

Among the track records, there are song narrating the hardships of the working class and story of two people coming apart. The last theme is dear to the artist. \u201cIt\u2019s about physical distance. One of the things that me me to the Arab culture, was the fact that the Northeaster are a migrant people. Both are migrating people and there has been a strong wave of immigration from Syria to France,\u201d stated the singer, who saw similarities between movements around the world and in her birth country in the last few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Brazil, the prejudices that always existed against the Northeasters have been intensified during the manifestations to take the democratically elected president out of office (Dilma Roussef, who was impeached in 2016). I saw fascism coming out of the closet. A hatred against the poor, or against the less fortunate, against that part of Brazil. Projects such as (the welfare program) Bolsa Fam\u00edlia and the technical schools were all around Brazil, but people somewhat just talked about the Northeastern region. I\u2019ve also seen the return of the prejudice in the provincial French. There is an international wave, in the United States, in Australia, in Brazil, where a far-right government has just started,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As a way to show her position, Caro chose to mix both cultures, \u201cWhile I was researching, these prejudices arose. I decided to mix them all together and show the Brazilian with the Arab. Show the Moorish influence in the Brazilian Northeast and pay tribute to both these peoples,\u2019 the composer says.<\/p>\n

Next breezes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Released in November 2018, the album yielded a tour through France throughout this year. However, the singer has still not figured out a way to bring her work or make the distribution. \u201cI really wished to present my album in Brazil. I\u2019m after a producer and a editor for this to happen, for Brazilians to know my work. My public is 90% French now,\u201d says the singer, who has lived in Paris for 18 years and keeps composing only in Portuguese.<\/p>\n

After debuting the album with Moorish sounds, the musician is already preparing the next endeavors. \u201cI\u2019m composing other bai\u00f5es and coocs thinking about Arab instruments. I\u2019m very happy with the result. I will keep working in that vein. The second edition of this project is already on the way,\u201d she concludes.<\/p>\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

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