Batucada-the sound of the Favelas

This is the first of two albums on Mr Bongo devoted to the Batucada sound and contains essential classics from much sampled anthem Batucada by Par Ney De Castro to the in-demand mid tempo burner Batumata.

'Batucada' originally came from the chorus beats of the Angolan 'Batuque' rhythm, clapped out on the palms, but Rio is it's real birthplace. Starting as carnival music the residents of the hillside favelas formed informal music groups that later came to be known as the Escolas de Samba (Samba schools). These were highly organised associations led by the Catedraticos (Professors of Samba), in which the professor acts as a master of ceremonies, using a whistle to mark the beginning and end of each set. He must keep all the percussionists synchronised during the complicated 'viradas' (changes in percussion - breaks) and 'paradinhas' (stops).

During the 60s and 70s there was a huge population drift towards the metropolis in Rio and as the pace of life picked up in the favelas they became increasingly dangerous and volatile places to live. This was musically represented by the experimentation of a few 'sabistas' in speeding up the samba rhythm into a more frantic rapid pattern. The big samba schools were getting too commercial, the music was dying it was time to return to it's roots and create a new sound that was both progressive and dynamic - they called it the Batucada.

The Batucada's basic heavy bass sound is driven by the 'Surdo' drum, derived from the Afro-Brasilian drum the 'Ataba Que'. The most important drum in any 'bateria' line-up is the 'surdo de marcao' or 'marking surdo'. It is the heaviest Surdo and plays on the second beat in the 2/4 samba, it also holds the rhythm and is the basis for the whole Batucada.

The second largest surdo is the 'surdo reposta' or 'answering surdo'. As it's name suggests it answers the marking surdo on the first beat, though less forcefully that the latter. The 'surdo cortador' or 'cutting surdo', is the smallest surdo and plays on the beats and the off-beats adding syncopation. In the small samba groups the percussionist uses one surdo to play all three parts by himself as in Paulinho de Costa's exhilarating performance of Ritmo Number One.

The 'cuica' is an instrument immortalised by the great Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. The cuica has a stick attached to a drum skin, which is rubbed by the percussionist from inside in a push/pull technique, whilst holding a piece of soft leather - this, very strange sounding technique, gives it the 'talking' quality and produces that unique sound that you can never quite work out in Brazilian music!

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1. Paulinho Da Costa - Ritmo Number One
2. Portinho - Batumata
3. G.R.E.S. Mocidade Independente De Padre Miguel - So No Apito
4. Nicos Jaritz - Otao E Eu
5. Jadir De Castro & Dom Um Romao - Repimar
6. Verde Amarelo - Vibrando Com A Selecao
7. Ney De Castro - Ba-Tu-Ca-Da
8. Jadir De Castro & Dom Um Romao - Comunic-Ritmo
9. G.R.E.S. Mocidade Independente De Padre Miguel - Mulata Faceira
10. Portinho - Rapido
11. Pontela - Pai Bene, Queimou O Pe
12. Jadir De Castro & Dom Um Romao - Ozonio
13. Fernandao - Quando O Couro Fala

| BATUCADA |

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