Samba da Vela introducing tradition to younger audiences
Weekly samba meetings on the suburbs of São Paulo reveal new composers approved by masters like Beth Carvalho
Carlos Calado
19/02/2001
They met for the first time six months ago, to sing and play traditional sambas in a bar on the eastern side of São Paulo. They were 11 and now are more than 200, with ages ranging from 20 to 30 years old, and they meet every Monday at the Samba da Vela, a gathering of composers, musicians and fans which is rapidly being turned into a movement to preserve the most authentic forms of samba, known in Brazil as roots or rootsy samba.
"We never thought it would be that way. In the beginning, we were only thinking of doing something for a neighborhood that was more famous for being violent than for being music-friendly", says percussionist/songwriter Magno de Souza, who developed the idea along with his brother, Maurílio de Oliveira (both are members of the Quinteto em Branco e Preto) and with local composers Chapinha and Paqüera.
By entering the bar Ziriguidum, the first impression is that there is a religious service going on. In the middle of the room, a candle (vela, in Portuguese) provides the lighting for the musicians, sitting around in a circle with their guitars, cavaquinhos and percussion instruments. The walls are painted white and they hold pictures of masters from different generations, from Noel Rosa and Cartola to João Nogueira and Zeca Pagodinho.
Regardless of a few beer cans, the environment is relatively calm. The sambas are performed to attentive listeners before everybody gets to sing along, as photocopied lyrics are passed around. If some conversation gets louder, the composers ask the people to be quiet.
"Our intention was to promote these meetings to perform the music of Cartola, Nelson Cavaquinho and the likes. But on the very first night, we were showing new stuff to one another. So we decided to perform our own material, anyway", says Chapinha, who opened the venue only to allow the meetings to happen.
Samba until the candle burns out
"On Mondays, people come here to enjoy the traditional samba. Samba da Vela has become a cultural spot", says songwriter Paqüera, who first thought of using a candle to indicate the end of the meeting as it burns out. "I was concerned about the time, because people have to work on Tuesday. Since the candle lasts for about two and a half hours, we finish by 11 p.m., and there's no encore", he explains. "And during the process, we realized that the candle light inspires us to make good music", claims Chapinha.
The symbolic value of the candle has been turned into a slogan ("Let the light shine on our songs"), printed on the cover of a notebook that the public gets by entering the bar, after paying the also symbolic fee of R$ 1 (approximately US$ 0.50). The notebook carries the sambas composed by the Samba da Vela community that have been tested on a number of Mondays.
Such routine is reflected on the color of the candle that burns at each meeting. When the candle is pink, for instance, it is time for new sambas. The blue candle indicates that the sambas from the previous meeting will be performed again. The white candle is used when the set list inlcudes famous sambas that everyone can sing along to.
Two of the sambas in the notebook, Melhor Para Nós Dois (by Maurílio, Magno and Paqüera) and A Comunidade Chora (by Magno, Maurílio and Edvaldo Galdino, also the last one to be performed every Monday), have been recorded by Beth Carvalho in her recent album Pagode de Mesa 2 Ao Vivo
. Whenever Beth is in São Paulo, she checks out Samba da Vela.
"We never thought it would be that way. In the beginning, we were only thinking of doing something for a neighborhood that was more famous for being violent than for being music-friendly", says percussionist/songwriter Magno de Souza, who developed the idea along with his brother, Maurílio de Oliveira (both are members of the Quinteto em Branco e Preto) and with local composers Chapinha and Paqüera.
By entering the bar Ziriguidum, the first impression is that there is a religious service going on. In the middle of the room, a candle (vela, in Portuguese) provides the lighting for the musicians, sitting around in a circle with their guitars, cavaquinhos and percussion instruments. The walls are painted white and they hold pictures of masters from different generations, from Noel Rosa and Cartola to João Nogueira and Zeca Pagodinho.
Regardless of a few beer cans, the environment is relatively calm. The sambas are performed to attentive listeners before everybody gets to sing along, as photocopied lyrics are passed around. If some conversation gets louder, the composers ask the people to be quiet.
"Our intention was to promote these meetings to perform the music of Cartola, Nelson Cavaquinho and the likes. But on the very first night, we were showing new stuff to one another. So we decided to perform our own material, anyway", says Chapinha, who opened the venue only to allow the meetings to happen.
Samba until the candle burns out
"On Mondays, people come here to enjoy the traditional samba. Samba da Vela has become a cultural spot", says songwriter Paqüera, who first thought of using a candle to indicate the end of the meeting as it burns out. "I was concerned about the time, because people have to work on Tuesday. Since the candle lasts for about two and a half hours, we finish by 11 p.m., and there's no encore", he explains. "And during the process, we realized that the candle light inspires us to make good music", claims Chapinha.
The symbolic value of the candle has been turned into a slogan ("Let the light shine on our songs"), printed on the cover of a notebook that the public gets by entering the bar, after paying the also symbolic fee of R$ 1 (approximately US$ 0.50). The notebook carries the sambas composed by the Samba da Vela community that have been tested on a number of Mondays.
Such routine is reflected on the color of the candle that burns at each meeting. When the candle is pink, for instance, it is time for new sambas. The blue candle indicates that the sambas from the previous meeting will be performed again. The white candle is used when the set list inlcudes famous sambas that everyone can sing along to.
Two of the sambas in the notebook, Melhor Para Nós Dois (by Maurílio, Magno and Paqüera) and A Comunidade Chora (by Magno, Maurílio and Edvaldo Galdino, also the last one to be performed every Monday), have been recorded by Beth Carvalho in her recent album Pagode de Mesa 2 Ao Vivo
. Whenever Beth is in São Paulo, she checks out Samba da Vela.