samba

The tradition & historical record

Samba (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɐ̃bɐ] ) is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is a name or prefix used for several rhythmic variants, such as samba urbano carioca (urban Carioca samba), samba de roda (sometimes also called rural samba), among many other forms of samba, mostly originated in the Rio de Janeiro and Bahia states. Having its roots in West African musical traditions, especially those linked to the primitive rural samba of the colonial and imperial periods, it is considered one of the most important cultural phenomena in Brazil and one of the country symbols. Present in the Portuguese language at least since the 19th century, the word "samba" was originally used to designate a "popular dance". Over time, its meaning has been extended to a "batuque-like circle dance", a dance style, and also to a "music genre". This process of establishing itself as a musical genre began in the 1910s and it had its inaugural landmark in the song "Pelo Telefone", launched in 1917. ¹

There is no consensus among experts on the etymology of the term "samba". A traditionalist view that defends that the etymon comes from the Bantu was in the Diário de Pernambuco in 1830. The term was documented in the publication in a note opposing the sending of soldiers to the countryside of Pernambuco State as a disciplinary measure, as there they could be idle and entertained with "fishing of corrals [traps to catch fish], and climbing coconut trees, in whose hobbies viola and samba will be welcomed ". Another old appearance was recorded in the humorous Recife newspaper O Carapuceiro, dated February 1838, when Father Miguel Lopes Gama of Sacramento wrote against what he called "the samba d'almocreve" – not referring to the future musical genre, but a kind of merriment (dance drama) popular for black people of that time. According to Hiram Araújo da Costa, over the centuries, the festival of dances of enslaved people in Bahia were called samba. In Rio de Janeiro, the word only became known at the end of the 19th century, when it was linked to rural festivities, to the area of Black people and to the "north" of the country, that is, the Brazilian Northeast. For many years of the Brazilian colonial and imperial history, the terms "batuque" or "samba" were used in any manifestation of African origins that brought together dances (mainly umbigada), songs and uses of Black people instruments. ¹

During a folkloric research mission in the Northeast Region of 1938, the writer Mário de Andrade noticed that, in rural areas, the term "samba" was associated with the event where the dance was performed, the way of dancing the samba and the music performed for the dance. Urban Carioca samba was influenced by several traditions associated with the universe of rural communities throughout Brazil. The folklorist Oneida Alvarenga was the first expert to list primitive popular dances of the type: coco, tambor de crioula, lundu, chula or fandango, baiano, cateretê, quimbere, mbeque, caxambu and xiba. To this list, Jorge Sabino and Raul Lody added samba de coco, sambada (also called coco de roda), samba de matuto, samba de caboclo, and jongo. One of the most important forms of dance in the constitution of Carioca samba choreography, the samba de roda, 'circle samba', practiced in Bahia's Recôncavo, was typically danced outdoors by a soloist, while other participants of the circle would take charge of the singing – alternating between solo and chorus parts – and of accompanying instrumental performance. The three basic dance-steps of Bahian circle samba were named corta-a-jaca, separa-o-visgo, and apanha-o-bago (literally and respectively, "cut-the-jackfruit", "separate-the-birdlime", and "pick-the-grape"), in addition to one intended to be danced by women only. ¹

In its beginnings, samba was heavily criminalized by the Brazilian government. Born in the favelas, it was a distinctly Afro Brazilian musical genre that brought people together in community and celebration, which was not well-seen or -received by the Brazilian elite, who deemed it tasteless, immoral and inferior. Such attitude was grounded in racism and classism, besides religious intolerance: samba's incorporation of African drumming was commonly associated with Afro Brazilian religions, which have long been demonized and discriminated against in Brazil, especially so in the early 20th century, when samba was gaining traction. Many early composers were thought to be leaders of cults of African origin, therefore samba faced policed persecution. Any samba gathering would be swiftly shut down, with musicians arrested and their instruments destroyed. As a result, samba had to go underground, relying on community members to assume the risk of persecution to have samba parties out of their homes. Ultimately, the genre became a hallmark of Brazilian culture and a highlight of Carnival, but it was not ever thus, as in its origins practicing samba was defiance against the government. ¹

During colonial Brazil, many public Catholic events used to attract all social segments, including Black and enslaved people, who took the celebrations as opportunities to express themselves authentically, in their original, native way, with such cultural manifestations as the crowning revelry of the Congo Kings, and the Bantu revelry (called cucumbi) in Rio de Janeiro. Gradually were those once exclusively Black celebrations being disconnected from the Catholic roots and rites of Carnival, eventually morphing into the Brazilian Carnival. From the cucumbis emerged the samba school called cordões cariocas (lit. 'Carioca strings'), which celebrated Brazilianness, or the mixed heritage of the Brazilian people, e.g. by presenting Black people in indigenous dress. At the end of the 19th century, on the initiative of composer and samba pioneer Hilário Jovino, the samba ranch ranchos de reis, 'ranches of kings' (later known as ranchos de carnaval, 'Carnival ranches'), was created in the state of Pernambuco. One of the most important ranches in Rio's Carnival was Ameno Resedá. Created in 1907, the self-titled racho-escola ("ranch-school") became a model for Carnival performances-in-procession and for future samba schools to be founded in the hills and outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. ¹

A political and sociocultural epicenter of Brazil, based on slavery, Rio de Janeiro was strongly influenced by African culture. In the middle of the 19th century, more than half the population of the city – then capital of the Brazilian Empire – was formed by black slaves. In the early 1890s, Rio had more than half a million inhabitants, of whom only half were born in the city, while the other part came from the old Brazilian imperial provinces, mainly from Bahia. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Samba”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

samba is Brazilian music genre, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 30 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²