Salvador Bahia Brazil Matrix
  • Sign in
  • Join Everybody Here
    Loading ...
View All Updates Mark All Read
  • Matrix Home
  • Categories are Here!
  • Showcase Music
  • Add Videos/SC
  • Add Photos
  • (Bahia)
  • Questions?
  • From Brazil with love →
  • @ Ground Zero
  • El Aleph
  • If You Can't Stand the Heat
  • Harlem to Bahia to the Planet
  • Why a "Matrix"?

From Brazil with love →

@ Ground Zero

 

Have you, dear friend, ever noticed how different places scattered across the face of the globe seem almost to exist in different universes? As if they were permeated throughout with something akin to 19th century luminiferous aether, unique, determined by that place's history? It's like a trick of the mind's light (I suppose), but standing on beach or escarpment in Salvador and looking out across the Baía de Todos os Santos to the great Recôncavo, and mindful of what happened there, one must be led to the inevitable conclusion that one is in a place unique to history, and to the present*.

 

 

"Chegou a hora dessa gente bronzeada mostrar seu valor / The time has come for these bronzed people to show their value..."Música: Assis Valente of Santo Amaro, Bahia. Vídeo: Betão Aguiar.

 

*More enslaved human beings entered the Bay of All Saints and the Recôncavo than any other final port-of-call throughout all of mankind's history.

 

These people and their descendants created some of the most uplifting music ever made, the foundation of Brazil's national art. We wanted their music to be accessible to the world (it's not even accessible here in Brazil) so we created a platform by which everybody's creativity is mutually accessible, including theirs.

 

El Aleph

 

The network was built in an obscure record shop (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar found it) in a shimmering Brazilian port city...

 

...inspired in (the kabbalah-inspired fiction of) Borges' (short story) El Aleph, that in the pillar in Cairo's Mosque of Amr, where the universe in its entirety throughout all time is perceivable as an infinite hum from deep within the stone.

 

It "works" by virtue of the "small-world" phenomenon...the same responsible for the fact that most of us 7 billion or so beings are within 6 or fewer degrees of each other.

 

It was described (to some degree) and can be accessed via this article in British journal The Guardian (which named our radio of matrixed artists as one of ten best in the world):

 

www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/apr/17/10-best-music-radio-station-around-world

 

With David Dye for U.S. National Public Radio: www.npr.org/2013/07/16/202634814/roots-of-samba-exploring-historic-pelourinho-in-salvador-brazil

 

All is more connected than we know.

 

Per the "spirit" above, our logo is a cortador de cana, a cane-cutter. It was designed by Walter Mariano, professor of design at the Federal University of Bahia to reflect the origins of the music the shop specialized in. The Brazilian "aleph" doesn't hum... it dances and sings.

 

If You Can't Stand the Heat

 

Image above is from the base of the cross in front of the church of São Francisco do Paraguaçu in the Bahian Recôncavo

 

Sprawled across broad equatorial latitudes, stoked and steamed and sensual in the widest sense of the word, limned in cadenced song, Brazil is a conundrum wrapped in a smile inside an irony...

 

This is not a European nation. It is not a North American nation. It is not an East Asian nation. It straddles — jungle and desert and dense urban centers — both the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. Brazil absorbed over ten times the number of enslaved Africans taken to the United States of America, and is a repository of African deities (and their music) now largely forgotten in their lands of origin. It was a refuge (of sorts) for Sephardim fleeing an Inquisition which followed them across the Atlantic (that unofficial symbol of Brazil's national music — the pandeiro — was almost certainly brought to Brazil by these people). Across the parched savannas of the interior of Brazil's culturally fecund nordeste/northeast, where wizard Hermeto Pascoal was born in Lagoa da Canoa (Lagoon of the Canoe) and raised in Olho d'Águia (Eye of the Eagle), much of Brazil's aboriginal population was absorbed into a caboclo/quilombola culture punctuated by the Star of David. Three cultures — from three continents — running for their lives, their confluence forming an unprecedented fourth. Pandeirista on the roof. Nowhere else but here.

 

Oligarchy, plutocracy, dictatorships and massive corruption — elements of these are still strongly entrenched — have defined, delineated, and limited Brazil.

