Thiago França from São Paulo plays saxophone with Metá Metá among many other projects. On his last album “Coisas Invisíveis” (Invisible Things) with his solo project “Sambanzo” he created a great minimal but rhythm fueled mix of just Afro-Brazilian percussion and saxophone. The record aims to capture energy, invisible, but concrete from a nearby and distant Africa, present and past. The intention, according to França, is to evoke the myth of a pre-diasporic African unity, in which several societies have developed by taking a horizon with habits and relatively common beliefs.

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The second album of the Abayomy Afrobeat Orchestra is less Afrobeat than its predecessor exploring new sound elements and speaking of ancestry with delicacy of who perceives the world of possibilities and combinations. There is greater diversity of influences that guarantee a new freshness and strength of sound. Produced by Pupillo (drummer of Nação Zumbi) the album features Brazilian musicians such as Céu, Otto and Jorge do Peixe and as well as Tony Allen.

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Some instrumental Reggae and Dub from Mângo out of Santo André/São Paulo state.

From the press release on their website:
“Alabê presents the traditional percussion of the Afro-Brazilian religion known as Candomblé in a jazz context. The compositions are dialogues between the percussion of the Ketu nation and the saxophone, like the Rum (the drum that leads the ceremony) converses with the Orisha (a spirit embodied by a person in trance).

Brazilian music has its roots in the African rhythms which were played in places of worship of the Candomblé. Around the world, African musical heritage has spread giving birth to Blues, Jazz, Rumba, Salsa and Samba.

The riches of African percussion are immense. This knowledge is transmitted from master to apprentice in ritual spaces and ceremonies. Each sacred drummer, called an Ogan, possesses a piece of that knowledge. In this oral tradition, where there is no formal study, it is rare for outsiders to encounter archives of these musical treasures. Many famous Brazilian percussionists are inspired by this tradition, but it is very rare to encounter it in its original form outside of the Candomblé.

Bringing this traditional knowledge in a contemporary setting and making it accessible to a larger public is a way to contribute to the preservation and the valorisation of this intangible culture.

The group was founded by Antoine Olivier, a French percussionist living in Rio de Janeiro who performs as​ an Ogan in the Candomblé, and Brazilian saxophonist Glaucus Linx (Isaac Hayes, Salif Keita, Elza Soares, Carlinhos Brown…). The band also features the Grand Master of the Candomblé drums : Dofono de Omolu and percussionists Tiago Magalhães e Gabriel Guenther.

The sacred rhythms of the Candomblé offer their power and complexity in a modern context: this is Alabê Ketujazz. Four percussionists and a saxophonist explore new musical landscapes with original compositions and classics by the likes of Baden Powell.”

https://soundcloud.com/alab-2/opanije-funk
https://soundcloud.com/alab-2/ijexa-gnawa
https://soundcloud.com/alab-2/bata-nippon

DJ Dolores, Maestro Spok and Yuri Queiroga deliver a pioneering experience with this album which succeeds in the difficult mission to innovate Pernambucos uptempo carnival style called Frevo.

Initially planned as a instrumental project they came up with inviting Otto, Jorge Du Peixe, Lira, MC Sombra and Marion Lemonnier for vocals.

Free download from their website.

The band Abeokuta from Recife (capital of Pernambuco state in Brazils Northeast) shows in their explosive fusion how well Afrobeat fits to Brazilian rhuthyms, from Maracatu to Afoxé.

Free download

A mixtape celebrating the release of Kafundó Vol. 3 which navigates through a cocktail of various musical flavors between electronic and roots sounds from the North and Northeast of Brazil.

Tracklist:

01. DJ ChicoCorrea – Manganga
02. Radiola Serra Alta – Coco de Nosso Senhor
03. Opanijé – Vamuinvadi (part. Loquaz)
04. FurmigaDub – Ciranda Bacana
05. Bemba Trio – Melô do Vatapá (Lucio K Remix)
06. Nirso – Tranca Rua
07. DJ MAM – Coco de Itaparica (DJ Incidental Remix)
08. Lord Breu – Dendê
09. naurÊa – Xangô na Dansanteria
10. Mestre Cupijó – Tahira Remix
11. Caapora – Baião de Veraneio
12. Silvério Pessoa – Mix Raça
13. Mohandas – Saudades do Pará
14. Coletivo di Tambor – Todo Mundo Samba
15. Rimas.INC. – 8tavão (Clécio Rimas Ft. Thiago Martins)
16. B.Réu – Maracatu Dirty
17. Nego Edmundo & Monstruoso Sistema de Som – Ciranda (Vocal Mix)
18. BaianaSystem – SYSTEMA FOBICA (ubaranamaralina)

One of the most prestigious trumpet player from Pernambuco State of Brazil debuts his solo career with an album full of Jazz, Funk, Soul, Embolada and other regional and afro rhythms.

BNegão & Seletores de Frequência show in their third album their newest multifaceted sound experiments. Mixing Dub, Suingue/MPB, Afro percussion, Surf Rock, Funk and many other styles this record contains an infinity of sounds and references in one project.

Free download here.

The band I​.​F​.​Á. Afrobeat from Salvador/Bahia State just released his first EP featuring Nigerian singer Okwei V. Odili. Apart of Afrobeat, Ijexá and Funk they insert elements of Dub and Reggae confirming the importance of the historic link between black cultures of the diaspora.

