The neighborhood where I stayed in Bahia, Candeal, was the most musical place I have ever been. It is also the long-time home of one of Brazil’s biggest musical stars, Carlinhos Brown. Kids here grow up batting on plastic buckets and water bottles with sticks (I heard them every day from my balcony). My host family was extremely musical, and Colin and Zinho were kind enough to bring me into their musical worlds. I am in the process of taking samples from some the music I heard to incorporate into instrumental tracks, but in the meantime here are some pictures of my musical adventures!
These kids practiced on the stairwell next to our house every day. They were amazing.
Zinho and Colin and I played music all the time at the kitchen table, and one night did a performance at the restaurant down the street.
Salvador has so much great music that you can even find it at the library! Colin and I went to a public festival at the city library to see Candylo, a hip hop band from Candeal, the super-musical neighborhood where we lived.
I was in Candeal on world AIDS day, when there was a very special event happening with lots of VIPs from the State Government of Bahia and also a visit from Carlinhos Brown. After the VIPs gave their speeches, Candeal’s local batucada, busted through the gates, playing super foot stomping, bootie-shaking, boogy-down music and led everyone out of the venue onto the streets.
Surfer Grrrls Brazil! 