 

But strictured & bound as it has been and is, Brazil has buzz...not the shallow buzz of a fashionable moment...but the deep buzz of a population which in spite of — or perhaps because of — the tough slog through life they've been allotted by humanity's dregs-in-fine-linen, have chosen not to simply pull themselves along but to lift their voices in song and their bodies in dance...to eat well and converse well and much and to wring the joy out of the day-to-day happenings and small pleasures of life which are so often set aside or ignored in the European, North American, and East Asian nations.

 

For this Brazil has a genius perhaps unparalleled in all other countries and societies, a genius which thrives alongside peeling paint and holes in the streets and roads, under bad organization by the powers-that-be, both civil and governmental, under a constant rain of societal indignities...

 

Which is all to say that if you don't know Brazil and you're expecting any semblance of order, progress and light, you will certainly find the light! And the buzz of a people who for generations have responded to privation at many different levels by somehow rising above it all.

 

"Onde tem miséria, tem música!"* - Raymundo Sodré

 

And it's not just music. And it's not just Brazil.

 

Welcome to the kitchen!

 

* "Where there is misery, there is music!" Remarked during a conversation arcing from Bahia to Haiti and Cuba to New Orleans and the south side of Chicago and Harlem to the villages of Ireland and the gypsy camps and shtetls of Eastern Europe...

 

Harlem to Bahia to the Planet



Why a "Matrix"?

 

I was explaining the ideas behind this nascent network to (João) Teoria (trumpet player above) over cervejas at Xique Xique (a bar named for a town in Bahia) in the Salvador neighborhood of Barris...

 

Like this (but in Portuguese): "It's kind of like Facebook if it didn't spy on you, but reversed... more about who you don't know than who you do know. And who doesn't know you but would be glad if they did. It's kind of like old Myspace Music but instead of having "friends" it has a list on your page of people you recommend. Not just musicians but writers, painters, filmmakers, dancers, chefs... anybody in the creative economy. It has a list of people who recommend you, or through whom you are recommended. It deals with arts which aren't recommendable by algorithm but need human intelligence behind recommendations. And the people who are recommended can recommend, creating a network of recommendations wherein by the small world phenomenon most people in the creative economy are within several steps of everybody else in the creative economy, no matter where they are in the world. Like a chessboard which could have millions of squares, but you can get from any given square to any other in no more than six steps..."

 

And João said (in Portuguese): "A matrix where you can move from one artist to another..."

 

A matrix! That was it! The ORIGINAL meaning of matrix is "source", from "mater", Latin for "mother". So the term would help congeal the concept in the minds of people the network was being introduced to, while giving us a motto: "We're a real mother for ya!" (you know, Johnny "Guitar" Watson?)

 

The original idea was that musicians would recommend musicians, the network thus formed being "small world" (commonly called "six degrees of separation"). In the real world, the number of degrees of separation in such a network can vary, but while a given network might have billions of nodes (people, for example), the average number of steps between any two nodes will usually be minuscule.

 

Thus somebody unaware of the magnificent music of Bahia, Brazil will be able to conceivably move from almost any musician in this matrix to Bahia in just a few steps...

 

By the same logic that might move one from Bahia or anywhere else to any musician anywhere.

 

And there's no reason to limit this system to musicians. To the contrary, while there are algorithms written to recommend music (which, although they are limited, can be useful), there are no algorithms capable of recommending journalism, novels & short stories, painting, dance, film, chefery...

 

...a vast chasm that this network — or as Teoria put it, "matrix" — is capable of filling.

 

  • Alain Mabanckou
    I RECOMMEND

CURATION

  • from this node by: Matrix

This is the Universe of

  • Name: Alain Mabanckou
  • City/Place: Los Angeles
  • Country: United States
  • Hometown: Pointe-Noire, Congo-Brazzaville

Life & Work

  • Bio: Alain Mabanckou is considered to be one of the most talented and prolific writers in the French language today and the first francophone sub-saharian African writer to be published by Gallimard in its prestigious "collection" called La Blanche.

    He was born in Congo-Brazzaville in 1966 and is mostly known for his novels, notably Verre Cassé (BROKEN GLASS) which was unanimously praised by the press, critics and readers alike.

    In 2006 he published Memoires de porc-épic (Memoirs of a Porcupine) which garnered him the Prix RENAUDOT, one of the highest distinctions in literature written in french. His novels are published in more than fifteen languages.

    He his currently a professor of French and Francophone studies at the University of California-Los Angeles.

    Né à Pointe-Noire, au Congo-Brazzaville où il a grandi, Alain Mabanckou est un écrivain, romancier et professeur aux Etats-Unis à l'Université de Los Angeles.

    Il a été le premier écrivain à occupé la Chaire annuelle de Création artistique au Collège de France. Ses oeuvres sont traduites dans une vingtaine de langues et il a reçu plus d'une quinzaine de prix littéraires dont le Prix Renaudot, le Prix Henri Gal de l'Académie Française pour l'ensemble de son oeuvre.

Contact Information

  • Management/Booking: For medias inquiries, invitations, please contact FLORE ROUMENS
    [email protected]
    +33 1 41 48 83 72

Media | Markets

  • ▶ Book Purchases: http://www.amazon.com/Alain-Mabanckou/e/B001JOWFBS%3F
  • ▶ Twitter: amabanckou
  • ▶ Article: http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/10/01/alain-mabanckous-masterfully-unstructured-novel-of-addiction/
  • ▶ Article 2: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/books/review/alain-mabanckou-black-moses-.html

Clips (more may be added)

  • REPLAY. 28 Minutes samedi Avec Alain Mabanckou 31082019 ARTE
    By Alain Mabanckou
    218 views
Previous
Next

YOU RECOMMEND

Imagine the world's creative economy at your fingertips. Imagine 10 doors side-by-side. Beyond each, 10 more, each opening to a "creative" somewhere around the planet. After passing through 8 such doorways you will have followed 1 pathway out of 100 million possible (2 sets of doorways yield 10 x 10 = 100 pathways). This is a simplified version of the metamathematics that makes it possible to reach everybody in the global creative economy in just a few steps It doesn't mean that everybody will be reached by everybody. It does mean that everybody can  be reached by everybody.


Appear below by recommending Alain Mabanckou:

