Tati Quebra Barraco
Funk Vocalist from Rio

Tati Quebra Barraco: Boladona
(2004)
 

More Brazilian Funk Artists & CDs

Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats
Various artists
(2005)
 

Slum Dunk Presents: Funk Carioca
Various artists
(2005)
 

City Of God (Soundtrack CD)
1970s style Brazilian funk and samba by Antonio
Pinto and Ed Cortes, plus Hyldon, Raul Seixas,
Cartola, Tim Maia, and Wilson Simonal
(2003)

In telling the story of two friends from a tough Rio de Janeiro barrio whose lives can never seem to escape the favela where they were born and raised, the acclaimed film by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund has drawn comparisons to such modern touchstones as Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas. Taking his inspiration from the filmmakers' daring gambit to cast real people in the roles and the film's '60s-'70s milieu, composer Antonio Pinto (assisted by partner Ed Córtes) has concocted a smart, rhythmically intoxicating cocktail of Brazilian jazz and samba, shaken with a little '70s American funk and R&B and served with cool, tropical flair. Those various styles often melt into each other with a liberating sense of postmodern possibility, giving listeners an experience that's as exotic as it is deceptively familiar, the worthy equatorial flip side of Davd Holmes's jazz-funk collaborations with Steven Soderbergh on Out Of Sight and Ocean's Eleven. --Jerry McCulley

Samba Soul 70!
Erlon Chaves, Wilson Simonal,
Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Milton
Banana, Banda Black Rio, others

In the late '60s and '70s the funk and soul music of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and many other African American superstars sparked a cultural awakening of black pride around the world. In Brazil that awakening expressed itself in the music of young people of color from Rio to São Paulo, who Brazilianized those North American styles into their own groove thang. The result was a musical movement called samba soul, and this thrilling 16-track collection offers a sizzling, seductive, and syncopated snapshot of the best singles from the period. The genre emphasized snappy backbeats, deep and funky bass lines, and jazz horn sections with tinges of salsa and homegrown samba. Jorge Ben's uptempo "Cosa Nostra," performed by Erlon Chaves, was the anthem of the era, and organist Ed Lincoln's pioneering De Savoya Combo, along with Trio Mocoto, laid the foundations for the genre with their respective hits "Jogaram o Caxanga" and "Que Nega e Essa." The musical range of Samba Soul reaches from the CTI Records-sounding jazz fusion of Orlandivo's "Onde Anda o Meu Amor" to guitarist Bebebto's discofied shoutout to Africa, "Princesa Negra de Angola," and the proto-bossa nova of Wilson Simonal's "Não Vem Que Não Tem." The great Afro-Cuban conguero Mongo Santamaria is given tribute on Som Tres's south-of-the-equator boogaloo "Homenagem a Mongo." Today DJs from around the globe are sampling this music, but with this disc you can dance and trance to the real thing: a truly African American music on a hemispheric scale. --Eugene Holley Jr.
 

Black Rio: Brazil Soul Power
1971-1980 (Compiled By DJ Cliff)
includes Tim Maia, Genival Cassaino
(Of Os Diagonais) and Toni Tornado
limited availability

It's late '60s, early '70s Rio de Janeiro where, for a few glorious years in the sun-drenched ghettos, the sun, samba & funk fused in a heady mixture of afros, black power and huge funk parties catering to up to 10,000 people. This is the story of Brazil's most forgotten movement - Black Rio. Black Rio mirrored the struggles in North America, maintaining a particularly close link to the soul brothers in Harlem. Artists like Tim Maia and Toni Tornado drew from the US soul and funk of Motown, Stax and James Brown to create their own blend of 'soul brasileiro'. Black Rio is compiled and annotated by DJ Cliffy, the man behind the successful 'Future World Funk' album series and club nights and the Brazilian club 'Batmacumba' at London's ICA. Package features extensive sleeve notes by Cliffy, rare photos, club flyers and memorabilia. Strut. 2002.
 

Groups & Artists

Fernanda Abreu

Banda Black Rio

Jorge Benjor / Jorge Ben
 

Max De Castro
 

Curumim
 

DJ Dolores

Tim Maia
 

Marcelo D2