Search - Toinho De Alagoas, Duda Da Passira, Jose Orlando :: Forro

Happy music

Hired Pen | United States | 02/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I was a kid, the only people I knew who played the accordion and admitted it were the kids whose German immigrant parents made them take music lessons so they could play polkas. I never met one whose playing was inspired.Well, forro is not your father's (or anyone else's) accordion music. This musical form from Brazil is a spicy, jaunty, and infectious import. And Brazil: Forro--Music for Maids and Taxi Drivers reflects the best of it. Listen to this album, and I defy you to sit still.The subtitle of this record reflects the fact that forro (pronounced "faw-RAW" or "foe-HOE") is an earthy musical form popular with the working classes. Typically forro follows the traditional European music form (verse and chorus), but its rhythms are Indian and African. The usual instrumentation is an accordion, a triangle, and a shallow marching drum called a zabumba. The tempo is fast, the rhythms driving. It's ideal dance music, and many Northeastern Brazilians spend their weekends and festivals stepping to it.Even when the subject is serious--and it often is, because life in Brazil's northeast is never easy--this music sounds happy. You don't need to speak a word of Portuguese to enjoy it, but you may fall in love purely with the sound of the language. Next rainy day, draw the blinds, turn on every light in the house, and put Brazil: Forro on the CD player. I can't guarantee that the sun will come out, but you won't care. Hey, those maids and taxi drivers are on to something."