  • 1 Africa
  • 1 Congo-Brazzaville
  • 1 Novelist
  • 1 UCLA Faculty
  • 1 Writer
  • Dave Jordan New Orleans
  • Vanessa Moreno MPB
  • Ricky (Dirty Red) Gordon Zydeco
  • Gabriel Grossi Composer
  • Sarah Hanahan New York City
  • Jorge Washington Brazil
  • John Edward Hasse Author
  • Mestrinho Accordion
  • Liron Meyuhas Composer
  • As Ganhadeiras de Itapuã Salvador
  • Marcus Printup Trumpet
  • Osvaldo Golijov Argentina
  • Tomo Fujita Funk
  • Roberto Mendes Bahia
  • Anthony Coleman Piano
  • Sophia Deboick Writer
  • Tom Green Composer
  • James Poyser New York City
  • Ivo Perelman Composer
  • James Elkington Folk Rock
  • Oscar Bolão Photographer
  • Mikki Kunttu Lighting Designer
  • Gary Clark Jr. R&B
  • Edmar Colón Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • Asa Branca Brazil
  • Lalah Hathaway Soul
  • Jay Blakesberg San Francisco
  • Dani Deahl Writer
  • David Chesky Multi-Cultural
  • Walter Smith III Composer
  • Bing Futch Singer-Songwriter
  • Alain Mabanckou Africa
  • James Gadson Jazz
  • Mary Stallings Singer
  • Hermeto Pascoal Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Cathal McNaughton Photojournalist
  • Paulo Paulelli MPB
  • Paul Cebar Singer-Songwriter
  • Nicholas Daniel Classical Music
  • Omer Avital Jazz
  • Marcus Teixeira Brazilian Jazz
  • Ferenc Nemeth Hungary
  • Pretinho da Serrinha Percussion
  • Samuca do Acordeon Milonga
  • Jennifer Koh Violin
  • Howard Levy Keyboards
  • Philip Cashian London
  • Michael Olatuja Nigeria
  • George Cables Piano
  • Ramita Navai Journalist
  • Pururu Mão no Couro Sambalanço
  • Afrocidade Rap
  • Jakub Knera Radio Presenter
  • Joatan Nascimento Federal University of Bahia Faculty
  • Edu Lobo MPB
  • Leon Bridges Record Producer
  • Psoy Korolenko Псой Короленко Moscow
  • Maria Rita Brazil
  • Willie Jones III Jazz
  • Dona Dalva Brazil
  • Gord Sheard MPB
  • Bobby Sanabria Drums
  • Allen Morrison Jazz History Lecturer
  • Ali Jackson Percussion
  • Marcus Printup New York City
  • Savoy Family Cajun Band Louisiana
  • Avishai Cohen אבישי כה Razdaz Recordz
  • Saul Williams Actor
  • Fabiana Cozza Phonoaudiologist
  • Margareth Menezes Salvador
  • Peter Dasent Television Scores
  • Nelson Latif Cavaquinho
  • Donald Harrison Saxophone
  • Marko Djordjevic Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • Gabriel Geszti Brasil, Brazil
  • Terrace Martin Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Oscar Bolão Author
  • Gustavo Di Dalva Salvador
  • THE ROOM Shibuya Soul
  • Otmaro Ruiz Piano Instruction
  • Beeple Graphic Designer
  • Tomo Fujita Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • Gal Costa Salvador
  • Stephanie Jones Classical Guitar
  • Michael Garnice New York City
  • Fantastic Negrito Oakland, California
  • June Yamagishi Guitar
  • Larnell Lewis Composer
  • Alexandre Vieira Baixo, Bass
  • Soweto Kinch Birmingham, UK
  • André Becker Salvador
  • Tony Austin Television Scores
  • Lydia R. Diamond University of Illinois at Chicago School of Theater & Music Faculty
  • Danilo Caymmi Flute
  • 小野リサ Lisa Ono Guitar
  • Inon Barnatan Classical Music
  • The Brain Cloud New York City
  • Antonio García Latin Music
  • Michael Olatuja New York City
  • Yazhi Guo 郭雅志 Microtonal
  • Joey Alexander Indonesia
  • Pedro Martins Guitar
  • Plínio Fernandes Choro
  • Trombone Shorty Funk
  • Béco Dranoff Record Producer
  • Matt Ulery Jazz
  • Albin Zak Musicologist
  • Rowney Scott Compositor, Composer
  • Varijashree Venugopal Flute
  • Nublu Record Label
  • João Teoria Bahia
  • Goran Krivokapić Montenegro
  • Sharita Towne Portland, Oregon
  • Vincent Valdez Painter
  • Mike Marshall Choro
  • Ilê Aiyê Salvador
  • Mona Lisa Saloy Folklorist
  • Kenyon Dixon Singer-Songwriter
  • Lucinda Williams Singer-Songwriter
