Fulbright-mtvU Fellows

The Day That Hunger Died Of Thirst

Since February, I’ve been following a local rock band called Eletrocactus. I met them while they were working in a recording studio as they started mastering their first CD. I was attracted to the way they drew on regional imagery in their music. Almost everything they do refers to the sertão, the semi-arid hinterland, of the Brazilian Northeast. One of the members of the band explained to me that they use regional rhythms like the baião to musically evoke Ceará’s interior, and maracatu cearense for Fortaleza and urban life. Songs have names like “Calango Eletrônico” (Electronic Lizard), “Fogo do Sertão” (Fire of the Sertão), and “Seco Sertão Sangrado” (Bled Dry Sertão). The title track of their new album is called, “O Dia em que a Fome Morreu de Sede” (The Day that Hunger Died of Thirst). At times the singers’ vocal style mimics rural traditions like cantoria and embolada, and the melodic and harmonic foundations are mostly blues and rock. They’re constantly combining images of the city and the sertão, tradition and modernity, local and global.
 
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Tags: Eletrocactus, The Day That Hunger Died Of Thirst

India on Shuffle

The beauty of music lies in its ability to provide feeling across borders, classes, and races, and to resonate where words fail. I remember hearing the Gypsy Kings playing live at a Merkato 55 brunch party in New York; I remember dancing to Cuban band Las Orishas at Poble Espanol in Barcelona; I remember listening to Australian rock from my tent at Glastonbury in the U.K.; I remember singing “Beautiful” along with Akon, live at the Indian Premiere League Launch in Mumbai. With such an eclectic fusion of sounds crossing the globe, I wondered about India’s spot on the playlist. While Bollywood music is certainly a global export, my time in Mumbai has introduced me to a new, innovative, and increasingly popular scene that is gaining momentum all over India and on the international stage.

I had heard about Indian Ocean from the moment I stepped foot in India. The Delhi-based band has been around for about 20 years and many have grown up on their music. I knew their powerful words had the ability to move people of all ages and that they were immensely popular on the Mumbai scene. Nothing, however, prepared me for the crowd I witnessed on a Wednesday night in Mumbai when Indian Ocean performed at Blue Frog, the city’s most popular music venue. The concert was slated to start at nine, so I assumed an arrival time of eight would give me more than enough time to get settled. When I pulled up to the venue, however, I was greeted by the sight of hundreds of Mumbaikers who had already beat me to the scene, waiting in line since morning to what was an already completely full and sold out show. Luckily, my friend knew the owner, and he ushered us to the front amid much animosity from the other fans. I felt bad for all of those waiting in line, but then again, it was research!
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Tags: AC/DC, Akon, Amit Kilam, Asheem Chakravaty, Bauch Klang, Blue Frog, Bobin James, Buddy Holly, DJ Sasha, Guarav Raina, Gypsy Kings, Indian Ocean, Las Orishas, Midival Punditz, Raghu Dixit Project, Rahul Ram, Rolling Stone Magazine, Susmit Sen, Swarathma, Tapan Raj, The Beatles, U2

Viva São João!

Since April, I’ve been rehearsing quadrilha, a kind of northeastern Brazilian square dance with French roots, twice a week with students at the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará. The teacher (and my dance partner), Simone Castro, is a professor of folklore and has been preparing her students to dance at this year’s São João (St. John’s Day) party.

Here we are (I’m in the front on the right at the beginning). Unlike their parents’ generation, a lot of these students didn’t grow up with this tradition and learned it for the first time this year as tourism and sports-and-leisure majors. (In case you can’t tell, it’s my first time, too . . .) Viva São João!

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Tags: Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, Instituto Federal de Educação, quadrilha

Brazil vs. North Korea

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

1:48 pm

For the past week or so my days have been punctuated by the sound of firecrackers. Brazil has yet to compete in the World Cup, but the excitement kicked in a while ago. My friends ask me if I’ve bought my yellow, green or blue Brazil t-shirt to wear during the games – it’s a requirement. And this year’s decorations for the festas juninas, the June festivals, which are usually multi-colored and suggestive of life in the rural interior, are mostly green and yellow, colors from the Brazilian flag and the Brazilian soccer jersey. My neighborhood bakery recently installed a flat-screen TV and hung hundreds of little yellow and green flags from the ceiling.

Today is more or less a national holiday. Schools, banks, and pretty much everything closes at noon or by two so everyone can watch the game. I drove out to get a sandwich for lunch, and cars with Brazilian flags hanging from the windows passed me on the otherwise empty streets. Right now, I can hear horns and whistles along with firecrackers as people prepare for the 3:30 game against North Korea. I saw a man trip in the pharmacy this morning. As he stood up, he announced, “I’m sorry, I’m just emotional! And the game hasn’t even started yet!”

2:15 pm

I just put on my yellow t-shirt and I’m headed to Kukukaya, my favorite forró venue in Fortaleza, to watch the game. They’re advertising screens, lots of forró music, and traditional northeastern cuisine to accompany the game.

6:44 pm

A few too many beers and I’m now home safe and satisfied that Brazil beat North Korea two to one. The crowd at Kukukaya seemed a little disappointed. I guess they imagined a bigger win. But I danced forró for about an hour after the game with some people I met from the secretaria de cultura, and I’m now being serenaded by explosions (maybe three times as many as earlier today), barking dogs, and car horns, all declaring Brazil’s first victory of the 2010 World Cup.

See the excitement yourself:

Tags: 2010 World Cup, Brazil, Forró, North Korea

What Does it Take to be a Gnawi?

Great question. In the course of my research, I’ve encountered all sorts of answers from the Masters, but I’m also interested in what the younger generation has to say on the matter. So, I spent several afternoons shooting the breeze with Nacim Haddad and Zakaria Aktoui, on the other side of the Bouregreg River in Sale. Nacim is a Moroccan taking on a Masters degree in “Science Informatique” at the local University, but moonlights as an ethnomusicologist (and a phenomenal haj houj player). Zakaria is a Gnawi. Meaning, his parents are Gnawi, he was raised in a house of night rituals, spirits, and possession. Local lore has it that Zakaria’s mother went into labor and gave birth to him while in a trance. He is a full-time Gnawi. It’s his life, his culture, his religion, and his profession. There are no delineations between these areas of his identity. His son just turned one and is already following in his father’s footsteps (See video). So, who better to ask than these two?
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Tags: Abdel-Hafid Chlyeh, Gnawi, Ibn Bukhara, Kitab Bukhara, Nacim Haddad, Viviana Paques, Zakaria Aktoui