''Os Afro-sambas'' is a 1966 studio album (that shoud not be confused with the album of the same name and different artwork recorded live) by Baden Powell and

Vinícius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrigh ...

. The live album is ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Brazilian Albums.

Background

Considered a watershed (the original live recording) in MPB for fusing various elements of African sound with samba, ''Os Afro-sambas'' was recorded by Baden Powell, Vinícius de Moraes, and

Quarteto em Cy Quarteto em Cy (a play on words of the Portuguese for ''Quartet in B'' by poet and lyricist Vinicius de Moraes) is a Brazilian girl group originally composed of four sisters hailing from Ibirataia, a town located in the Brazilian state of Bah ...

in 1966. In the mid-1960s Vinícius was fascinated by an LP of

samba de roda Samba is a lively dance of Afro-Brazilian origin in 2/4(2 by 4) time danced to samba music. The term "samba" originally referred to any of several Latin duet dances with origins from the Congo and Angola. Today Samba is the most pr ...

songs with candomblé influences from

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

. Baden Powell had also gone to Bahia and heard the songs of the Bahian candomblé. From this mutual enchantment with samba and religiosity found in Bahia, the Afro-sambas project emerged. The eight songs (11 in the live show) have a rich and unique musicality: a mix of candomblé and

umbanda Umbanda () is a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that blends traditional African religions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th ce ...

instruments (like

atabaque The atabaque (; ) is a tall, wooden, Afro-Brazilian hand drum. The shell is made traditionally of Jacaranda wood from Brazil. The head is traditionally made from calfskin. A system of ropes are intertwined around the body, connecting a metal ri ...

s and

afoxé The afoxé is an Afro Brazilian musical instrument composed of a gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of sp ...

s) with timbres common to Brazilian music (

agogô An agogô ( Yoruba: ''agogo'', meaning bell) is a single or a multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba and Edo music and also in the samba '' baterias'' (percussion ensembles). The agogô may be the old ...

s, saxophones and tambourines). The opening track, ''Canto de Ossanha'' is ranked number 9 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 greatest Brazilian songs. Baden Powell re-recorded this album in 1990 (and many other times in and right after 1966) again accompanied by Quarteto em Cy, but this time singing the lead vocal himself, Vinícius having died.

Track listing

All tracks are jointly authored by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes. # "

Canto de Ossanha The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...

" - 03:23 # "Canto de Xangô" - 06:28 # "Bocoché" - 02:34 # "Canto de Iemanjá" - 04:47 # "Tempo de amor" - 04:28 # "Canto do Caboclo Pedra-Preta" - 03:39 # "Tristeza e solidão" - 04:35 # "Lamento de Exu" - 02:16

Personnel

* Vocals -

and mixed choir * Guitar - Baden Powell * Flute - Nicolino Copia * Tenor saxophone - Pedro Luiz de Assis * Baritone saxophone - Aurino Ferreira * Double bass - Jorge Marinho * Drums - Reisinho *

Atabaque The atabaque (; ) is a tall, wooden, Afro-Brazilian hand drum. The shell is made traditionally of Jacaranda wood from Brazil. The head is traditionally made from calfskin. A system of ropes are intertwined around the body, connecting a metal ri ...

- Alfredo Bessa * Little atabaque - Nelson Luiz * Bongô - Alexandre Silva Martins *

Pandeiro The pandeiro () is a type of hand frame drum popular in Brazil. The pandeiro is used in a number of Brazilian music forms, such as samba, choro, coco, and capoeira music. The drumhead is tunable, and the rim holds metal jingles (''platinelas'' ...

- Gilson de Freitas *

Agogô An agogô ( Yoruba: ''agogo'', meaning bell) is a single or a multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba and Edo music and also in the samba '' baterias'' (percussion ensembles). The agogô may be the old ...

- Mineirinho *

Afoxé The afoxé is an Afro Brazilian musical instrument composed of a gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of sp ...

- Adyr José Raimundo * Arrangements and musical direction - Guerra Peixe * Production and artistic direction - Roberto Quartin and Wadi Gebara Netto * Recording technician - Ademar Rocha * Photos - Pedro de Moraes * Cover - Goebel Weyne * Liner notes - Vinícius de Moraes

References

1966 albums Vinicius de Moraes albums Samba albums {{Brazil-album-stub