Musica Popular Brasileira - A Concise History

MPB, which stands for Musica Popular Brasileira, and translates from Portuguese as "Brazilian Popular Music," represents the broad body of work began by one of the most creative generations of musicians 20th century music has seen. Some of the classic representatives of the movement, which arose out of Brazil in the late 1960s and is often referred to as Tropicalia, are Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze, Jorge Ben Jor, Maria Bethania, Os Mutantes, Rita Lee, and Chico Buarque.

The music made by these and other such artists does not constitute a specific genre so much a shared spirit of experimentation, especially with the integration of American and British popular music influence (Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, et al) into Brazilian styles such as bossa nova and samba. This experimentation resulted in a wide variety of musical expression, from the psychedelic music of Os Mutantes, the samba-funk of Jorge Ben Jor, and the highly versatile work of Caetano Veloso who incorporated folk, rock, pop, psychedelica, and even disco into his albums. Veloso continues to release vital albums to this day, in fact, and is considered by many to be the iconic example of an MPB artist.

More recent MPB artists of note include Marisa Monte, Otto, Lenine, Chico Cesar, Bebel Gilberto, Moreno Veloso, MoMo, and Carlinhos Brown. Also worth noting are the contributions of American experimental/No Wave musician Arto Lindsay as producer of recording artists such as Caetano Veloso and Marisa Monte.
In the 1990s, English-speaking audiences began to become aware of MPB thanks to the "Brazil Classics" series of records released by David Byrne on his Luaka Bop label, particularly the albums "Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical" (1989), and a volume dedicated to the idiosyncratic pop-composer and Avant-Tropicalist Tom Ze ("Brazil Classics 4: The Best of Tom Ze," 1990).

Many current American musicians have professed to have been influenced by Tropicalia, including Beck, Devendra Banhart, andDan Wallace (two songs by whom are available for free download here:www.danwallacemusic.com/download).


Reference:C. Vincent Powell