Soul Music and Funk would seem to hold a natural appeal for Brazilians, particularly with the strong mix of African-American culture and politics... But while several artists staked out their turf in the early '70s, soul music was slow to penetrate into the Brazilian mainstream. Many artists mixed funk with samba, while others preferred to keep the styles separate; still others delved miserably into disco and soft-pop soul. In the 1980s, new pop styles such as axe and sambalanco blurred these stylistic differences almost beyond meaning, as soul, reggae, soca and Afro-Brazilian percussion blended into one big party style. Later still, rap music came to Brazil, and now hip-hop, trip-hop and electronica are all integral parts of a funk-and-soul tinged musical landscape.
The earliest, classic Brazilian soul albums are hard to come by, particularly in the US, so this survey is fairly limited. Along with the albums I review below, I've also listed several albums that I've only heard of -- hopefully in the future I'll be able to track these discs down and can also offer my opinions about them. If you have some favorite albums or artists that you think should be added to this list, feel free to write me and suggest them as well...
Fernanda Abreu "SLA Radical Disco Dance Club" (EMI, 1990)
Fernanda Abreu "SLA 2 Be Sample" (EMI, 1992)
Funk, soul and pop from a former member of the pioneering "BRock" band, Blitz. This album is okay for what it is -- the music is pretty generic for the most part, and Abreu's vocals are just a little better than average. Her debt to Madonna will become clear after a few songs, although here she delves deeper into funk riffs than into soft-soul pop. What's most notable about this album, though, is its historical value: apparently this was one of the first Brazilian pop records to use a lot of sampling technology, and that made quite a splash at the time. For folks who are inclined towards more conventional, commercial pop, this disc might be pretty exciting... The biggest disappointment on the album is when she covers the old American disco hit, "Boogie Ooogie Ooogie..." but does it in English, rather than Portuguese. Dang. Talk about your missed opportunities!
Fernanda Abreu "Da Lata" (EMI, 1995)
Fernanda Abreu "Raio X" (EMI, 1997)
Contemporary hip-hop/pop from Rio. Abreu is a dyed-blonde Deeeee-Lite type (...shall we call her Samba Spice?) who pals it up with Brazilian rocker Chico Science (he duets on one track). Abreu wrote or co-wrote about half the songs on here -- other contributions are made by the likes of Lenine and Carlinhos Brown. Overall this is a fairly creditable effort, with plenty of lush production and electric guitar quotes that range from Hendrix and Frampton to the O'Jays "Money"... Along with the slick novo musica, Abreu also peppers in a couple of traditional samba tracks, including a version of "Aquarela Brasileira" where she does a passable take at sounding like Clara Nunes. Good, though not earth-shaking, contemporary pop from a former member of the popular '80s BRock band, Blitz.
Fernanda Abreu "Entidade Urbana" (EMI, 2000)
Slick but uninspiring hip-hop flavored rock'n'pop, with occasional stylistic dips in regional Brazilian music. Professionally produced, with a very big, brash sound, but not much subtlety or depth.
Fernanda Abreu "Na Paz" (EMI, 2004)
Fernanda Abreu "MTV Ao Vivo" (2006)
Johnny Alf "Nos" (EMI, 1973)
A hip and swinging album from this bossa nova old-timer! Although Alf eventually settled back into a more staid, romantic mode, this disc is steeped in 'Seventies-style funk and fusion, with some pretty wicked arrangements swirling around his understated vocals. The ensemble backing him includes heavyweights such as Gilberto Gil, Egberto Gismonti, Paulo Moura, Wagner Tiso and Arthur Verocai, who are all credited with providing orchestrations, and who presumably play on the album as well. Folks who don't dig funk-fusion might want to steer clear of this (although old-fashioned bossa vocals do assert themselves as well) but if you're looking for Johnny Alf's wild side, this is a great album to track down. Recommended.
Eduardo Araujo "A Onda E Boogaloo" (Odeon, 1969)
Wow... this is pretty cool. Singer Eduardo Araujo strikes me as an artist who was kind of constantly in search of a "new sound" to latch onto. He was one of the early jovem guarda '60s teenie-bopper rockers, and got a little wiggier in the '70s... This 1969 pop-soul album is a transitional work, but one that shows he could have done quite well pursuing a career in Brazilian soul and funk... He had a much stronger sense of American-style phrasing and a stronger band than many of the self-styled "Black Rio" artists such as Cassiano and Hylton who took up the mantle in the 1970s. His secret weapon was Brazilian funk pioneer Tim Maia, who was about to bust out on his own as a solo artist on the Philips label. Maia wrote punchy new arrangements for the numerous cover tunes on here, which range from Smokey Robinson's "Same Old Song" to Arthur Conley's "Funky Street," and for whatever reason this album avoids most of the clumsiness or self-consciousness that many similar imitations of American pop frequently suffer from. Together, Araujo and Maia really "got" the magical mix of rock and soul sensibility that late '60s soul singers such as Sam & Dave or Wilson Pickett created up North. This is an unusually strong album for the style... definitely recommended!
Eduardo Araujo "Pelos Caminhos Do Rock" (RCA-Brasil, 1975)
An odd, offkilter mix of soul music, Santana-esque salsa-tinged hard rock and jittery stadium rock ala Rita Lee. It's easy to piece out the influence of Brazilian soulsters such as Tim Maia... Araujo even gets all worked up and shouts his way through several songs. Not the most blistering stuff ever, but interesting in the context of Brazilian rock and soul at the time... (A recent CD reissue, perversely, couples this with an incredibly wimpy pop album by Os Incriveis... I scanned the credits and couldn't see any connection, so go figure.)
Brazilian Soul & Funk - Letter "B"
Other Brazilian Styles
Main Brazil Index
