Schuyler Whelden: I’m Schuyler Whelden. Juliana Cantarelli Vita: And I’m Juliana Cantarelli Vita. SW: This is Massa, a podcast about Brazilian music and culture. JCV: Schuyler and I are musicians and music scholars. In each episode, we dive into a specific genre, song, artist, or issue in Brazilian music to try to understand how it works and what it means. SW: In this episode, we are diving into a podcast to see how it works. JCV: Which one? SW: This one! JCV: Oh, right! Well, we haven’t released an episode in a while, but that’s not because we aren’t working. In fact, we’ve never worked harde ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden continue their discussion the popular music genre forró with an exploration of the history and musical features of the sub-genre known as forró eletrônico. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Songs: Som da Massa, “Transcontinental Baião” Limão com Mel, “De Janeiro a Janeiro” (YouTube) (Spotify) Vieira e Seu Conjunto, “Rei da Lambada” (YouTube) (Spotify) Daniela Mercury, “O Canto da Cidade” (YouTube) (Spotify) Luiz Gonzaga, “Baião” (YouTube) (Spotify) Mastruz com Leite, “Meu Vaqueiro, Meu Peão” (YouT ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden continue their discussion the popular music genre forró with an exploration of the history and musical features of the sub-genre known as forró universitário. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Songs: Falamansa, “Xote da Alegria” (Spotify) (Youtube) Flávio José, “A Natureza das Coisas” (Spotify) (Youtube) Dominguinhos, “Eu Só Quero Um Xodó” (Youtube) Blues Traveler, "Hook" (Spotify) (Youtube) Axis of Awesome. “4 Chords” Juanes, “Volverte a Ver” (Spotify) (Youtube) Skank, “Te Ver” (Spotify) (Youtube ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden continue their discussion the popular music genre forró with an exploration of themes of migration from the Brazilian Northeast. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Songs: Luiz Gonzaga, “Asa Branca” (Youtube) (Spotify) Marinês, “Rainha do Xaxado” (Spotify) (YouTube) Siba e Barachinha “Morte do sambador” (Youtube) Venâncio e Curumbá, “Último Pau de Arara” (Youtube) Maria Bethânia, “Carcará” (Youtube) João do Vale, “Sina de Caboclo” (Youtube)  Jair Rodrigues, “Disparada” (Youtube) Clara Nunes, “F ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden continue their discussion the popular music genre forró with an exploration of the history and musical features of the dance tradition called baião, as well as its continued usage in popular music. They are joined once again by accordionist and forró historian Julinho Mendes. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Songs: Gonzagão and Gonzaguinha, “Baião” (Youtube) (Spotify) Mário de Andrade’s Missão de Pesquisas Folclóricas, “Baião” (Youtube) Quatro Ases e Um Coringa, “Baião” (Youtube) Luiz Gonzaga, “B ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden continue their series on the Brazilian music genre known as forró with a discussion of the dance rhythm called xaxado. They discuss the musical characteristics of the genre and show a number of examples. They are joined by special guest Julinho Mendes, an accordionist (sanfoneiro) and forró historian. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Songs: Gal Costa (feat. Gilberto Gil), “Sebastiana” (Spotify) (YouTube) Luiz Gonzaga, “Xaxado” (Spotify) (YouTube) Luiz Gonzaga, “Olha a Pisada” (YouTube) Volta Seca ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden continue their discussion the popular music genre forró with an exploration of the history and musical features of the dance tradition called xote. They are joined once again by accordionist and forró historian Julinho Mendes. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Songs: Accioly Neto, “Espumas ao Vento” (YouTube) (Spotify) Luiz Gonzaga, “No Meu Pé de Serra”  (YouTube) (Spotify) Luiz Gonzaga, “Numa Sala de Reboco” (Youtube) (Spotify) Alceu Valença, “Petrolina - Juazeiro” (YouTube) (Spotify) Doming ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden begin their series on the Brazilian music genre known as forró with a discussion of the festas juninas (June festivals), one of the most popular yearly traditions, especially in the Northeast region. They discuss the saints honored at these festivals, the food and atmosphere, as well as the musical tradition known as forró that accompanies the festivities. The demonstrate the instruments featured in the forró ensemble and share some specifics on arrasta-pé, one of the many sub-genres of forró. They also discuss the ways that this tradition has perme ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden discuss the poetry of maracatu de baque solto from the zona da mata region of the northeastern state of Pernambuco. The discuss the structure of the sambada and the poetic forms marcha, galope, samba em dez, and samba curto. They are joined, once again, by anthropologist and historian Dr. Chris Estrada. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Chris Estrada (of Michigan State University)  has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Brazil.  Dr. Estrada will work with collab ..read more

Juliana Cantarelli Vita and Schuyler Whelden discuss the music tradition maracatu de baque solto from the zona da mata region of the northeastern state of Pernambuco. They are joined by maracatu practitioner Mestre Bi and anthropologist and historian Dr. Chris Estrada. Transcript available at https://essefoimassa.com/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Chris Estrada (of Michigan State University)  has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Brazil.  Dr. Estrada will work with collaborators at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) during portions of 2022 ..read more