ClubD on Location: Brazil

Walking toward baggage claim at the airport in Rio de Janeiro, a live band was playing “Girl from Ipanema.” While it made me smile, it occurred to me, during my weeklong stay in Brazil in April, that any live musician, upon seeing an American, felt compelled to break out into that song. True, this famous song introduced bossa nova to the world, but even the song’s late composer Antonio Carlos Jobim might find that to be overkill.

Some restaurants, especially touristy ones, have bossa nova artists performing during dinner, and include a per-person entertainment fee with the bill. Generally, that fee was less than the cost of a caipirinha (Brazil’s national drink made from sugarcane rum and limes), and well worth it. This was the case during our two-day stay in Paraty, along the Costa Verde, about four hours from Rio. My favorite spot was a club called Paraty 33 where an excellent bossa nova band was jamming into the wee hours.

Back in Rio, my friend and I spent a Friday night exploring the Lapa district. How vibrant and wonderful a scene it was. A bit like the New Orleans French Quarter, numerous music clubs dotted several blocks while drink vendors sold beer in the streets. Along these streets, young people from disparate social classes converged in the streets around a common love of music. Up by the aqueduct, the scene truly spilled onto the streets with food, drink, and music.

We chose the samba club Café Sacrilégio along Avenue Mem de Sá. It was excellent (and the caipirinhas were dizzyingly strong). Several different samba bands played sets that night, generally five to seven musicians in each, with a range of percussion and wonderful vocal harmonies.

While samba seems unmistakably Brazilian, the music incorporates choro (an earlier Brazilian style) with music from Africa, notably the captivating percussion, which the slaves who came to work the plantations brought over to Brazil in the 16^th century. It’s a unique and uplifting sound. From the Latin jazz sounds of bossa nova to the energetic sounds of samba, the music of Brazil gets in your soul and leaves you smiling inside and out.

“When she walks, she’s like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes – ooh”