The Fantastic Story of a Jam in a Place To Be Brazil

By Lula Marcondes

Africans were always playing music...

...with devotion.

Music!

They played music to worship Mother Nature’s spirits...

...They played music to celebrate life...

...they just played.

But one day, Africans were enslaved...

...and sold all over the world.

Wherever they were, they worked very hard.

Despite how hard their new life was, music remained in their souls...

...and the drum beat in their hearts.

Although it was very dangerous, they kept playing their drums.

And sometimes, they paid a very high price.

But music was their lives!

And a path to freedom.

Wherever Africans were, there was music.

It was so in Jamaica...

...It was so in the United States...

...and also in Brazil.

In that tropical place, the Africans met the native inhabitants...

...and their music.

Then, they jammed a lot!

With drums, maracas, call-and-response singing...

...and of course, the melody...

...and the big circle!

Several cultural expressions were born out of this jamming in this tropical place from these oppressed but powerful peoples.

Candomblé (fused from different African religious traditions) and Toré (from the indigenous religious rituals) became the matrix for these new cultural expressions.

And although women didn’t always play the drums, they were an important part of the jam.

Over time, things have changed.

Hence the Afro-Indigenous Coco was born, as well as its later derivations such as Samba de Coco, Coco de Roda, Coco de Umbigada, Coco de Embolada.

From the jamming in the hidden Quilombo settlements, within the deep forests, Capoeira was developed, spread out, and became a response against oppression.

The jamming also made flourish the Maracatus, Caboclinhos, Ciranda, Tambor de Crioula, Jongo, and many other cultural expressions and rhythms.

Of course the white Portuguese people also participated in a jam outside the forests.

Their influence is clear in many other cultural expressions throughout the tropical place known as Brazil.

So the Jam happened and it is still happening all around the place. Several rhythms, cultures, and ways of worshiping were born and spread out throughout this immense country.

And they all find a common ground: the celebration of life and freedom!

Indigenous Peoples in Pernambuco: The state of Pernambuco has an estimated Indigenous population of 47,000 people, distributed within 12 groups and located between the Agreste and Sertão regions. They are represented by two organizations: - APOINME (Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Northeast Indigenous Peoples Union) - COPIPE (Pernambuco Indigenous Professors Commission) ETHNIC GROUP

CITY

1. Xukuru

POPULATION (2010)

Pesqueira

12,005

2. Kapinawá

Buíque, Tupanatinga, Ibimirim

3,283

3. Kambiwá

Ibimirim and Inajá

2,911

4. Pipipã

Floresta

1,195

5. Atikum

Carnaubeira da Penha and Salgueiro

4,631

6. Pankará

Carnaubeira da Penha and Itacuruba

5,000

Petrolândia, Tacaratu and Jatobá

5,500

7. Pankararu

8. Pankararu Entre Serras 9. Pankaiuká 10. Fulni-ô

Petrolândia Jatobá

1,500 150

Águas Belas

4,000

11. Truká

Cabrobó and Orocó

6,044

12. Tuxá

Inajá

261

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Quilombolas in Pernambuco: The state of Pernambuco has around 300 quilombola communities located at the Zona da Mata, Agreste and Sertão regions.

Officially, there are 108 communities certified by Fundação Cultural Palmares and 106 are waiting for land regularization by INCRA (National Settlement and Agrarian Reform Institute).

Currently, only two communities have their land papers regularized: the quilombo groups of Castainho and Conceição das Crioulas.

QUILOMBO 1. Castainho 2. Conceição das Crioulas

CITY

POPULATION (2010)

Garanhuns

206 families

Salgueiro

750 families

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Dedicated to Mestre Pastinha, Xicão Xukuru, Mestre Custódio, Dona Jacira, Beija-Flor, Dona Neuza, Mestre Dédo, Mestre Pitunga, Mestre Batista, Manoel Deodato, Mestre Salustiano, Biu Roque, ...

...to many others who are jamming in another realm of life, and to all the people who are still struggling and jamming in this immense and beautiful country called Brazil.

Created by: Oficina de Criação

O Norte - Oficina de Criação www.onorte.arq.br Texts and illustrations: Lula Marcondes

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