WBEZ | Brazil

Radio M: New Releases tonight with Chicago Reader music writer Peter Margasak.

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:30:00 -0500

It's the third Friday of the month and on Radio M that means a visit from Chicago Reader music writer Peter Margasak. Peter gets hundreds of CD's and so it's quite a job for him to sift thru the best of the best in global music for Radio M airplay and this month is no exception.

This month Peter's picks take us to Brazil, Mali, Southern China and other destinations. Also during the show; sounds of Japan, Iran, Nigeria, India and Syria.

Radio M- the best global sounds in Chicago and beyond.

Radio M Playlist

9PM

1. J.K. Mayengar & The Shingnesi Sisters- Khubani- Next Stop...Soweto Vol.2

2. The Dynamites- Massachusetts- Young Sound R&B

3. 17 Hippies- The Moving Song- Heimlich

4. Fanfara Tirana meets Transglobal Underground- Shtojzovalla- Kubatronics

5. Saraswathi Ranganathan- Brahmamokke- The Magic of Veena Vol.1

6. Can- Vitamin C- Ege Bamyasi

7. The Lebron Brothers- My Cool Boogaloo- Psychedelic Meets Latin

9:30PM

1.Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba- Danko- Jama Ko

2. Zedashe- Alilo Sashobao- Intangible Pearls

3. Deng Fu Mei & Zhang Wu Mei- Song of the Origin of the World- Ethnic Minority Music from Southern China

4. Colomach - Enoviyin- Colomach

5. Andreia Dias - Brisa Tropicana=Hot - Pelos Tropicos

10PM

1. Ofege- You Say No- Try and Love

2. Jackie Mittoo- Hot Tamale- The Keyboard King of Studio One

3. DJ Smokestack - Song #25- Shitala 2: More Indian Disco Funk Thrillers

4. Beti- Nazr- Tisheh o Risheh

5. Aurelio Martinez- Tararigu Nanigi Garifuna Soul

6. Fatoumata Diawara- Sowa- Fatou

7. Wado - Feto/Sotaque- Atlantico Negro

10:30PM

1. Djelimady Tounkara & Orchestre Super Rail Band International- Marigoondo - Djelimady Tounkara & Orchestre Super Rail Band International

2. Axel Krygier- Cumbieton Rutero- Pesebre

3. Anibal Velasquez Y Su Conjunto- Vestido Nuevo Mambo Loco

4. Unknown Artist- Song #1- Queen of Japanese Pops

5. Painted Caves - Blood in the Water- Painted Caves

6. Omar Souleyman- Hafer Gadrak Bidi- Folk & Pop Sounds from Syria

Oscar Niemeyer, creator of Brasilia's iconic buildings, dies at 104

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:00:00 -0600

Oscar Niemeyer, the architect whose stylish and futuristic buildings put the thrill in Brazil's capital city Brasilia, died Wednesday in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. He was 104.

Niemeyer's remained an active architect until the end, with his work spanning nine decades. In addition to buildings in Brasilia, his birth city of Rio de Janeiro, Paris and other locales, Niemeyer also collaborated with fellow greats such as Le Corbusier to design the United Nations headquarters.

The New York Times gives him a good send-off in this obituary, but there is more. The above clip from the 1980 BBC television series The Shock of the New takes a critical look at Brasilia, while a 2012 report from Al Jazeera said real estate pressures might reshape the city and negatively affect its iconic modernist structures and site plan:

Also, listen to this 2010 All Things Considered interview with Niemeyer.

Human rights abuses in Mexico and a festival celebrating Brazilian cinema

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:46:00 -0600

Brazil's forro: Music 'for all'

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:00:00 -0500

Quick, name two forms of Brazilian music. I bet most of you picked bossa nova and samba. They are after all the most known genres to come out of Brazil in the last 50-plus years.

What about forro? This genre of Brazilian music has not only influenced samba and bossa, but has swept Brazil and New York City in the past few years. Sadly there isn’t much of a presence here in Chicago, although the band Swing Brasileiro is a good example. They played a set for us on Eight Forty-Eight in June.

Just so you know, in Portuguese, the double-R is not rolled, like it is in Spanish. In fact, the letter "R" sounds more like an "H." Hence forro's pronunciation: FOH-hoe.

One theory behind the origins of the word forro is that it’s a mispronunciation of the phrase "for all." According to lore, British landowners would throw dance parties "for all" who could come.

The music’s origins have more to do with cowboys and farmers than bastardized English, though. Forro is the sound of the fertile farmland and desert of the northeast of Brazil known as sertao.

Forro’s syncopated rhythm is called the baiao and it has roots in African circle dances; it also incorporates polka and schottisches. The main instrument is a drum called the zabumba — a bass drum that’s played with a mallet on one hand and a stick in the other.

The godfather of modern forro is Luiz Gonzaga (1912-1978). He’s credited with mixing the rural sound with a more urban feel and bringing instruments such as the accordion and triangle to the mix. As a matter of fact, the zabumba, and those two other instruments, are now considered the classic forro line-up. Gonzaga’s tune "Asa Branca" is perhaps the most popular and beloved forro song. People from the Northeast would migrate to the favelas (slums) during the dry season and would often sing with nostalgia of returning to the land when the rains came. The protagonist in "Asa Branca" sings of having to leave the land and his lover because there’s no rain and he can’t make a living. Yes, it’s a sad song; but he does promise to return.

In this video, you can watch the great Luiz Gonzaga wears the traditional sertao cowboy outfit doing some fancy forro dance moves.

At times forro sounds like Cajun music, especially with the accordion. But at its core, it’s good ol’ fashioned Brazilian country music for dancing.