  • Toninho Ferragutti São Paulo
  • Ruven Afanador Fashion Photographer
  • Pallett Tehran
  • Gustavo Di Dalva Bahia
  • Fred P Techno
  • Trilok Gurtu Multi-Cultural
  • Mickalene Thomas Sculptor
  • Francisco Mela New York City
  • David Kirby New York City
  • Nancy Viégas Brasil, Brazil
  • MARO Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Billy O'Shea Writer
  • Alan Bishop Singer-Songwriter
  • Merima Ključo Sevdalinka
  • James Martins Jornalista, Journalist
  • Toninho Nascimento Rio de Janeiro
  • Melissa Aldana Chile
  • Helado Negro Ecuador
  • Luciano Calazans Salvador
  • Issac Delgado Havana
  • Matthew F Fisher Collaborative Artist
  • Shalom Adonai Bahia
  • Byron Thomas Programmer
  • Jaleel Shaw Jazz
  • Alicia Keys R&B
  • John Archibald Pulitzer Prize
  • Courtney Pine Keyboards
  • João Callado Painter
  • Serwah Attafuah Graphic Designer
  • Aloísio Menezes Bahia
  • Kiko Loureiro Jazz Fusion
  • Keola Beamer Hawaii
  • Guinha Ramires Rio Grande do Sul
  • Cleber Augusto Samba
  • Parker Ighile Africa
  • Dumpstaphunk New Orleans
  • Lauranne Bourrachot Movie Producer
  • Chico César São Paulo
  • Jeff Coffin Author
  • Nubya Garcia Jazz
  • Eli Saslow Journalist
  • Iuri Passos Bahia
  • Gab Ferruz Salvador
  • Thundercat Record Producer
  • Michael Olatuja Nigeria
  • Psoy Korolenko Псой Короленко Russia
  • Brian Jackson Piano
  • Mickalene Thomas Video Artist
  • Clint Mansell Film Scores
  • Rumaan Alam Writer
  • David Bruce Opera
  • Bob Bernotas Music Journalist
  • Marco Pereira Samba
  • Priscila Castro Música Afro-Amazônica, Afro-Amazonian Music
  • Swami Jr. Samba
  • Robertinho Silva Percussion
  • The Brain Cloud Americana
  • Leci Brandão Samba
  • Jorge Alfredo Salvador
  • Moacyr Luz Singer
  • Serginho Meriti Composer
  • Melissa Aldana New York City
  • Sam Eastmond Jazz, Klezmer, Jewish, World, Downtown
  • Mark Lettieri Ropeadope
  • Gino Sorcinelli Educator
  • Magda Giannikou New York City
  • Maia Sharp Guitar
  • Lynn Nottage Film Producer
  • Nahre Sol Piano
  • Yunior Terry Cuba
  • Bukassa Kabengele Guitar
  • Neymar Dias Brazil
  • Betão Aguiar Brazil
  • Roy Ayers Vibraphone
  • Imanuel Marcus Journalist
  • Luques Curtis Latin Jazz
  • Michael Janisch London
  • Thiago Trad Brasil, Brazil
  • Richie Stearns Old-Time Music
  • Tambay Obenson Journalist
  • David Fiuczynski Composer
  • Jaimie Branch Trumpet
  • Nigel Hall R&B
  • Emicida São Paulo
  • Gilmar Gomes Brazil
  • NIcholas Casey New York Times
  • Abel Selaocoe Multi-Cultural
  • Joe Lovano Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • David Bragger Mandolin Instruction
  • Hélio Delmiro Composer
  • Bill Callahan Americana
  • Patricia Janečková Czech Republic
  • Alicia Keys Singer-Songwriter
  • Richie Stearns Appalachian Music
  • Lionel Loueke African Music
  • Dale Farmer Screenwriter
  • Laércio de Freitas Arranger
  • Elza Soares Samba
  • Menelaw Sete Pintor/Painter
  • Eddie Palmieri Bandleader
  • Guto Wirtti MPB
  • Cássio Nobre Ethnomusicologist
  • Mateus Alves Film Scores
  • Corey Ledet Singer-Songwriter
  • Morten Lauridsen Contemporary Classical Music
  • Curly Strings Multi-Cultural
  • Stuart Duncan Nashville, Tennessee
  • Martyn Drum and Bass
  • Alita Moses Neo Soul
  • Mohini Dey Mumbai
  • Peter Evans Experimental Music
  • Anat Cohen Clarinet
  • Oscar Bolão Drums
  • Alessandro Penezzi São Paulo
  • Juçara Marçal Brazil
  • Teddy Swims Soul
  • Gregory Tardy Clarinet
  • Yilian Cañizares Cuba
  • Jorge Pita Bahia
  • Chris Thile Folk & Traditional
  • Brandee Younger Harp
  • Perumal Murugan India
  • Jon Batiste Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Alfredo Del-Penho Rio de Janeiro
  • Luizinho Assis Produtor Musical, Music Producer
  • Gabriel Geszti Jazz Brasileiro, Brazilian Jazz
  • Madhuri Vijay India