Free download here

Mixtape of Hip Hop and Rap stuff from Jakarta, formerly known as Batavia.

Tracklist:
1. Sweet Martabak – Ada Sumur Di Ladang
2. Saykoji – So Wat Gitu Loh
3. Rotra – Jagal Prabu
4. Saykoji – Eyyo
5. 2nd Clan – Benthik
6. Too Phat – Nasty Girl
7. Ahli Fiqir – Inilah Barisan Kita
8. Panji – Bajak Lagu Ini

After Pedra de Sal Alessandra Leão just released the second EP within her new creative cycle of three releases. She uses as main references street and ritual music of Northeastern Brazil, but the presence of popular culture does not bring folklore.

Free download from her website.

The new Afro-Brazilian Band Höröya from São Paulo wants to re-frame the origins and influences of African and Afro-Brazilian cultures in a new format. Made up of Brazilians, Senegalese and Guineans they reinforce the cultural dialogue between Brazil and the African continent. The name of the band is of Mandeng origin and means freedom and autonomy.

This mini-documentary is only in Portuguese:

Macumbia is a band based in Joao Pessoa in Northeastern Brazil. They mix Caribbean and Latin with traditional Brazilian rhythms. As the groups members are from different cultures and nationalities such as Brazil, Venezuela and North America the lyrics are in Spanish, Portuguese and English. They believe in the union of the Latin American people through music.

Download their second album for free from their website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7J-P_XSmec

Iconili is a band from Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais State in Brazil. After their debut album “Tupi Novo Mundo” from 2013 they just released their second long player. Still based mainly on Afrobeat they go further in this excellent work adding to the Afro references Jazz and Funk, but especially Brazilian ingredients like Carimbó, Samba and Minas Sound creating a mixture psychedelically tropical.

Free download here.

Thiago Elniño from the midzsize industrial city Volta Redonda in the Rio de Janeiro state comes up with a Hip Hop/Rap album full of oldschool Brazil samples, nice!

New and free track from Bahia’s best Sound System.

Free download from their website.

Great EP from São Paulos newcomer duo Flying Buff full of Bass, Trap and Rasterinha.

Free download here.

ÀTTØØXXÁ is the new project of Rafa Dias who is one part of Δ.MΔ.$$Δ and producer of
Os Nelsons. On his first EP ÀTTØØXXÁ pays homage to Timbalada which is one of the most famous a percussion groups from Salvador lead by Bahia superstar Carlinhos Brown. The goal was to create a timeline based on the samples of Timbaladas songs and make the timbres for the synths out of the primary signal.

All tracks free for download.

The album from Zimun out of Belo Horizonte is a rich and diverse ride between hip hop, jazz, afrobeat, rock and funk.

Download from their website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAAoM5J9S5E

Superlage comes up with an excellent mix of Cumbia and regional flavors from North Brazil such as Carimbó and Brega. With it’s tripping tropical off beats this will for sure warm up every heart and soul suffering from winter dark- and frostiness.

From their press release:
“Superlage is Global Beat, breathing in urban music and sweating out Latinidade. It brings together musicians from the Brazilian states of Pernambuco, Amazonas and Pará to create a musical stew simmered in tropical sounds, mixed in a base of electronic music, and with a flavor that is uniquely Brazilian. Within the sound of the band, it’s not difficult to identify the desire to throw an all-night dance party where legs, arms, bellies and hips get joyfully twisted together on the dance floor, or in the street, all pure color and full of light like Brazilian Carnival itself.
Born in Olinda, Pernambuco, Superlage is made up of a duo who composes, arranges, plays, mixes and produces songs based on Cumbia, mixed with Dancehall Reggae, Baião and Carimbó.
The band is formed by the beatmaker DJ Incidental, a Pernambucan gem, grandson of a master of popular dance and a veritable human library of all possible styles of Cumbia, and Raimundo Alfaia, originally from Amazonas, bassist, singer and producer.
To interpret this first collection of songs produced by the pair, Jana Figarella was invited. A singer from Pará with a flair for Carimbó and the riverside culture of the Amazon, the voice of Figarella redefines and amplifies the emotional geography of the songs, already thoroughly miscegnated by the Latin and Northeastern rhythms present within the beats of Incidental and Alfaia.
Superlage shows off the party culture of an Afro-Latin Brazil, integrating it to the re-valorization of Cumbia with modern electronic sounds, rhythms that have inspired young musicians and crowds all over the world.
The songs have their poetry inspired by the cordel literature of Northeastern Brazil, urban journeys to the beach, and coconuts. It’s the feeling of ocean wind in your hair, glowing bonfires, Carnival… An invitation to dive into a sea of sounds, full of joy and vibrant colors, all carefully produced in the rich ambiance of sweet tropical swing.”

Download from their website.

After the album “Dois Cordões” from 2009 Alessandra Leão. just released the first of a trilogy of EPs that features other excellent musicians such as Caçapa, Juçara Marçal and Kiko Dinucci.
Check more info on Sounds & Colours.

Download for free from her website.

Great new album from Brasílias Sacassaia out now.

Download for free from their website.

Criolo just released his new album which contains apart of Hip Hop and Rap as well MPB, Samba and Afro(beat). He counts with the participation of Tulipa Ruiz, Money Mark, Juçara Marçal, Kiko Dinucci, Rodrigo Campos and Síntese.

Download for free from his website or stream it from Youtube: