The Generals of the Band: Music and the Black Diaspora in the Carioca Artistic Scene
The Generals of the Band: Music and the Black Diaspora in the Carioca Artistic Scene

Summary/Abstract: The present article analyzes the career trajectories and songs from the repertoires of three popular musicians of the first half of the 20th Century. These are Patricio Teixeira (1893-1972), a radio singer; Getúlio Marinho (1889-1964), considered to be the first person to record macumba rhythms on a commercial album; and Tancredo da Silva Pinto (1904-1979), whose song “General da Banda” (General of the Band) is symbolically linked to Ogum. Each of these singers and songwriters, in his own way, sought to divulge elements of African-Brazilian rituals and religious practices in his music. Their artistic performances allow us to conclude that religion inspired some of their musical production, marking out the presence of the sacred in their professional activities and contributing to the social circulation of African-Brazilian symbologies.

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