Following on from the telecoteco stuff we've been talking about lately, here's a different take on it, by Milton Banana. Banana was one of the earliest and most prominent drummers of "Samba no Prato" (Samba on the cymbals). Prior to that, samba on the drumset was much more focused on the drums themselves, and sounded more like a batucada ensemble. They often played in a style called "Samba Cruzado". I've got a post coming up on that very soon. Edison Machado is credited with being the first drummer to play "Samba no Prato", but Banana was right there with him, playing on many of the great Bossa Nova records and a lot of samba jazz, particularly with his own trio, which released quite a few albums over the years. Drummers of the samba-jazz, or hard bossa, genre like Machado and Banana, as well as Rubinho Barsotti, Paulo Braga, José Roberto Sarsano, and many others, seem to be more relaxed about staying true to the direction of the telecoteco. I've heard differing theories on this, the two most prominent and plausible being: 1. These drummers were inspired by American jazz and American jazz drummers, and actively chose to take a more laissez-faire approach to the direction of the rhythmic cycle in order to have fewer constraints on their playing/improvising. In this case, the telecoteco parts are more of a "vibe" than a true rhythmic cycle and serve a similar role as that of the left hand of an American-style jazz drummers; comping, essentially 2. The concept of rhythmic direction that we see in telecoteco is a characteristic of the music that comes from African traditions. The majority of the drummers from this period and genre were white. It has been argued that they were simply ignorant to correct interpretation of the rhythm and were merely emulating it to the best of their abilities. I'm not sure which one is true, or which one I would prefer to be true. Players today, like Marcio Bahia, Edu Ribeiro, Kiko Freitas, Celso Almeida, etc. tend to stay true to the rhythmic direction, but this does not clarify why the older guys didn't. It could be that these contemporary players have a renewed interest in traditional approaches, or it could be that they learned the traditions that the previous generation were unaware of. You'll hear in this recording that Banana isn't necessarily flipping the rhythmic direction, but he's also not adhering strictly to the traditional "rules" of it. Let me be clear that I'm not saying what Banana is doing is right or wrong. I'm simply observing as I find this stuff terribly fascinating. Banana is one of my absolute favorite drummers and one of the most beloved and respected ever to come out of Brazil. But hardcore samba purists take the direction of the rhythmic cycle very seriously, and flipping it or not playing by the rules is sacrilege. Aaaanyway, here's the transcription. E-mail if you'd like a PDF, and enjoy.
Edison Machado is one of those figures of jazz folklore to whom we owe a lot and don't know enough about. There aren't many pictures or video of him. Many of the records he played on are lost, and he often times wasn't credited for his work. He is responsible for a lot of Brazilian music as we know it despite the fact that many people are much more familiar with the names Milton Banana and Paulinho Braga. Legend has it that he was the first drummer ever to play samba on the drum set. Apparently a broken drum head in the middle of a tune led him to jump on cymbals and go to town. While this may be romanticized a bit, it is widely accepted that he was instrumental in the development of the drum set samba, and therefore, the entire bossa nova movement, having played on many of the first bossa nova records; those of Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Stan Getz, Sergio Mendes, Elis Regina, Edu Lobo, and so on. At one point Machado lived in Europe before spending the final 14 years of his life in New York. He died aged only 56, and practically forgotten. There is, however, a Ron Carter album called Patrão which features Edison on one tune during his New York days. The album also features Chet Baker, Naná Vasconcellos, and Kenny Barron. For now, though, I'm more interested in his Brazil period. Machado played in a trio with pianist Dom Salvador, and bassist Sérgio Barroso called Rio 65 Trio (I guess it was hip back then to have numbers in your band name). The trio also released an album under the name "Salvador Trio", presumably led by Dom, and served as Elis Regina's band for a time. As a side note, Dom Salvador is alive and well in New York City and plays 3 nights a week at the River Café in Brooklyn. Checkout Machado's playing over the first chorus of Dom's piano solo on "Meu Fraco É Café Forte". It's really quite a different vibe to your Milton Banana's and your Paulo Braga's. I find Edison to have a particularly raw, bombastic feel, while still grooving really hard. Sort of like a Brazilian Elvin Jones. Check out the way he blows through some of these phrases. He pushes on them so hard that they're practically out of time, and then WHAM!, right back in. I've noticed Toninho Pinheiro do that kind of thing as well on the Som Três records. Edison also seems to be more upbeat oriented than players like Milton Banana. Of course samba in general has that underlying "e" "a" feel but Machado seems to really lay heavy on these, playing a lot of hands together stuff with a Teleco Teco sort of feel. He even does this at medium/medium up tempos where Milton Banana would have a tendency to ride. Also, I really don't think there's a steady bass drum pattern in there. I EQ'ed this track to death looking for some sign of it beyond the punctuations I have notated. At this speed and with the bassist thumping away I'm guessing he just went with hands and hats.
