Facts about Samba

Brazilian samba singer, Carmen Miranda is often thought of as being the first to popularize Samba in the United States, although the Broadway musical, Street Carnival which opened in the 1920s, included samba music.

A samba-enredo is a song performed by a samba school during its yearly Carnival parade.

The first well known samba recording was "Pelo Telefone" (1917), by Mauro Almeida and Donga.

A violгo (acoustic guitar) is also usually present, and its use in samba popularized the 7-string variation, because of the highly sophisticated counterpoint lines used in the genre in the lower pitched strings.

The term also refers to a particular style of samba music typical of such songs.

Developed in the shanty-towns of urban Rio De Janeiro samba became the focus of neighborhood associations known as "samba schools" and a major feature in Rio's festive Carnival parades.

Sambas-enredo are recorded and played on the radio during the period leading up to Carnival.

Today, the samba remains as one of the most popular musical genres in Brazil, and has also found its way into many other forms of music throughout the world.

The bossa/samba influence garnered Getz the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for the seminal tune "Desafinado."

Some criticized her for trivializing the samba in Hollywood, but she remained a popular entertainer and her career in film did a great deal to introduce American audiences to samba music.

Through the radio the genre's popularity spread all around the country, and with the support of the nationalist administration of Getъlio Vargas, samba became Brazil's "official music."

Samba's roots can be traced to Africa, namely Angola, where the semba dance was apparently the predecessor of samba.

Samba is characterized by a rhythm section containing the main beat, usually a surdo (bass drum) or tantan.

Samba emphasizes give and take between the dancers and the musical instruments leading toward a profound harmony and cooperation between the arts of dance and music.

The name samba probably comes from the Angolan semba (mesemba), a type of ritual music.

The term sapphire is commonly used in referring to the blue variety, but nearly all the colorful gem-quality forms (except red) are classified as sapphires.

Samba lyrics range from love songs, to futbol (soccer), politics, and many other subjects.

Famous artists who play "common samba" include Beth Carvalho, Paulinho da Viola, Zeca Pagodinho, Wilson Moreira, Teresa Cristina & Grupo Semente.

The Getz album Jazz Samba brought the influence of bossa nova and samba to American jazz musicians.

The escola tradition thus gave early performers a sense of legitimacy and organization to offset samba's sometimes controversial social atmosphere.

Developed in the shanty-towns of urban Rio De Janeiro samba became the focus of neighborhood associations known as "samba schools" and a major feature in Rio's festive Carnival parades.

The samba style is a smooth, duple-metered flow which was introduced to the United States by Carmen Miranda in the late 1930's.

Samba is one of the most popular forms of music in Brazil and is widely viewed as Brazil's national musical style.

The samba is a musical demonstration of the historical partnership between movement and sound to create a mutually fulfilling accord.

The cavaquinho provides the connection between the harmony section and the rhythm section; its presence usually differentiates classic samba from softer variations such as bossa nova.