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BOSSA NOVA, TROPICÁLIA, AND THE RISE OF
MÚSICA POPULAR BRASILEIRA (MPB)
Jeff Packman, PhD University of Toronto
MPB • Música Popular Brasileira • “Popular”? Varied uses, but typically: • Eclectic, hybrid, urban, middle-class • “Boa música, música de qualidade” • Post bossa nova • E.g., Elis Regina, Caetano Veloso,
Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Maria Rita, Marisa Monte, Lenine…
• But before this…
Brazilian Music into the 1950s • Carnival Samba reigns as national music/
dance • Numerous other sambas and “regional”
musics • Influx of international music incl. jazz • Samba canção is widely popular (Carmen
Miranda, Ary Barroso, Dorival Caymmi) • Venues include big auditoriums, theaters, etc. • Big arrangements, big voices
Brazil’s National Music and Dance
• Samba • “Nos Podemos…Oito
Ideas para Mudar o Mundo”
• G.R.E.S. Portela • Samba Enredo (theme
samba) from carnival in Rio de Janeiro
Samba de Morro
• “Piedade” trad. Rec. 1966 • Clementina de Jesus
(1901-1987) • Cavaquinho, pandeiro,
atabaque, palmas • Strong influence on
Carnival samba • Associated with poorer
classes
Samba Canção • “A Vizinha do Lado” (1955) • Dorival Caymmi • Cavaquihno, pandeiro, violão,
trombone, clarinet, violins, acoustic bass
• Elaborated orchestration and arrangements
• Appeals to middle and upper classes
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Some of the Many Samba (escola de samba)
Instruments A Key Moment
• 1955 Jucelino Kubitschek elected president
• National optimism, industrial growth, new ideas about Brazilianness
• Brasilia project begun: “modern city” for “modern Brazil”
• 50 into 5 year plan
Bossa Nova--The New Way/Beat
• Sense of national optimism but… • Rio has become divided city • South Zone middle-class youth (university students)
(Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Nara Leão) • Seek music that reflects their cosmopolitan, “refined”
sensibilities • Suitable for small clubs and apartments • Interactions with professionals incl. João Gilberto,
Antônio Carlos (Tom) Jobim
The First Bossa Nova
• “Chega de Saudade” • João Gilberto (1959) • Comp: Tom Jobim and
Vinícius de Moraes • Arrangement/Instrumentation? • Harmonies? • Vocal timbre?
Bossa Nova • Decreased percussion/small ensembles or solo
performers • Guitar--imitates percussion • Soft, subdued voice • Extended harmony (from jazz, French Impressionists) • Introspective, subtly romantic lyrics express middle-
class perspectives • Rio nightlife scene for educated/moneyed • International collaborations, esp, jazz • International attention--Film “Orfeu Negro” (Black
Orpheus) • Is short lived but has lasting effect
Also Spurs Controversy
• Critiqued as “alienated” • Too American (corrupted) • Ongoing poverty despite Kubitschek’s
plan and affluence in Rio, SP, etc.
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Another 60s Youth Culture • Jovem Guarda (Young Guard)--Brazilian pop-
rock ‘n’ roll • Escapist • Very commercial • TV and recordings • Leans toward the apolitical
The Jovem Guarda’s Leader • “E Proibido Fumar” (1964) • Roberto Carlos • Iê iê Iê (yeah, yeah, yeah) • Conscientious embrace of
Rock ‘n’ Roll • Fades in late 1960s • But influence will last
Key Events in the 1960s • Viet Nam War: fears of Communism
(among some) • Military Coup-- “Golpe” 1964 • Dictatorship (lasts until 1985) • Expanding media and increasing
government control
Rio/São Paulo in the 1960s • Military Dictatorship • Bossa nova goes international (e.g., Jobim,
Bonfá, Gilberto), but loses steam at home • Several bossa artists (e.g., Nara Leão, Carlos
Lyra) embrace more political stance • Jovem Guarda and Bossa Nova compete for
middle class youth audience • More conservative (including some w/ left
politics) support samba and other more “traditional” styles.
Music Festivals and Media • Music/Variety TV: “O Fino da Bossa” • C 1965 public song festivals begin • Government involvement • Numerous other music TV programs,
live variety shows, and nightlife • At first, little resistance expressed and
little censorship • Both increase
Festival Controversies • Disputed outcomes • Audiences react strongly judges’ decisions and
music not in line with their preferences • Music scene (audiences, musicians, journalists, etc.)
fragments further • At issue: Musical traditionalism/experimentalism &
political engagement of lyrics
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The Traditionalists • “A Banda” • Chico Buarque • Conventional marcha • About the transformative
power of music in dark times
• Hope for the future/nostalgia for past
• Light social critique compared to other artists’ more aggressive protest
The Radicals • “É Proibido Proibir” • Caetano Veloso w/ Os Mutantes • Booing incites Caetano’s
(1968) tirade against musical conservatism (and obliquely, lack of political will)
Tropícalia • Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethania, Gal
Costa, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Rogério Duprat • Critical of musical conservatives • Invoke anthropofagia • Musically eclectic and adventurous • Critical of politically disengaged • Politically engaged texts • Part of larger progressive art, theater, and poetry
movement
Tropicália and Other Arts
• “Bat Macumba” (1968)
• Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil
• “Macumba” • “Batman” • “Yea, yea” • Concrete Poetry
Post Tropicália
• 1968 Gil and Veloso arrested and exiled • But, they and Tropicalia remain VERY
influential • Gil, Veloso, and other Tropicalists still active
today • Helped open doors for rock, more
adventurous popular music, politically engaged texts
• Continues to Influence MPB
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Early Música Popular Brasileira (MPB)
• “Aguas de Março” (1972) • Elis Regina and Tom Jobim • Draws on bossa nova, less
subdued,more eclectic • Electric guitar comping • Text used for sounds as well
as meaning
MPB Over Time • Highly varied draws on traditional, progressive,
foreign, domestic, and international • Seen as sophisticated, favored music of middle
classes (educated) but embraced across Brazilian society
• Often includes and is valued for (more) complex harmony, arrangements, poetry
MPB Currents
• “Toda Menina Baiana” • Gilberto Gil • From Realce (1979) • Third of Album “Trilogy” • Albums draw on samba ,
other Afro-Brazilian styles, funk, rock, R&B, Reggae, Disco, and more
MPB Currents
• “Flor de Lis” (1976) • Djavan from Ao Vivo
(1998)
MPB Currents
• “Panis et Circenses” (1996)
• Marisa Monte • Comp: Gilberto Gil
and Caetano Veloso • On Tropicália (1968)
MPB Currents
• “Queda” • Marcia Castro
(2007) • Novela hit