Krich, John

Why is this country dancing? : one-man samba to the beat of Brazil / John Krich - New York : Simon & Schuster , c1993. - 319 p. : map ; 23 cm.

Includes index.

Over the course of three years during the late 1980s, Krich ( El Beisbol ) traveled from Rio to Sao Paulo to Sao Luis to Bahia to Recife to tiny Exu to create this uneven travelogue. In keeping with Brazil's famed fertility, each town has its own sound: some, such as samba , bossa nova and lambada , are well known; others, like carimbo , forro and baiao , are not. Most are represented in mini-discographies after each chapter called ``Music to Read By.'' Those three years translated into three carnivals as well, in Bahia, Recife/Olinda and Rio, though Krich participates in the latter, as most Brazilians do, only through the overwrought television coverage. But it is the musicians who steal the show, men mostly who have combined music from Brazil's European, aboriginal and, above all, African roots with lyrics from the country's experiences of poverty, segregation, dictatorship and torture.

9780671768140

92034927


Popular music---History and criticism---Brazil
Popular culture---Brazil


Brazil---Description and travel
Brazil---Social life and customs

LAS 918.1 KRI