Cartola

Cartola

The Heart of the Samba

It took Angenor de Oliveira (1908–1980), known to Brazilians as Cartola, quite a while to develop a recording career. He first came to prominence in 1928, when he put together what became an enormously influential Carnaval organization, the Samba School of Mangueira. A self-taught guitarist and singer, he wrote many of the group's pieces, and is credited as the first in Brazil to use samba as the musical foundation for lavish pre-Lenten parades. Incredibly, his first record under his own name didn't appear until 1974; it was made when he was sixty-five, after several decades in artistic (and alcoholic) exile. This album, the follow-up, came two years later.

Cartola is the heart of the samba, with no bells, whistles, or celebrity distractions. Its twelve simply arranged songs have been played by the massive percussion-based Mangueira ensemble in parades and competitions—some are considered by Brazilians to be almost folk songs, with them since childhood. This setting casts them in different light; pieces that can seem thunderous on the streets emerge in subtle shades, with percussion serving as one spice among many.

In the "samba de morro" (samba of the hills), as Cartola's style was known, shattered love affairs are mourned in words that suggest he'll never recover; yet at the same time, his themes carry hints of optimism, a cautious belief that brighter days lie ahead. That mixture of disappointment and hope is a Cartola trademark. It saturates the melodies. It permeates the beats. It makes just about every tune—the slippery up-tempo "As rosas não falam," the more contemplative "O mundo é um moinho," and the bassoon (!) feature "Preciso me encontrar"—seem like the heroic journey of one who's gone deeply into the dance of love, gotten hurt more than once and yet remains ready, even eager, to dance again.

Genre: World, Brazil
Released: 1976, Melopea (Reissued 2000)
Key Tracks: "As rosas não falam," "Preciso me encontrar," "O mundo é um moinho."
Catalog Choice: Serie Aplauso
Next Stop: Marisa Monte: Memories, Chronicles, and Declarations of Love
After That: Edu Lobo: Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo
Book Page: 147

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About 1,000 Recordings

Celebrate the joy, the revelation, the mystery, the fun, the sheer shivers-up-the-spine pleasure of great music.

Essential operas. Milestone rock albums. An education in the blues. The world of world. Classical from Bach to Bartók to Beethoven to Brahms. And dozens of unexpected gems, surprising discoveries, and long-lost masterpieces.

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