Pagode circle - Pai Benedito in the night air
Legend has it that pagode was born after a pickup soccer game in the 1970s, over in the Manguinhos area. But the truth is that the term "pagode" had already been used to name certain parties since the 16th century. The meanings of the word kept gaining new shades over time, until it became popular starting in the 1970s, with the idea of a musical gathering held in an informal space, like a "backyard."
Photo: Cesar Duarte - Samba circle - 2012 - Agência Tyba
Image description: The image is a photograph of a woman playing a musical instrument. From left to right, we see the right hand holding a drumstick, with the left hand holding another drumstick. The woman is wearing a blue top with red and white details. She is wearing a large, circular gold metal necklace. The musical instrument is a snare drum, with a metal shell and wooden hoops attached to the surface. The background is blurred, but appears to be an outdoor setting with tree shadows.Surdo, cavaquinho, pandeiro, guitar and the reinforcement of an adapted banjo with cavaquinho tuning and neck give shape to the sound that gained strength at the gatherings held at the headquarters of the carnival group Cacique de Ramos, at the house of singer João Nogueira, in Meier, and in other suburban spaces, such as Cascadura and Oswaldo Cruz. In practice, these were samba circles very similar to the ones we find today around the city. To the first instruments was added the "repique de mão," developed from a drum kit piece (the tom-tom) whose distinguishing feature is the peculiar rhythm that gives the circle its special swing. Finally, it was the tantã's turn. A drum with a deep sound, which replaces the surdo and is played only with the hands.
Photo: Gabriel Santos - Criolice Project - Tyba Agency
Image description: A imagem mostra uma grande roda de samba em ambiente interno. Pessoas se aglomeram por toda a sala, do primeiro plano ao fundo, vestindo trajes tradicionais de cores vivas, muitas usando chapéus. No centro, uma longa mesa exibe alguns objetos, possivelmente instrumentos musicais ou adereços decorativos. Ao fundo, veem-se bandeiras e faixas com estampas e inscrições.In the 1990s, Brazil saw the rise of so-called “romantic pagode,” with more melodic music groups like Revelação and Molejo. This ended up creating a kind of split, albeit an unofficial one. For some, “pagode” is whatever these groups play. For others, “pagode” still represents the unmatched ritual of Rio's samba circles, which pop up where you'd least expect them: on a street corner, on a stretch of sidewalk, in a backyard. A musical experience that only happens here. Musicians who may never have played together, singing a repertoire of sambas that was never rehearsed and whose sequence is decided on the spot, with one song leading into the next. It couldn't be more Rio.
Revelação Group's pagode show
