De Pé no Chão

Beth Carvalho’s “De Pé no Chão” is one of those albums that don’t go unnoticed — at least in the samba music world. A collaboration with instrumental group Fundo de Quintal — known for incorporating self-made instruments, such as tantan, repique de mão, and banjo, to the urban samba’s traditional arrangement, usually composed of surdo, agogô, and reco-reco — the album was a pioneer, proposing a new way of playing and recording samba music from Rio de Janeiro. “De Pé no Chão,” therefore, offers a taste of what wasmost avant-garde from Rio’s 1970s samba scene, all spiced up with the vitality and truthfulness of Beth Carvalho’s voice. The opening track “Vou Festejar” kicks in the door, immediately taking you to the frenzy of a Rio carnival day. The conga drums give a special African touch to “O Isaura,” a humorous and cheerful partido alto (a samba subgenre marked by improvisations and chorus repetition). One of the album’s most famous tracks, “Goiabada Cascão,” nostalgically complains about how traditions are fading away and giving place to a certain “americanization” of Brazil. “Que Sejam Bem Vindos” breaks with the album’s energic samba tone, starting with voice and guitar and ending with a bolero vibe. The album closes with nothing less than “Agoniza Mas Não Morre,” a soulful anthem of samba’s resistance in the face of adversities.