Forró De Cabeça Bugiganga Tropical Volume 3

Tropical Diaspora Records welcomes a new member in our musical universe, the Band Forró de Cabeça!

Originated in our regular Tropical Diaspora Party in Berlin this project is one we were waiting for since the beginning of our journey as recording company. The Tropical Diaspora Party in Berlin was the space and laboratory for many local bands where artistic freedom and joy came together. These Bands were playing in the most relevant venues of the German capital.

One party worth to mention was the Tropical Diaspora Party Vol.39 at the venue BiNuu. The experiment was to have for the first time ever two bands on the stage playing Cumbia and Forró. We call this joint venture Forrúmbia, an event to promote those two great rhythms from South-America. This was the kick start for the new record to be released soon by Tropical Diaspora Records honoring the original new roots music from Brazil.

With original lyrics by Hans Santos and few others written by partners like the capoeirista Professor Pernã and the poet Eduardo José the band shows that many of the lyrics are based on elements of nature, a feature that set the philosophy of the band also that unites music, agroecology and sustainability. Those are principles that can be also observed in in the songs performed by the group. Indeed and exclusively for the record released by Tropical Diaspora® Records the song Abelha Mangangá tell us about the way of the Humble-bee in the nature, trying to survive despite clima change and chemicals in the agriculture.

The instrument called Rabeca in make the difference in this Band playing the so called Forró de Rabeca. The rabeca is thought to have originated in a region of northern Portugal especially in the areas around Amarante during the 18th century. In the Brazilian tradition, the rabeca is not a short-scale instrument unlike its Portuguese cousin, in forró music the rabeca is typically accompanied by accordion, zabumba drum, and triangle. The three primary dance rhythms of forró are the 4/4 xote, baião, and arrasta-pé.

Forró de Cabeça is since few years on the road, the Forró band original from the Várzea district in Recife the main city of Pernambuco state in north east region in Brazil. The district of Várzea is well know in the music scene in that region for the strong cultural engagement of the people, furthermore the district gave birth to very known artists like the singer Otto, the reggae band N’Zambi or the performer Abyssal. Rhythms like forró, xote, xaxado, pé de serra, coco, maracatu, afoxé or ciranda are at home here. Musicians like Luiz Gonzaga, Luiz Paixão, Elba Ramalho, Dominguinhos, Siba, Hermeto Pascoal or Cila do Coco are among their influences.

Forró de Cabeça started orginaly by Hans Santos and the percussionist Carlos Eduardo both members of the Maracatu group Maracatu Real da Várzea, the same group where they found the other members of the band, Ivanildo Valença, Jonatan Tavares and Priscila Tamar.

Forró de Cabeça band members are:

Hans Santos – Vocal and Rabeca Jonatan Tavares – Back Vocal and Zabumba Priscila Tamar – Vocal, Mineiro, Cuban Clef and Jam Block Ivanildo Valença – Back Vocal, Triangle and Matracas Another highlight we would like to mention is the participation of teacher, composer, capoeira player, singer and instrumentalist João Pereira, more known as Professor Pernã. He is one of the greatest composers in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil, with about 200 songs written, composing in particular capoeira songs that are sung by different groups, being also immortalized in capoeira player masters CDs. In the district of Várzea a multicultural neighborhood in the capital of Pernambuco (Recife), Professor Pernã has a history linked to the culture of the different popular toys in the neighborhood, having composed sambas, cocos, ladainhas, maracatus, forrós, among other rhythms, with an aesthetic that he describes moments lived by him, like scenes of nature observed through the optics of his poetry. We are features one of his lyrics on this record, the song called Vamos Subir A Serra that brings elements found in the Atlantic Forest, with a special introduction played by Professor Pernã using the instrument called berimbau.

As a matter of fact, Forró De Cabeça have recorded two exclusive songs for Tropical Diaspora Records. This songs were recorded in Olinda at Fábrica Estúdios one of the best recording studios in the region. This songs will be featured in the third episode our tresure cover collection Bugiganga Tropical. The Vol.3 featuring Sugar Cane in the cover is coming out this spring and we hope you will enjoy it as well we already do.