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  • 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...

 

It 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..."

 

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.

 

  • Ben Cox
    I RECOMMEND

CURATION

  • from this node by: Matrix

This is the Universe of

  • Name: Ben Cox
  • City/Place: Vancouver, B.C.
  • Country: Canada

Life & Work

  • Bio: Ben Cox is a filmmaker from the UK working in Vancouver.

    Working as both a director and DOP Ben has worked with many well known brands, producing a wide range of content from corporate roundtables to epic travel films. Having spent 2 years working at The Progress Film Company in Brighton, UK Ben moved to Canada to pursue new projects and adventures.

    With a degree in International Development and Anthropology Ben has taken a special interest in working on projects with social value tackling issues including the mental health crisis, HIV, child trafficking and climate change.

Contact Information

  • Email: [email protected]

Media | Markets

  • ▶ Instagram: bencoxfilm
  • ▶ Website: http://bencoxfilm.com
  • ▶ Vimeo Channel: http://vimeo.com/bencoxfilmvimeo
  • ▶ Article: http://www.filmconvert.com/blog/creatures-deep-ben-cox/

Clips (more may be added)

  • 0:08:34
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    By Ben Cox
    299 views
  • 0:07:03
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    By Ben Cox
    248 views
  • 3:35
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Previous
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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 Ben Cox:

  • 0 Cinematographer
  • 0 Director of Photography
  • 0 Film Director
  • 0 Filmmaker
  • Orquestra Afrosinfônica Música Clássica Contemporânia, Contemporary Classical Music
  • Ana Luisa Barral MPB
  • Dezron Douglas Composer
  • Fred P Ambient Music
  • Elizabeth LaPrelle Actor
  • Mauro Senise Saxophone
  • Eliane Elias Singer-Songwriter
  • Tigran Hamasyan Armenian Folk Music
  • Brandee Younger Harp
  • Johnny Lorenz Poet
  • Seu Jorge Samba
  • Toninho Nascimento Belém do Pará
  • Tam-Ky France
  • Guto Wirtti Samba
  • Quatuor Ebène String Quartet
  • Siobhán Peoples Irish Traditional Music
  • Arto Lindsay New York City
  • Isaias Rabelo Brazil
  • Nikki Yeoh Jazz
  • Seckou Keita Africa
  • Carlos Blanco Guitarra, Violão, Guitar
  • David Byrne Singer-Songwriter
  • Daru Jones Jazz
  • Wynton Marsalis Composer
  • Raphael Saadiq Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Robb Royer Country
  • David Braid Film Scores
  • NIcholas Casey Madrid
  • Lina Lapelytė Installation Artist
  • Asma Khalid Washington, D.C.
  • Andrew Finn Magill Fiddle
  • Nabihah Iqbal Guitar
  • Eivør Pálsdóttir Singer-Songwriter
  • Ben Harper Multi-Instrumentalist
  • J. Velloso Bahia
  • Corey Henry Funk
  • Loli Molina Buenos Aires
  • Di Freitas Brazil
  • Gretchen Parlato MPB
  • Aubrey Johnson Berklee Faculty
  • Rodrigo Amarante MPB
  • Samba de Nicinha Samba
  • Carlinhos Brown Singer-Songwriter
  • Rez Abbasi Jazz
  • Yazhi Guo 郭雅志 Jazz
  • James Andrews Funk
  • Andrew Huang Record Producer
  • Congahead Afro-Cuban Jazz
  • Neo Muyanga Composer
  • Casey Benjamin DJ
  • Casa da Mãe MPB
  • João do Boi Brazil
  • Danilo Pérez Panama
  • Shoshana Zuboff Social Psychology
  • Larnell Lewis Jazz, Funk, R&B, Soul
  • Ned Sublette Guitar
  • Peter Erskine Author
  • Marcello Gonçalves Violão de Sete
  • Patricia Janečková Opera
  • Gerônimo Santana MPB
  • Berkun Oya Playwright
  • David Virelles Jazz
  • Madhuri Vijay Novelist
  • Lucian Ban Composer
  • Carlos Malta Brazil
  • Anthony Coleman Avant-Garde Jazz
  • Gêge Nagô Cachoeira
  • Burhan Öçal Percussion
  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Multi-Instrumentalist
  • 小野リサ Lisa Ono Brazil
  • Simon Shaheen Composer
  • LaTasha Lee Soul
  • Regina Carter Classical Music
  • Terreon Gully Composer
  • Júlio Caldas Produtor de Discos, Record Producer
  • Rachael Price Singer-Songwriter
  • Itamar Vieira Júnior Salvador
  • Edu Lobo Rio de Janeiro
  • Luis Delgado Qualtrough San Francisco
  • Edgar Meyer Bluegrass
  • Omer Avital Middle Eastern Music
  • Eamonn Flynn Soul
  • Plinio Oyò Brasil, Brazil
  • Robi Botos Jazz
  • Morten Lauridsen Contemporary Classical Music
  • 9Bach Welsh Traditional Music
  • Lalah Hathaway Jazz
  • Fabiana Cozza Writer
  • Rodrigo Caçapa Composer
  • Nelson Ayres Arranger
  • Jimmy Duck Holmes Blues
  • Seth Swingle Kora
  • Missy Mazolli New York City
  • Sarah Jarosz Banjo
  • Tray Chaney Actor
  • Ricardo Herz Violin
  • Larisa Wiegant Utrecht
  • Bombino Blues
  • Jamael Dean Composer
  • Cristovão Bastos Composer
  • Antônio Pereira Manaus
  • Joe Newberry Singer-Songwriter
  • Mika Mutti Salvador
  • Terell Stafford Trumpet
  • Taylor Ashton Visual Artist
  • Sam Reider Piano
  • Fernando César Educator
  • Angel Bat Dawid Singer
  • Marta Sánchez Composer
  • Neymar Dias Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Elza Soares Singer
  • Jacám Manricks Composer
  • Nelson Ayres Composer
  • Jupiter Bokondji Singer-Songwriter
  • Yotam Silberstein New York City
  • Cláudio Jorge Brazil
  • China Moses Singer
  • John Edward Hasse Author
  • Howard Levy Blues & Folk
  • Welson Tremura University of Florida Faculty
  • Johnathan Blake Drums
  • Ivan Neville Keyboards
  • Kiko Souza MPB
  • Saileog Ní Cheannabháin Theater Composer
  • Bhi Bhiman Los Angeles
  • Aneesa Strings Los Angeles
  • Walter Ribeiro, Jr. Brazil
  • Bebel Gilberto MPB
  • Henry Cole Puerto Rico
  • Ed O'Brien Guitar
  • Kim Hill DJ
  • Paul McKenna Singer-Songwriter
  • Duncan Chisholm Scotland
  • Phakama Mbonambi Journalist
  • Gustavo Di Dalva Percussion Instruction Online
  • Ari Rosenschein Indie Pop
  • Meddy Gerville Réunion
  • Anouar Brahem Arabic Music
  • Seth Rogovoy Journalist
  • Mestre Nelito Capoeira Angola
  • Mike Compton Songwriter
  • June Yamagishi New Orleans
  • Nduduzo Makhathini Record Producer
  • Seth Swingle Banjo
  • Tedy Santana Drums
  • Stephan Crump Bass
  • Nate Chinen Journalist
  • Mou Brasil Guitarra, Guitar
  • Eliane Elias Singer-Songwriter
  • Steve Cropper Guitar
  • Casey Driessen Live Looping
  • Brian Stoltz Singer
  • Julian Lage Blues
  • Orlando 'Maraca' Valle Cuba
  • Louis Marks Ropeadope Sur
  • Raelis Vasquez Painter
  • Henry Cole Manhattan School of Music Faculty
  • Marquis Hill R&B
  • Nelson Cerqueira Salvador
  • Tiganá Santana Trilhas Sonoras, Film Scores
  • Marc Cary Jazz
  • Welson Tremura Guitar
  • Osvaldo Golijov Contemporary Classical Music
  • Billy O'Shea Novelist
  • Carlinhos Brown Painter
  • Cassie Kinoshi Bandleader
  • Cory Wong Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Christopher James New York City
  • Tonynho dos Santos Jazz
  • Hua Hsu Vassar College Faculty
  • Raelis Vasquez Drawings
  • Bruce Williams Composer
  • Joel Ross Brooklyn, NY
  • Jason Moran New England Conservatory of Music Faculty
  • Dan Weiss New York City
  • Avner Dorman Gettysburg College Faculty
  • Toninho Nascimento Rio de Janeiro
  • Niwel Tsumbu Congo
  • Custódio Castelo Produtor de Discos, Record Producer
  • Shez Raja Indo-Jazz Funk
  • Ricardo Herz Composer
  • Ronaldo do Bandolim Composer
  • Rissi Palmer Country
  • Jen Shyu Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Larissa Luz Singer-Songwriter
  • Philip Glass Film Scores
  • Warren Wolf Jazz
  • Lula Galvão Arranger
  • Adriene Cruz Quilts
  • Aurino de Jesus Samba
  • Alicia Svigals Writer
  • Swizz Beatz Songwriter
  • Kirk Whalum Flute
  • João Callado Rio de Janeiro
  • Mário Pam Brazil
  • David Binney New York City
  • Sergio Krakowski Pandeiro
  • Sérgio Pererê Minas Gerais
  • Nahre Sol Contemporary Classical Music
  • G. Thomas Allen Singer-Songwriter
  • Yotam Silberstein Guitar Instruction
  • Nettrice R. Gaskins Cultural Critic
  • Msaki Record Label Owner
  • Betsayda Machado Tambor
  • Ceumar Coelho Minas Gerais
  • Rosa Passos Brazil
  • Jaimie Branch Free Jazz
  • John Santos Writer
  • Parker Ighile Contemporary R&B
  • Etienne Charles Michigan State University Faculty
  • Arthur L.A. Buckner Jazz
  • Yazz Ahmed Flugelhorn
  • Gabi Guedes Bahia
  • Weedie Braimah Djembefola
  • Julian Lloyd Webber London
  • Brigit Katz Toronto
  • Ryuichi Sakamoto Japan
  • Stefano Bollani Jazz
  • Wynton Marsalis Composer
  • Ivan Lins MPB
  • Dale Barlow Australia
  • David Bragger Old-Time Music
  • Nabihah Iqbal London
  • Lizz Wright Jazz
  • Yosvany Terry Cuba
  • Mateus Asato Neo Fusion
  • Elizabeth LaPrelle Folk & Traditional
  • Bruce Williams Jazz
  • John Waters Playwright
  • Pedro Abib Federal University of Bahia Faculty
  • Di Freitas Viola Caipira
  • Chucho Valdés Piano
  • George Porter Jr. R&B
  • Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh Composer
  • Garth Cartwright Poet
  • Eli Degibri אלי דג'יברי Jazz
  • Nabihah Iqbal Radio Presenter
  • Jonathan Richter Classical Guitar
  • Isaiah J. Thompson Piano
