Samba Revitalizes Rio de Janeiro

Music brings downtown alive again

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil | It was a typically busy Thursday night at the Clube dos Democraticos, and crowds of young revelers were out in force singing and dancing to songs that have moved hearts and feet for almost a century.

Brazil's most historic music, is king again in this rabidly musical city. The renaissance is taking shape nightly at the Clube dos Democraticos and other new clubs in the city's revitalized center.

Where 19th century buildings had stood empty for years - or served as brothels - bars, restaurants and clubs are now opening rapidly and they're overflowing with the percussive strains of - you guessed it - the music that is the hallmark of Rio.

In place of American-style rock music, which has long dominated Brazil's pop charts, this music is producing new stars and remaking live music in corner bars and concert halls.

"It has clearly changed the story of Rio," said Sergio Krakowski, a tambourine player in the band Angels of the Moon, which performs vintage, sweetly harmonized songs at the Clube dos Democraticos.

"Just 10 years ago, it was totally different. It was, like, history. Now, it's being played and transformed."

The revival has contributed to the success of the documentary film "Vinicius," about poet Vinicius de Moraes, who wrote the lyrics to some of the most popular tunes. Since its release in November, the film has become Brazil's highest grossing documentary.

"This phenomenon is about reaching back to an era where there was more generosity of spirit, a spirit that has largely been banished from life today," said the film's director, Miguel Faria Jr.

Since emerging in its present form at the turn of the 20th century, samba has repeatedly faded and returned to fashion, and the fortunes of the historic Lapa neighborhood in the city center have followed along.

The hallmarks of the traditional sound - the propulsive rhythm set by tambourine, drum and cavaquinho, a small rhythm guitar, and its dueling melodic lines - sprang from the meeting of African and Portuguese musical traditions.

The music has given birth to multiple styles. Best known, perhaps, is the thundering, percussion-heavy music that mercilessly drives yearly Carnaval parades. This year's celebration runs Feb. 24-28.

The current revival favors the more genteel choro style typically built around the roda de samba, or circle, where seated musicians wielding acoustic instruments improvise to popular favorites. Onlookers invariably clap, sing and dance along to the music.

"It has a complexity of instruments that you don't get in rock or other popular music," said guitar player Lucio Andre Rodrigues de Lima, 22, who leads Wednesday night jams at the tiny bar Bip Bip just off Copacabana beach.

"You have to listen to each other and respond and improvise. It is more serious."

According to music lover and talent scout Lefe Almeida, the resurgence started modestly nine years ago when the owners of a now-defunct Lapa antiques shop launched regular samba circles amid the furniture and lamps.

Back then, it could be heard only at the Bar Semente, a health-food restaurant and bar beneath the landmark viaduct that runs through Lapa, Almeida said. Musicians who had weathered the long samba drought jumped at the chance to play live.

"I was crying for my city then, this city that was once the richest city in the world musically," Almeida said.

Soon, a smattering of clubs such as the now-famous Carioca da Gema and Estrela da Lapa opened and drew big crowds, sparking a musical gold rush that's ushered in more than a dozen clubs as well as restaurants and bars to Lapa.

The revival has even inspired city residents to take another look at living in the long-maligned downtown.

A 700-unit apartment complex to be built across the street from Clube dos Democraticos sold out in hours last year, and more apartments are in the works.

In Almeida's eyes, the rebirth of both the neighborhood and the music has returned Rio de Janeiro to its proper role as a samba guardian. "This has brought back what Rio needs to have, all these places for all these musicians," he said.

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