South American music and culture magazine

Jorge Continentino describes himself as a saxophonist and flutist, but he regularly draws on his piano and guitar-playing skills when he’s writing original music. Jorge got an early start, leaving his hometown of Rio de Janeiro at just eighteen years of age to tour and record with some of the biggest names in Brazilian popular music, like Marisa Monte and Milton Nascimento. His nearly fifteen-years as a musician in Brazil laid the groundwork for a successful career now based in New York City, where Jorge blends traditional forró music from Northeastern Brazil with jazz, rock and folk in one-of-a-kind compositions. One of his groups, Forró in the Dark, has toured North America and Europe but is most at home presiding over the late night Brazilian parties every Wednesday at Nublu in New York’s East Village. The group also appears on the Red Hot + Rio 2 album. In addition to Forró in the Dark, Jorge is involved with numerous cutting-edge projects and collaborations that he described in our interview below. Continue Reading

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is a musician and arranger who has worked with a wide variety of musicians including Will.I.Am, Aloe Blacc, Flying Lotus, Mia Doi Todd and Ray Charles. It is very likely that he has worked on some of the albums in your own record collection. Generally providing violin or viola to records, as well as creating lush string arrangements, in the last couple of years he has worked with two of Brazil’s biggest stars – Marisa Monte and Seu Jorge – as well as worked on the Timeless concert series in LA, which involved a live performance from legendary Brazilian producer Arthur Verocai. Continue Reading

Santiago de Leon de Caracas – better known simply as Caracas – is the capital and largest city of Venezuela. Caracas is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuela coastal mountain range, the Cordillera de la Costa. Lying close to the Caribbean Sea, the Caracas valley is separated from the coast by the so-called “green guardian” – a steep mountain range rising north of Caracas, named Cerro El Ávila. Culminating at Pico Naiguatá, 2,765 meters above sea level (9,071 ft), the city’s many skyscrapers and multi-storey buildings sit dwarfed at the foot of this mountain, which nestles among the clouds. And it is here in these mountains that an unexpected refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city can be found. Continue Reading

In the North-East of Brazil the state of Bahia is found, a vibrant and colourful region, glowing with a rich mixture of European and African influences. Baroque churches, Candomblé ceremonies, the unmistakable twang of the berimbau commanding a Capoeira roda, and the birthplace of Jorge Amado and apparently of chocolate. But the riches of Bahia are not only restricted to the cobblestone streets of places such as Olinda, or the dream-like beaches of its coconut-laden coast. There is also much to be explored away from the land. Jorge Amado may have written of a “Mar Morto”, but the sea surrounding Bahia is anything but dead. Continue Reading

In many ways Santiago is a patchwork city. Each commune, or barrio, with its own architecture and atmosphere. The modern chic Providencia and Los Condes, air conditioned shops, boulevards and sky scrapers, filled with those benefiting from the new Chile. Bellavista, low buildings, murals, and bohemia. Or the centre full of 1950s and 60s high-rise, unruly cooling units protruding from window after window. Continue Reading

Torres del Paine National Park is found in the Última Esperanza province of Southern Chile , approximately 250km north of Punta Arenas. This 242,000 ha area is dissected by a complex physiography characterized by the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields and the Cordillera del Paine – an impressive mountain range that is claimed to rise over 3,000m. Continue Reading

The name Smokey Hormel may not sound very familiar, but it’s almost certain that you will own a record somewhere that features his guitarwork. His name can be found in the credits for albums by Beck, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Joe Strummer and so many more. He’s even played on albums by Justin Timberlake and Kid Rock! More importantly for us though he has often shown a real love for Brazilian music, in projects such as Forró in the Dark and Smokey and Miho, as well as Beck’s tropicália-inspired Mutations album, which all meant we had plenty to talk about. Here’s our conversation: Continue Reading

Every now and again an artist comes along with their own identity, their own vision of how something should sound. When Céu released Vagarosa in 2009 it was clear that Céu was one of these artists. It was as much a painting as an album, a vivid picture of a life in Sao Paulo. Continue Reading

Writing about somewhere you have never been is always more difficult than somewhere that you are familiar with. Your perception of that place is shaped by things heard and read. The name of a place in itself can conjure certain images. And the Tigre Delta is no exception. Continue Reading

Toshiyuki Yasuda and Atom™’s cover of “Aguas de Marco” is one of the highlights of the recent Red Hot + Rio 2 album which we reviewed here. It’s not the first time that Yasuda has worked with Brazilian music. He has released two albums as ROBO*BRAZILEIRA, a project which unites a bossa nova backdrop with a robotic Portuguese voice. Continue Reading

Atom™, otherwise known as Atom Heart, Señor Coconut or a thousand other aliases, is a German music producer based in Chile. He splits his time between making singular techno or dance music (normally under the moniker of Atom™) and making music with a Latin beat, something that has become one of his great successes thanks to the Señor Coconut project. Continue Reading

Aloe Blacc is an American soul singer best known for his single “I Need A Dollar”, which is currently everywhere. He is also involved with the Red Hot + Rio 2 project, appearing on a cover of “Baby” as well as offering his own composition “Nascimento (Birth) – Scene 2″. These songs highlight his admiration for Brazilian music and show how samba and bossa nova have become an integral part of modern soul music. Continue Reading