Rising star or supporting player? Brazil takes center stage

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:20:00 -0500

Brazil is once again on the global stage. For starters: the Rio+20 Earth Summit kicks off this week. The global sustainable development summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, is "too important to fail," according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Some 20 years after the first Earth summit in Rio, Ban fears world leaders may fail in what he called a “once-in-a-generation” gathering to set out a plan for expanding prosperity and opportunity without destroying the planet's environment. Add to that the country's inclusion in the G-20, the growth of its energy industry and the awarding of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Brazil’s international role may be changing, but the South American state continues to face serious domestic challenges: This year Brazil became the world's sixth-largest economy, but the country ranks only 84th on the UN Human Development Index — below countries like Libya and Venezuela.

So has Brazil really has arrived?

Monday on Worldview

We tackle this question with Brazil policy experts Sérgio Fausto and Denis Mizne. A key adviser to former President Cardoso, Fausto is one of Brazil’s leading political analysts and executive director of the Fundação Instituto Fernando Henrique Cardoso (iFHC). Fausto works to enhance the quality of democracy in Latin America thorough civic and intellectual engagement.

Mizne is executive director of the Lemann Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education. Mizne founded the Sou da Paz (I am for peace) campaign in 1997 to raise awareness about alarming levels of gun violence, particularly among youth. In partnership with civil society organizations and national media support, Mizne’s campaign collected nearly 2,000 guns within its first 12 days. His work was a large part of the 80 percent homicide reduction that took place in São Paulo over the last decade.

Both men were in Chicago as recipients of the Gus Hart Fellowship from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Chicago Council established the annual award to strengthen ties and mutual understanding between Chicago and the Latin American and Caribbean region.

A Brazilian Passion of the Christ becomes a bit gone terribly wrong

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:17:00 -0500

Our story today starts with this truly horrible story, as reported by The Telegraph. An actor playing the role of Judas in a Brazillian staging of the Passion of the Christ died after accidentally hanging himself:

Writer Ian Belknap has an, err, unique take on this terrible tale. "I say we stage a Passion of the Christ where EVERY member of the cast winds up dead," he says in this essay from The Paper Machete. He even goes so far (as if he could go any further) to suggest some possible actors who might be willing to take on the role. Perhaps unsurprisingly, James Franco makes an appearance. Read an excerpt below or listen above:

"I will set aside the fact that the copy editors wished to leave you with a bit of cultural context regarding the show. Because I realize that, like me, you read an item like this, you cock your head and go, 'Not to discount the fella that hung himself, but I sure would like to know a scosh more about significance of the Passion of Christ in the local culture.'

Here’s your real takeaway from this story, and here is the legacy of the late Mr. Klimeck. It is this:

Commit to the bit.

Because, come on – on the Stanislavsky Scale, Mr. Klimeck makes Nicholas Cage seem pretty bush league, am I right? I mean that Taylor Lautner or David Arquette or Billy Zane or your various Afflecks and lesser Baldwins-- our best and brightest? Tiago Klimeck SMOKED ‘em all, man.

But if he was just some lone genius – in that riveting way of like a Chris Klein or a Justin Long – then, okay. Then I would not feel like the U.S. supremacy in the realm of ultra-dazzling mastery of craft was threatened."

The Paper Machete is a weekly live magazine at the Horseshoe in North Center. It's always at 3 p.m., it's always on Saturday, and it's always free. Get all your The Paper Machete Radio Magazine needs filled here, or download the podcast from iTunes here.

Governor Quinn reports back on Brazil and the Illinois economy

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:28:56 -0500

Governor Pat Quinn met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday to discuss Illinois's exports to South America. Today, Eight Forty-Eight catches up with the Governor to talk about that meeting. We'll also ask the Governor about rising gas prices and the future of video gaming law in Illinois.

Global Notes: Gal Costa's latest album, 'Recanto'

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:00 -0600

On this week's Global Notes, Jerome and Tony Sarabia listen to cuts from Brazilian artist Gal Costa's latest labum, Recanto. A veteran of Brazil's Tropicalismo music scene, Costa records songs in Portuguese, Spanish and English. She's known for blending smooth Brazilian sounds with heavy rock, pop and global influences.

To hear all our Global Notes segments with Eight Forty-Eight and Radio M host Tony Sarabia, check out our series page. Or, download our podcast so you don’t miss a beat.

As Rio prepares for the 2016 Olympics many residents of the city's favelas are evicted from their homes

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:42:00 -0600

Rio de Janeiro is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. In order to get Rio ready for these global events the government has taken over many of Rio’s slums, known as favelas. That’s meant demolishing buildings and in many instances evicting people from their homes. But the city has also established a new program of community policing in many of the favelas, areas which have never had that kind of security.

Theresa Williamson is the executive director of Catalytic Communities. They work with community leaders in the favelas. They also run a website called RioOnWatch, which does favela community reporting in the run up to the 2016 Olympics. Theresa tells Worldview how the preparations for the Olympics has affected the residents of Rio's favelas.

Worldview 1.6.12

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:57:00 -0600

Hungary’s conservative Fidesz party overhauled the central European nation’s constitution and passed laws that consolidate power. The changes may violate the Lisbon Treaty, which governs E.U. membership. Kim Lane Scheppele, who studies comparative constitutional law, tells Worldview she’s rarely seen a full-blown democracy so recklessly dismantled. Also, Rio de Janeiro is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. But the process of turning Rio into a “global city” involves demolishing buildings and evicting residents of Rio’s slums, known as favelas. Worldview talks with Theresa Williamson, executive director of Catalytic Communities, an organization dedicated to bringing visibility to favela communities. And film contributor Milos Stehlik reviews The Conquest, a film about French President Nicolas Sarkozy's rise to power.