MrTharrison,
Bloco Olodum, Carnival rehearsal, February 1st 2014,
Salvador, Bahia
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a video of the Salvador de Bahia (Brazilian) percussion group Olodum.
Information about Olodum is included in this post along with selected comments from the discussion thread for this embedded video.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-afro-brazilian-bahia-percussive.html for Part I of a 2018 pancocojams series on Olodum entitled "The Afro-Brazilian (Bahia) Percussion Group Olodum - Part I
(information & five videos)". Part II of that series can be found at http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/06/bahian-percussion-group-olodum.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases a video of Michael Jackson performing his song "They Don't Care About Us" and a video of Paul Simon performing his song "The Obvious Child". Both of these videos feature Olodum.
The contents of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Olodum for its cultural legacy. Thanks also to to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT OLODUM (BRAZILIAN BAND)
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.narin.com/olodum/ [no date given, retrieved Feb. 24, 2021
"About Olodum
Olodum is an internationally acclaimed Afro-Brazilian cultural group from Bahia, Brazil. Olodum (pronounced oh-lo-doon) was founded in 1979 as a bloco afro (African Bloc), a Bahian Carnival association highlighting African heritage and black pride through music, dance theater, and art. From their home city of Salvador da Bahia in Northeast Brazil (often described as the most African city in the Americas), Olodum has dedicated itself to cultural activism in the struggle against racial discrimination and socioeconomic inequality.
Olodum takes its name from the Yoruba deity Olodumaré. They focus their yearly Carnival themes on controversial issues such as black power and socialist movements in Africa and the African Diaspora. In the mid 1980s, the head drummer in the group - Mestre Neguinho do Samba - experimented with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and mixed them with the Brazilian samba. He divided the large surdo bass drums into four interlocking parts and layered the high-pitched repique drums in additive rhythms on top. The result was a new style of music dubbed samba reggae that quickly dominated Bahian Carnival. In the late 1980s Olodum assumed premiere position among the blocos afro in Bahia and became internationally known. They formed a professional musical band Banda Olodum which has now recorded over ten CDs. Olodum musicians have worked with international luminaries such as Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, and Spike Lee.
During Carnival season the group now parades with some two hundred drummers, singers, and thousands of costumed members. But the group's activities go well beyond Carnival and music. Throughout the year they sponsor seminars, speeches, and conferences on social and political issues and publish a monthly news journal, Bantu Nagô. They operate a factory where they make drums, costumes and other items which they sell to the public. Olodum also runs an inner-city school for Salvador's underprivileged children in which they teach a full array of academic and arts courses in order to build self-esteem and encourage economic ascension among Salvador's younger generation."...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://playingforchange.com/musicians/olodum/
"Founded as an African block of the carnival in Salvador in 1979, Olodum is currently a cultural group considered a non-governmental organization. After their first run in 1980’s carnival, the band acquired almost two thousand associates and began to talk about historic themes about African and Brazilian culture. The band’s first LP was called “Egito, Madagascar” and was recorded in 1987, and became famous with the song “Faraó, Divindade do Egito”. The idea of this LP was to honor the roots of the group and show to the country “Mamma Africa,” and to show, too, how the group was born (from the drums to the influences of African Gods).
Just after, Olodum started to be known in the entire world as an African-Brazilian percussive group and performed in Europe, Japan, and almost all of South America. In 1988, Simone recorded “Me ama mô” live, in Pelourinho, featuring Neguinho do Samba and Olodum (this record is in Simone’s album, Simone). In 1991, Olodum performed at Paul Simon’s Concert in the Park after they had worked on Simon’s 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints.
One of the biggest moments for the group was in 1996, when they participated in the Michael Jackson song, “They Don’t Really Care About Us.” The media interest surrounding the music video exposed Olodum to 140 countries around the world. Parallel to the artistic success, the band takes part in social movements against racism and for civil and human rights."
****
Excerpt #3
“Olodum
Samba-reggae’s live expression, of international prestige.
The group emerged from a carnival game on April 25, 1979
between friends Carlos Alberto Conceição, Geraldo Miranda, José Luiz Souza
Máximo, José Carlos Conceição, Antônio Jorge Souza Almeida, Edson Santos da
Cruz and Francisco Carlos Souza Almeida. What was supposed to be a momentary
leisure option for the old Maciel-Pelourinho residents has won the world and
became one of the most important Afro-Brazilian black culture institutions: the
Olodum Afro Group.
The word “Olodum” is of Yoruban origin, a language spoken by the Yorubas that came from Nigeria and Benin to Bahia, in past centuries. The complete word is Olodumaré – the Creator God, the Lord of the universe, and represents, in Candomblé, a vital principle, the Supreme Fundamental Order – SFO.
The group gained different sonorities, transformed the African musicality based on percussion and gave rise to new rhythms, such as Ijexá, Samba, Alujá, Reggae and Forró. It has become a living expression of samba-reggae, rhythm idealized by Neguinho do Samba.
The colors that represent the band were not chosen at random. All together form the basis of Pan-Africanism, Rastafarianism and the Reggae Movement. They are the international colors of the African diaspora and constitute an international identity against racism and in favor of the African descendants. Green for the equatorial African forests; red for the black race blood; yellow for the African gold (largest producer in the world); black for the black race pride; and white for world peace.
[…]
The group has started actions and programs, such as the
Olodum School, the Olodum Band, the Theater Band, the Carnival Factory, as well
as workshops, newspapers, books and researches on Africa, campaigns against
violence and for peace, and also the international struggle against apartheid
in South Africa and the Buzios Revolt of 1798.
Wherever Olodum drums play, Bahia’s heart beats, with the
positive vibration of a history marked by musicality and citizenship. The
Olodum Band has revolutionized Brazilian music and Bahian carnival’s language
through the creation of Samba Reggae. It has conquered success, popular
acceptance and critic’s acceptance too.”…
-snip-
Note that black, yellow, red, and yellow are the colors of the pan-African flag.
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THAT VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
These comments are given in relative chronological order, based on their publishing date with the oldest comments given first, except for replies. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
1. John Miller, 2014
"Intoxicating rhythms from Africa, fantastic!"
**
Reply
2. Ryu Rudá Raoní, 2014
"*from Brazil"
**
Reply
3. Angolana, 2015
"+Nifero Piscine no actually
john is correct, it really is influenced from africa, hence the slaves,
the whole beat is the exact same from african tribes:)"
**
Reply
4. Ryu Rudá Raoní, 2015
"I agree with you. I meant someone or something from Brazil
and of African ancestry, it is no less and maybe rather Brazilian than African.
Im not denying African influence, being myself of African ancestry"
**
Reply
5. Ana P, 2016
"Influenced, not, The same."
**
Reply
6. aroldo marcospereira primo, 2018
"É Brazil"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English
"It's Brazil"
**
Reply
7. aroldo marcospereira primo, 2018
"John Miller olodum é
brasileiro e único"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English:
“olodum is Brazilian and unique”
**
8. carlos ramirez, 2014
"saludos OLODUM ritmo que contagia al mundo, inspiración para los niños y jóvenes amantes de la percusión, cultura contagiante. Saludos desde Costa Rica.
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English:
"Greetings OLODUM rhythm that infects the world, inspiration for children and young people who love percussion, contagious culture. Greetings from Costa Rica."
**
9. Suzete De Mattos, 2014
"Alafiá, meu amado Olodum...alafiá....axé"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English
“Alafiá, my beloved Olodum ... alafiá .... axé”
-snip-
The words "Alafia" and "axe" ("ase") are from Nigeria, West Africa. (from Yoruba with Alafia by way of Hausa/Arabic.)
These words are probably best known in the United States thanks to the song "Funga Alafia" which has the refrain "Ashe", Ashe". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html for the 2019 pancocojams post "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song".
**
9. CrowdPleeza, 2014
"Do Brazilians ever get to visit Cuba? I think it would be
cool if Cubans and Brazilians could interact. They both have similar African influences
in their cultures."
**
Reply
10. Ryu Rudá Raoní, 2014
"I havent enough money to go to Cuba ;( Gimme some, mister
foreing?"
**
Reply
11. juliana cordeiro, 2015
"@CrowdPleeza let me explain to you, in Brazil every part is
very different of the other, Bahia is where the African influences is there,
the whole Brazil is not like that, if you go to Sao Paulo the influence of
japaneses is more there than the rest of Brazil and so on, Brazil is something
you won't understand because it is so different of any other country, you must
go there to visit and see the diversities like no other else."
**
Reply
12. Canal do Jhow, 2017
"CrowdPleeza The africans what come for Bahia are same what
go for Cuba and in good part for USA."
**
13. Luiz Junior, 2018
"O maior som da Terra!!! Olodum, mãe
Africa, nação Nagô, raiz de Angola!!! SALVE SALVE minha BAHIA!!!"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English:
"O maior som da Terra!!! Olodum, mãe Africa, nação Nagô, raiz de Angola = “The
greatest sound on Earth !!! Olodum, mother Africa, Nagô nation, root of Angola
!!!”
-snip-
Translation results for the Portuguese word "salve" from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/portuguese-english/salve - “Salve! = “Greetings!”
-snip-
Google translate’s incorrect result for this sentence is “SAVE SAVE my BAHIA
!!!”
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment