Samba and Bossa Nova on Bass

Hello!

My name is Renato Leite and I am the author of this samba and bossa nova course, written by Brazilian musicians who live the genre in their careers. I’ve always been a fan of jazz, and I realized that jazz players in their majority love to play samba and bossa nova, but I also saw an huge absence of didactic materials regarding the genre, written by people that live and play it.

So, I created this method thinking about people who live outside of Brazil and want to evolve their perceptions and musicality.

During this course, we will learn the history of samba and it’s development along the 20th century, since it’s important to guide the student through the repertoire.

We will trace a plan, and it’s very important for the student practice the patterns and sub-genres of samba. Also, it’s also vital to listen and know the masters of samba, and that’s why I created three playlists:

1. Essential – 30 songs that you really need to know;

2. Medium – 60 songs that are worth to know;

3. Ideal – 100 brazilian songs.

I still remember when I studied jazz via the Real Book. I figured out that I really needed to know the recordings, listen and internalize the melodies. I still highlight the importance of transcribing melodies, fills, chords, arrangements, etc. This is very true to any genre: rock, jazz, funk, and with samba is no different. The more you drink from the source, the better.

History of samba

It is with great pleasure that I’m starting a lesson about one of my favorite subjects, which is bass in samba. During the course, We’ll cover the evolution process of our instrument in the main genre of Brazilian music with transcriptions, texts and exercises.

However, today we’re not talking about how samba should be played. Instead, we’ll create a true relationship with it, getting to know musicians, songwriters, singers and arrangers. To really dominate samba, we must appreciate the songs, memorize the melodies and know how to sing a line or two, the same way we do with any kind of music we like. After that, we can go through more formal methods of study.

Origins

Samba was born from the fusion of African and European cultures on the 19th Century. However, only in the following century, in Rio de Janeiro, that it was developed as a popular manifestation of culture. The consolidation was given at the Baiana’s houses, who where mainly restaurant/bar owners and priestess of Candomblé, an African religion widely followed in various regions of Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, the Praça das Onze region was known as “Little Africa” at the time.

At Tia Ciata’s house, religious cults happened along with dance parties that lasted for days. These events were frequently visited by Donga, Pixinguinha, João da Baiana, Heitor dos Prazeres, Caninha, Sinhô e inumerous other bambas. Maxixe, Polca and Lundu were the prevailing musical genres. In one of these events, they recorded the first song to be recognized as a samba: “Pelo Telefone” (Through the Phone), written by various artists. The song was copyrighted by Donga in 1917. He claimed to be the only author, and this allegation stills controversial to this day.

Samba Schools

After being conceived in Rio’s downtown region, samba spread fast along the hills of the city, and a new group of samba artists got together at the outskirts, like Estácio de Sá, where Deixa Falar (Ramble On) was born to be considered the first ever Samba School that went out on the streets playing surdos, tamborins, cuícas and pandeiros in parades that would be later known as baterias.

Famous composers of the time were Alcebíades “Bide” Barcellos, Armando Marçal, Ismael Silva and Nilton Bastos. Deixa Falar’s bateria was later joined by wealthier people like Ary Barroso and Noel Rosa, who were college students.

Estácio de Sá’s samba had it’s own style. It was more percussive and syncopated, very much alike modern-day samba, while at the Baiana’s houses, samba was more maxixado, European-like.

Development

In the beginning of 20th Century, the first radio transmissions started to happen, along with the intellectual debates fomented by modernists who sought a more Brazilian identity, in disagreement with the upper classes, who wanted the samba to sound more European.

Driven by ideologies of Getúlio Vargas, who was the president at the time, samba got more and more famous, specially on radio, with Mario Reis, Orlando Silva, Francisco Alves, Silvio Caldas, Carmen Miranda, Aracy de Almeida, Ataulfo Alves, Dorival Caymmi and Herivelto Martins.

In the 1940’s, under the influence of American big bands, samba incorporated piano and brass instruments. This sub-genre is called samba de gafieira, which was more focused on dancing parties.

Bossa Nova

Between the 1950’s and 1960’s, Johnny Alf, João Donato and Luís Bonfá were the precursors of Bossa Nova, which would be launched as a genre officially by João Gilberto, Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes. Other artists that should be mentioned are Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal and Durval Ferreira.

Bossa Nova is widely know for it’s slower pace, more complex harmonies and more subtle interpretations. Meanwhile, composers such as Cartola, Elton Medeiros, Nelson Cavaquinho and Zé Kéti were trying to keep the original samba alive.

Also in the 1960’s, samba-rock arose in the voices of Jorge Ben, Bebeto, Bedeu and Luís Vagner. One decade later, it was samba-funk’s turn, a movement led by Black Rio and it’s amazing bass player Jamil Joanes.

Third Generation

A new generation of samba artists would mark samba’s revaluation in the 1970’s, like Alcione, Beth Carvalho, Bezerra da Silva, João Nogueira, Nei Lopes, Clara Nunes, Roberto Ribeiro, Paulinho da Viola and Martinho da Vila.

Other names like Agepê, Luiz Ayrão, Jorginho do Império and Benito di Paula (whose I’ve been a sideman for two years) ascended in parallel with what would be named pejoratively as samba-jóia (jewel-samba). Even though way less refined than it’s predecessors, it communicated easily with a huge part of the public.

Pagode

In the 1980’s, samba faced a big downfall in it’s popularity, since radios were dominated by rock and pop. In this context, to compete with the prevailing styles, samba rose again with it’s new product: pagode which initially revealed artists like Almir Guineto, Jorge Aragão, Zeca Pagodinho and Fundo de Quintal, which featured Arlindo Cruz and Sombrinha.

Pagode’s second generation, even more commercial and pop-oriented, emerged in the 90’s and gave notoriety to groups like Raça Negra, Só pra Contrariar, Katinguelê, Negritude Júnior, Art Popular, Exaltasamba, Os Travessos and Soweto. Even though they went up in the charts quickly, they didn’t please the critics due to it’s lack of refinement.

Essential Samba Bass Players

Hello! My name is Renato Leite and today I’m going to talk about some of the most important bass players in samba.

In Brazil, you can find excellent bass players to any style, going from traditional brazilian genres to jazz, blues or rock ‘n’ roll. However, today I want to present you bass players who were responsible for developing samba’s language, since most of their careers were dedicated exclusively to samba.

This video is part of the Samba and Bossa Nova on Bass course, where you’ll have access to a playlist for every bass player that I’m going to mention here, and a way more detailed list as well.

Luizão Maia: The father. Luizão is considered to be the creator of the electric bass language on samba, adapting acoustic guitar techniques and playing with his nails, increasing the attack. He played with singer Elis Regina for 13 years and recorded several albums with other artists like Djavan, João Bosco, Beth Carvalho and Chico Buarque.

Sizão Machado: The son. With refined technique and extensive harmony knowledge, Sizão left his mark on albums by Djavan, Joyce, Flora Purim, Elis Regina, Renato Brás and Belchior. His bass parts were very melodical and highly influenced by Luizão, with a very pointy sound.

Tião Neto: The Grandfather. Tião played mainly acoustic bass and was one of the precursors of bossa nova. While being Tom Jobim’s player of choice, he also worked with João Donato, Sérgio Mendes and Nara Leão. Known for a more simple and lean comping, he was the pioneer of bass playing on many Brazilian genres.

Nico Assumpção: Samba Fusion. Great bass player with large experience on instrumental music and flawless technique, Nico brought new elements to samba bass. Throughout his years playing with João Bosco, he showed several innovations. The album “Zona de Fronteira” is a great collection of these elements. He also played with Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque, Maria Bethania, Lee Konits, Guinga, Raphael Rabello and Gal Costa.

Jorge Helder: Oldschool. Jorge Helder was a loyal member of Chico Buarque’s band, where he left his mark, with simplicity and good taste, preserving early elements of bass in samba. You can also listen to him on Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso’s works.

Prateado: Modern. Widely known and active in the current scene, both as bass player and producer of pagode groups, Wilson Prateado is the responsible for how the genre sounds nowadays. His main contribution was the pursuit for rhythm cells that differed from the percussion. This way, the bass wouldn’t muddle itself with it in the mix. Equipped with a six-string bass and a very bright sound, he went for spaces where bass didn’t go to before. He toured with Exaltasamba, Belo, Sensação, Pixote and many others.