Brazilian Music: Northeastern Traditions and the Heartbeat of a Modern Nation

Written by a foremost expert in the field of Brazilian culture, this fascinating volume explores the music of Brazil's Northeast, gauging its historical and cultural importance within the nation's diverse culture.

Based on the author's field and archival research over a fifteen year period, this fascinating handbook shows how the musical culture of northeast Brazil emerged and evolved, exploring the interrelated traditional musical styles that helped give the region—and ultimately the Brazilian nation—such a distinctive cultural identity.



Moving from broad comparative overviews to specific types of music, the book looks at the social contexts, performance practices, musical structures, and cultural meanings that lie behind the music and provides up-close encounters with contemporary musicians creating and maintaining the area's traditions. Additionally, the book examines the role of music and dance traditions in shaping racial identities in Brazil (blackness, whiteness, mulattoness). The accompanying CD, loaded with both commercial and field recordings, brings the book's ideas and discoveries vividly to life.