Samba time!

Finally! After weeks of waiting, I got to see live samba. It had been rather difficult when I was staying outside the city, but now that I’m in the centre most music bars are a stone’s throw away. On Wednesday night we headed for Vila Madalena, a rather posh area where every corner bustles with activity, like lifting glasses of beer to the sounds of guitar, cavaco, pandeiro and/or some other noisy instrument. At a place called Pau Brasil, there was roda de samba. It’s a very old Brazilian tradition of playing this particular genre, which involves musicians sitting in a circle (roda) or sometimes round a table and taking turns to play/sing until dawn. Depending on the venue, this can take the form of a friendly gathering or is more like a show, with artists keeping their distance from the beer-sipping crowd. By the way, I have been told (warned?) that samba and cerveja (beer) always go together, so unless you’re pregnant or under-age, there is no excuse. Not like I was looking for one, but just so that you know. Great sambistas are invariably great drinkers too.

What I loved about that night at Pau Brasil, is that it felt like one big party, with musicians so close to you that you risked getting elbowed in the stomach. And if you got too excited dancing and singing like everybody (!) else in the club, that beer bottle that you’ve just accidentally knocked down ended up at their feet.

Unfortunately, it was too dark there to film properly but at least you can get an idea about the music. It’s Aldo Bueno performing "Mas Quem Disse Que Eu Te Esqueço". More videos coming soon.