Jesus Loves Funky, Black Rio

Tim Maia-O Caminho do Bem


Tim Maia-Chocolate


Cassiano-Centro do Brazil

So after I put up the Racional tracks I thought a little bit more about all the stuff I was leaving out from the Black Rio (pronounced: Blackie Rio) era of Brazilian music. In fact, there is no possible way to do Brazilian music justice on a little blog like this-it’s just too damn deep and too diverse. But here I am, trying anyway. I should be embarrassed of the very little knowledge that I have about the music, but it’s hard not to share these funky beats.

So, that said, we find Tim Maia making a second appearance here-this time with a track off of Racional Vol.2, “O Caminho do Bem” and one of his famous singles “Chocolate.” With him the less famous, Cassiano makes his first appearance with a funky number called “Centro do Brazil” off his Cuban Soul LP.

What’s so special about these guys? Ask any Brazilian about Tim Maia and they’ll either sing you one of his various hits or go on about how damn groovy the man was. A musical mastermind who died before his time, Tim Maia brought a distinctly funky and soulful sound to Brazilian music. One listen to these tracks and there is no denying the American Funk/Soul influence. But he didn’t do it alone. Cassiano was fusing funky grooves into his sound around the same time Tim became successful. Cassiano actually composed some of Tim’s hit singles.

Both musicians were a part of a movement in Brazilian music, specifically from Rio de Janeiro, called Black Rio. It was a time during Rio music when black musicians were becoming aware of their racial identity and their social position in Brazil. Not that different from American Funk and Soul at the time, their lyrics, album covers, and music reflected this new awareness. Songs like Luis Melodia song “Ebano”, meaning Ebony, or Jorge Ben’s “Negro é Lindo”, Black is Beautiful are just a few examples. For me this is an interesting time in Brazilian music, especially because racial awareness in Brazil today is very different than in the United States. This music reflected a time when the racial awareness in Brazil was more similar too that of the U.S.

A side note here: A friend pointed out late one night while we were listening to Samba that even though Black Rio was more expressive about the idea that Black is Beautiful, Samba musicians have always had similar themes. Musicians like Marthino Da Villa (to be featured at length later on this blog) and Samba players from Partido Alto (Northern Brazil) have always had themes that emphasized the beauty of color and culture. Not so much as a black pride thing, but more as a celebration of Brazil’s African roots, part of which are the rich rhythms that musical styles like Samba and Maracatú are based on. This is the difference between black identity in Brazil and in the U.S.-Blackness is celebrated as a part of Brazilian culture and national identity where as in the U.S. it is used to separate a people from the culture and the people from the national identity. Samba, as it is said here, is “uma coisa nossa”, or a Brazilian thing. Hip-Hop, is not a U.S. thing, but a “Black” thing.

Ok. . .now back to Tim and Cassiano. I wouldn’t say that Tim Maia and Cassiano where responsible for the birth of the Black Rio movement, in fact some wouldn’t even consider them as a part of the movement. A statement like that would also be unfair to other musicians like Luis Melodia, Banda Black Rio, and even Jorge Ben. Each added something to the Black Rio sound and had different interpretations on it. But Tim and Cassiano are defiantly two of the most influential, each with an extensive body of work that reached far and deep into the movement. Their work even continues to influence musicians today. Hip-Hop producers have sampled from their work at length. These two guys are indeed amongst the funkiest that Brazil has to offer.