Brazilian Samba
So much of what makes Brazil unique is that the origins of so many things there come from the ethnic diversity that the country enjoys. Many of us have seen the images and clips of people performing the Samba, particularly when we have glimpses of Carnival, but not many people are aware of the origins of the Samba.
The Samba is a dance that is widely thought to have evolved from a dance performed by couples in the Congo and Angola. These circle dances were at first accompanied by singing. It was these dances that were performed with the couple close together that were the beginning of Samba. Further musical influence came from Europe and mainly from Portugal, where more complex melody and harmonies were introduced. Different instruments that were used by the Europeans contributed to the change of the sound and subsequently the changes in the dance.
The popularity of the Samba dance blossomed at the beginning of the last century, and it is attributed to the immigrant black population that had come from Bahia in Brazil. They brought the dance with them to Rio de Janeiro where it caught on and has been popular there ever since. Schools and formal instruction began to teach people the movements of the Samba and it gained recognition as a dance in the area.
Samba is often compared to jazz, but there certainly are differences. Samba music is influenced by different forces including the African rhythms, Amerindian music and the Iberian influences as well.
In later times, the music was synonymous with the leftist positions that opposed the military dictatorship in Brazil during the 1960’s. This saw a resurgence of the popularity of the music, particularly in the Shanty towns, where some of the effects of the military regime were felt the most. This popularity at the grass roots level propelled the Samba music into mainstream media more than it had ever been during the 1970’s. It maintained its dominance in Brazilian music, but during the period of the 1980’s it began to find strong competition from the dance music, disco and Brazilian rock music that offered something new to the people. The result was a positive one for many people, as the music of Samba changed somewhat after this period to include other influences. As people heard more international music on the radio, and reggae and similar forms of music found popularity they found their way into the Samba music. More and more new instruments and new melodic styles were present and it brought the music more into the modern times. Samba has now become more varied, with different styles of the Samba breaking off into sub-groups. Some of it has become more protest-based and political in its message, while some has become more mainstream and smooth much like jazz. There are even groups that have been performing Samba-Rap, just an example of how far the music has come. Like so many things in Brazil, the introduction of different influences has added to the flavor of the Samba.