  • Walter Ribeiro, Jr. MPB
  • Sarah Hanahan Saxophone
  • Luis Paez-Pumar Editor
  • John Archibald Journalist
  • Dermot Hussey Reggae
  • D.D. Jackson Jazz
  • Nancy Ruth Jazz
  • Stephanie Foden Montreal
  • Natan Drubi Choro
  • OVANA Africa
  • Irma Thomas Blues
  • Steve Earle Writer
  • Luedji Luna Brazil
  • Andrés Prado Jazz
  • Diana Fuentes Singer-Songwriter
  • Richard Bona New York City
  • Echezonachukwu Nduka Writer
  • Ivan Neville Keyboards
  • Shez Raja Multi-Cultural
  • Priscila Castro Brasil, Brazil
  • Andrés Beeuwsaert Piano
  • Paquito D'Rivera Havana
  • Frank London Composer
  • Djuena Tikuna Singer-Songwriter
  • Sérgio Pererê Minas Gerais
  • Paquito D'Rivera Cuba
  • John Francis Flynn Irish Traditional Music
  • Jeff Preiss Producer
  • Joe Chambers Jazz
  • Jam no MAM Local de Música ao Vivo, Live Music Venue
  • Scotty Barnhart Composer
  • 小野リサ Lisa Ono Bossa Nova
  • Dani Deahl Public Speaker
  • Michael Cuscuna Writer
  • Billy Strings Songwriter
  • Chris Acquavella Mandolin Instruction
  • André Becker Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia
  • Garth Cartwright Music Critic
  • Kris Davis Jazz
  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Violin
  • Giovanni Russonello Jazz
  • Darren Barrett Flugelhorn
  • Francisco Mela Jazz
  • Tito Jackson Soul
  • Saileog Ní Cheannabháin Irish Traditional Music
  • Luizinho do Jêje Percussion
  • Lydia R. Diamond Playwright
  • Ivan Huol Brazil
  • Jon Faddis Composer
  • Molly Tuttle Bluegrass
  • Turíbio Santos Guitar
  • Ronell Johnson New Orleans
  • Steve Earle Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Arismar do Espírito Santo Bass
  • Jubu Smith Bass
  • Anouar Brahem Tunis
  • Joatan Nascimento Brazil
  • Ivan Sacerdote Brazilian Jazz
  • Safy-Hallan Farah Journalist
  • Marvin Dunn Educator
  • Andra Day Actor
  • Airto Moreira Singer
  • Derek Sivers Entrepreneur
  • Devin Naar University of Washington Faculty
  • Roberto Mendes Singer-Songwriter
  • Daedelus Record Producer
  • Luíz Paixão Pernambuco
  • João Callado Brazilian Jazz
  • Mark Turner New York City
  • Júlio Lemos Choro
  • João Rabello Samba
  • Júlio Caldas Guitarra Baiana
  • Gab Ferruz Bahia
  • Gabriel Geszti MPB
  • João Luiz Guitar
  • Luíz Paixão Composer
  • Kamasi Washington Saxophone
  • Oswaldo Amorim Brazil
  • Di Freitas Violin
  • Ferenc Nemeth New York City
  • Brad Ogbonna Photographer
  • Xenia França Brazil
  • Colson Whitehead New York City
  • Mauro Refosco Brooklyn, NY
  • Issa Malluf Daf
  • David Mattingly Pratt Institute Faculty
  • Teodor Currentzis Russia
  • Arifan Junior Portela
  • Alexa Tarantino Jazz at Lincoln Center Faculty
  • Gilad Hekselman Composer
  • Jeff Coffin Record Label Owner
  • 小野リサ Lisa Ono MPB
  • David Virelles New York City
  • Quincy Jones Record Producer
  • Tomo Fujita Songwriter
  • Quatuor Ebène France
  • Tony Austin Jazz
  • Harvey G. Cohen Cultural Historian
  • Steve Lehman Saxophone
  • Danilo Pérez Jazz
  • Cimafunk Havana
  • Eric Galm Ethnomusicologist
  • Aloísio Menezes Samba
  • Shankar Mahadevan Singer

 'mātriks / "source" / from "mater", Latin for "mother"
We're a real mother for ya!

 

Copyright ©2022  -  Privacy  -  Terms of Service  -  Contact  - 

Open to members of the worldwide creative economy.

You'll use your email address to log in.

Passwords must be at least 6 characters in length.

Enter your password again for confirmation.

This will be the end of your profile link, for example:
http://www.matrixonline.net/profile/yourname

Please type the characters you see in the image. May take several tries. Sorry!!!

 

Matrix Sign In

Please enter your details below. If are a member of the global creative economy and don't have a page yet, please sign up first.

 
 
 
Forgot Password?
Share