Axé-music
This is not exactly about a style or musical movement, but rather about a useful brand name given to artists from Salvador (Bahia, NE) who made music upon northeastern Brazilian, Caribbean and African rhythms with a pop-rock twist, which helped them take over the Brazilian hit parades since 1992. Axé is a ritual greeting used in Candomblé and Umbanda (African-Brazilian religions), and means "good vibration". The word music was attached to Axé - used as slang within the local music biz - by a journalist who intended to create a derogatory term for the pretentious dance-driven style.
As singer Daniela Mercury began her rise to stardom in Rio and São Paulo, anything coming from Salvador would be labeled Axé Music. Soon, the artists became oblivious to the derogatory origins of the term and started taking advantage of it. With the media pushing it forward, the soundtrack of Carnival in Salvador quickly spread over the country (through off-season Carnival shindigs), strengthening its industrial potentials and producing year-round hits along the 90s. Tested within the height of Carnival heat, Axé songs have been commercially successful in Brazil throughout the past decade. 1998 was particularly fortunate for the artists from Bahia: together, Daniela Mercury, Banda Eva, Chiclete com Banana, Araketu, Cheiro de Amor and É o Tchan sold over 3,4 million records.
Electric guitars
The origins of Axé can be found in the 50s, when Dodô and Osmar started playing the frevo from Pernambuco using rustic electric guitars (dubbed guitarra baiana = guitar from Bahia) on top of a 1929 Ford. That was the prototype of a trio elétrico. It was only in the 70s, though, that someone (Novos Baianos vocalist Moraes Moreira) had the idea to go up the Trio and sing with the band – it was the debut of Axé.
Along with the Trio movements, Afro-Brazilian blocks (block for bloco, i.e., a gathering of percussionists that parades during Carnival) blossomed: Filhos de Gandhi, Badauê, Ilê Ayê, Muzenza, Araketu and Olodum. They would play African rhythms like ijexá, Brazilian rhythms like maracatu and samba (with the same instruments used at samba schools in Rio) and Caribbean styles like merengue
With Bob Marley’s cadence and lyrics in their ears, Olodum created the samba-reggae, boasting a strong black power edge and enjoying tremendous success in Bahia in the 80s. Then, Luis Caldas and Paulinho Camafeu decided to merge the electric frevo with the ijexá. That was the birth of deboche, literally, debauchery, and the first number one single for that scene: Fricote, recorded by Caldas. The contemporaneity of electric guitars met traditional drums to form a high voltage mix.
A new generation of music stars was appearing in Brazil: Margareth Menezes was the first to set out for an international career, supported by former Talking Heads leader David Byrne. Shortly afterwards, Paul Simon lined up Olodum to play on his album The Rhythm of the Saints.
A pop turnover
The new music from Bahia would make its way into the pop mainstream in 1992, when Araketu combined electronica with percussion and released the album Araketu through British indie label Seven Gates, exclusively for the European market. That same year, Daniela Mercury released O Canto Da Cidade, and Brazil gave in to Axé. As that door opened, a whole batch of groups and artists became visible: Asa de Águia, Banda Eva, Banda Mel (which later switched to Bamdamel), Banda Cheiro de Amor, Ricardo Chaves and many others. Axé’s commercial outburst was far from being unanimously accepted, though. Dorival Caymmi reproached its artistic qualities, while Caetano Veloso endorsed them. Meanwhile, attempts to incorporate the repertoire of pop-rock bands helped create the sub-genre marcha-frevo, transforming hit songs into more fuel for Carnival.
As Axé relished with commercial popularity, several artists were searching for creative alternatives for the music from Bahia. The most significant step was taken by Timbalada, percussion/vocal group led by Carlinhos Brown, whose idea was to rescue the sound of the timbaus (bass drums), long restricted to Candomblé rituals. Besides coordinating the Timbalada, Brown released two solo albums - Alfagamabetizado (1996) and Omelete Man (1998), which incorporated different trends like pop, Brazilian pop and Bahia pop, giving Carlinhos international notoriety. He also developed a relevant cultural and social movement within the poorest communities in Salvador, through culture house Candyall Guetho Square, percussion group Lactomia (to form new generations of musicians) and the music school Paracatum.
In the meantime, success kicked harder in the scene: Netinho and the bands Jammil e Uma Noites, Pimenta N´Ativa and Bragadá joined Banda Eva, Bamdamel and Araketu among the top selling music artists in the country.
Butt Music
It was in 1995, though, that the greatest commercial phenomenon came out of Salvador. With their third album, the group Gera Samba smashed the hit parades with the song É o Tchan, counting on a big help from the shaking hips of dancers Carla Perez (blonde) and Débora Brasil (brunette). Due to legal problems, they had to switch names. Calling themselves É o Tchan, former Gera Samba inaugurated the new face of Axé that would be best known as butt music, emphasizing a sexy choreography in spite of the music (which still showed a solid samba de roda basis) and lyrics, and producing serial hits that helped boost the sales of their album, which sold over a million copies.
Media overexposure and industry pressures inevitably led Axé towards artistic and commercial distress. In 1999, when pop music re-gained notoriety, the style suffered a significant drop concerning sales numbers.
Songs
Ilê Ayê – Gilberto Gil
Fricote – Luís Caldas
Eu Sou Negão – Gerônimo
Salvador Não Inerte – Olodum
Madagascar Olodum – Banda Reflexu’s
Meia Lua Inteira – Caetano Veloso
O Canto da Cidade – Daniela Mercury
É o Bicho – Ricardo Chaves
Cara Caramba – Chiclete com Banana
Milla – Netinho
A Namorada – Carlinhos Brown
Água Mineral – Timbalada
É o Tchan – Gera Samba
Dança do Bumbum – É o Tchan
Liberar Geral – Terrasamba
Mal Acostumado – Araketu
Dança da Sensual – Banda Cheiro de Amor
As singer Daniela Mercury began her rise to stardom in Rio and São Paulo, anything coming from Salvador would be labeled Axé Music. Soon, the artists became oblivious to the derogatory origins of the term and started taking advantage of it. With the media pushing it forward, the soundtrack of Carnival in Salvador quickly spread over the country (through off-season Carnival shindigs), strengthening its industrial potentials and producing year-round hits along the 90s. Tested within the height of Carnival heat, Axé songs have been commercially successful in Brazil throughout the past decade. 1998 was particularly fortunate for the artists from Bahia: together, Daniela Mercury, Banda Eva, Chiclete com Banana, Araketu, Cheiro de Amor and É o Tchan sold over 3,4 million records.
Electric guitars
The origins of Axé can be found in the 50s, when Dodô and Osmar started playing the frevo from Pernambuco using rustic electric guitars (dubbed guitarra baiana = guitar from Bahia) on top of a 1929 Ford. That was the prototype of a trio elétrico. It was only in the 70s, though, that someone (Novos Baianos vocalist Moraes Moreira) had the idea to go up the Trio and sing with the band – it was the debut of Axé.
Along with the Trio movements, Afro-Brazilian blocks (block for bloco, i.e., a gathering of percussionists that parades during Carnival) blossomed: Filhos de Gandhi, Badauê, Ilê Ayê, Muzenza, Araketu and Olodum. They would play African rhythms like ijexá, Brazilian rhythms like maracatu and samba (with the same instruments used at samba schools in Rio) and Caribbean styles like merengue
With Bob Marley’s cadence and lyrics in their ears, Olodum created the samba-reggae, boasting a strong black power edge and enjoying tremendous success in Bahia in the 80s. Then, Luis Caldas and Paulinho Camafeu decided to merge the electric frevo with the ijexá. That was the birth of deboche, literally, debauchery, and the first number one single for that scene: Fricote, recorded by Caldas. The contemporaneity of electric guitars met traditional drums to form a high voltage mix.
A new generation of music stars was appearing in Brazil: Margareth Menezes was the first to set out for an international career, supported by former Talking Heads leader David Byrne. Shortly afterwards, Paul Simon lined up Olodum to play on his album The Rhythm of the Saints.
A pop turnover
The new music from Bahia would make its way into the pop mainstream in 1992, when Araketu combined electronica with percussion and released the album Araketu through British indie label Seven Gates, exclusively for the European market. That same year, Daniela Mercury released O Canto Da Cidade, and Brazil gave in to Axé. As that door opened, a whole batch of groups and artists became visible: Asa de Águia, Banda Eva, Banda Mel (which later switched to Bamdamel), Banda Cheiro de Amor, Ricardo Chaves and many others. Axé’s commercial outburst was far from being unanimously accepted, though. Dorival Caymmi reproached its artistic qualities, while Caetano Veloso endorsed them. Meanwhile, attempts to incorporate the repertoire of pop-rock bands helped create the sub-genre marcha-frevo, transforming hit songs into more fuel for Carnival.
As Axé relished with commercial popularity, several artists were searching for creative alternatives for the music from Bahia. The most significant step was taken by Timbalada, percussion/vocal group led by Carlinhos Brown, whose idea was to rescue the sound of the timbaus (bass drums), long restricted to Candomblé rituals. Besides coordinating the Timbalada, Brown released two solo albums - Alfagamabetizado (1996) and Omelete Man (1998), which incorporated different trends like pop, Brazilian pop and Bahia pop, giving Carlinhos international notoriety. He also developed a relevant cultural and social movement within the poorest communities in Salvador, through culture house Candyall Guetho Square, percussion group Lactomia (to form new generations of musicians) and the music school Paracatum.
In the meantime, success kicked harder in the scene: Netinho and the bands Jammil e Uma Noites, Pimenta N´Ativa and Bragadá joined Banda Eva, Bamdamel and Araketu among the top selling music artists in the country.
Butt Music
It was in 1995, though, that the greatest commercial phenomenon came out of Salvador. With their third album, the group Gera Samba smashed the hit parades with the song É o Tchan, counting on a big help from the shaking hips of dancers Carla Perez (blonde) and Débora Brasil (brunette). Due to legal problems, they had to switch names. Calling themselves É o Tchan, former Gera Samba inaugurated the new face of Axé that would be best known as butt music, emphasizing a sexy choreography in spite of the music (which still showed a solid samba de roda basis) and lyrics, and producing serial hits that helped boost the sales of their album, which sold over a million copies.
Media overexposure and industry pressures inevitably led Axé towards artistic and commercial distress. In 1999, when pop music re-gained notoriety, the style suffered a significant drop concerning sales numbers.
Songs
Ilê Ayê – Gilberto Gil
Fricote – Luís Caldas
Eu Sou Negão – Gerônimo
Salvador Não Inerte – Olodum
Madagascar Olodum – Banda Reflexu’s
Meia Lua Inteira – Caetano Veloso
O Canto da Cidade – Daniela Mercury
É o Bicho – Ricardo Chaves
Cara Caramba – Chiclete com Banana
Milla – Netinho
A Namorada – Carlinhos Brown
Água Mineral – Timbalada
É o Tchan – Gera Samba
Dança do Bumbum – É o Tchan
Liberar Geral – Terrasamba
Mal Acostumado – Araketu
Dança da Sensual – Banda Cheiro de Amor
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