  • Michael Formanek Peabody Conservatory of Music Faculty
  • Casa da Mãe Samba
  • Lucio Yanel Gaucho Culture
  • Gian Correa Composer
  • Arifan Junior Brasil, Brazil
  • Richie Stearns Ithaca, New York
  • Ben Harper Blues
  • Mou Brasil Jazz Brasileiro, Brazilian Jazz
  • Marc Cary Multi-Cultural
  • Arifan Junior Cavaquinho
  • Joel Guzmán Austin, Texas
  • Victor Wooten Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Ray Angry Keyboards
  • Derek Sivers Record Producer
  • Vijay Gupta Violin
  • Yvette Holzwarth Theater Sound Design
  • Nabihah Iqbal Music Producer
  • Dale Farmer Fiddle
  • Chico César São Paulo
  • Mario Caldato Jr. Bass
  • Marcos Portinari Compositor, Composer
  • Bob Lanzetti Brooklyn, NY
  • Mykia Jovan New Orleans
  • Lula Moreira Composer
  • Susana Baca Peru
  • Tatiana Eva-Marie Brooklyn, NY
  • Yayá Massemba Brasil, Brazil
  • Ravi Coltrane Composer
  • Regina Carter Violin
  • Jack Talty County Clare
  • Stephan Crump Jazz
  • Dan Tyminski Nashville, Tennessee
  • Erika Goldring Music Photographer
  • The Umoza Music Project Multi-Cultural
  • Cassie Kinoshi Saxophone
  • Andrew Finn Magill Appalachian Music
  • Maciel Salú Rabeca
  • Stephanie Foden Bahia
  • Lucía Fumero Spain
  • Mohamed Diab Cairo
  • Bejun Mehta Countertenor
  • Sharita Towne Portland, Oregon
  • Eric Alexander Saxophone Instruction
  • Cássio Nobre Viola Brasileira
  • Arto Lindsay New York City
  • Giveton Gelin Trumpet
  • Africania Bahia
  • Bobby Sanabria Percussion
  • Chick Corea Contemporary Classical Music
  • Tarus Mateen New York City
  • Morten Lauridsen Composer
  • Walter Ribeiro, Jr. Guitar
  • Asali Solomon Short Stories
  • Philip Ó Ceallaigh Ireland
  • Marisa Monte Rio de Janeiro
  • Walter Blanding Saxophone
  • Stacy Dillard Jazz
  • Karsh Kale कर्ष काळे Singer
  • Ben Allison Film Scores
  • Andrew Finn Magill Choro
  • Pasquale Grasso Italy
  • Brian Q. Torff Fairfield University Faculty
  • Renato Braz Drums
  • Lazzo Matumbi Brazil
  • Edsel Gomez Latin Jazz
  • Herbie Hancock Piano
  • Andrew Finn Magill Ropeadope
  • Gilson Peranzzetta Brazil
  • Forrest Hylton Documentary Filmmaker
  • Mikki Kunttu Set Designer
  • Nora Fischer Singer
  • Alan Brain Journalist
  • Sean Jones Jazz
  • THE ROOM Shibuya Hip-Hop
  • Laura Beaubrun Art Therapist
  • Natan Drubi Choro
  • Jane Ira Bloom Composer
  • Ron Miles MSU Denver Music Faculty
  • The Bayou Mosquitos Amsterdam
  • Fernando Brandão Composer
  • Sam Reider Singer-Songwriter
  • Paul McKenna Irish Traditional Music
  • Wouter Kellerman Johannesburg
  • Nikki Yeoh Piano
  • Philip Glass Piano
  • Michelle Mercer Writer
  • Martyn DJ
  • Maria Rita Brazil
  • Marcus Teixeira EMESP Tom Jobim Faculty
  • Stormzy Grime
  • Ronald Bruner Jr. Composer
  • Serginho Meriti Rio de Janeiro
  • Kalani Pe'a Hawaiian Music
  • Roots Manuva Record Producer
  • Orquestra Afrosinfônica Música Afro-Brasileira, Afro-Brazilian Music
  • Nomcebo Zikode South Africa
  • Flora Purim Percussion
  • Casa PretaHub Cachoeira Estúdio de Gravação, Recording Studio
  • Kamasi Washington Jazz, Funk, R&B, Soul, Hip-Hop
  • Jean-Paul Bourelly Avant-Blues-Rock
  • Alphonso Johnson Jazz
  • Robert Glasper R&B
  • Román Díaz Percussion
  • Yo La Tengo Film Scores
  • Chris Cheek New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Faculty
  • Siphiwe Mhlambi Visual Story Teller
  • Milton Primo Brazil
  • Joe Lovano Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • Paulão 7 Cordas Brazil
  • Mike Compton Mandolin
  • Dermot Hussey Musicologist

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

 

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