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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...

 

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.

 

  • J. Cunha
    I RECOMMEND

CURATION

  • from this node by: Matrix

This is the Universe of

  • Name: J. Cunha
  • City/Place: Salvador, Bahia
  • Country: Brazil

Life & Work

  • Bio: José Cunha, who goes by "J" ("Jota") Cunha, is a highly influential Bahian artist working in various mediums and within the iconography of Afro-Bahian and Nordestino culture.

    J. designed the patterns used by Salvador's bloco afro Ilê Aiyê, and worked for 30 years as costume and scenic designer for the dance corps of Salvador's Teatro Castro Alves.

Contact Information

  • Email: [email protected]

Media | Markets

  • ▶ Book Purchases: http://www.amazon.com.br/dp/8586551503/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_glt_i_SCRS5G3X3GSG4PDE3G8Y
  • ▶ Instagram: j.cunha_oficial

Clips (more may be added)

  • 0:14:26
    Jota Cunha - Registro e recriação do imaginário tradicional
    By J. Cunha
    10 views
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 J. Cunha:

  • 2 Artista Plástico, Artist
  • 2 Bahia
  • 2 Brasil, Brazil
  • 2 Cenógrafo, Scenographer
  • 2 Designer Gráfico, Graphic Designer
  • 2 Figurinista, Costume Designer
  • 2 Salvador
  • John Waters Journalist
  • Peter Slevin Northwestern University Faculty
  • Psoy Korolenko Псой Короленко Songwriter
  • Leo Genovese Argentina
  • Luciana Souza São Paulo
  • Howard Levy Jazz
  • Jon Faddis Manhattan School of Music Faculty
  • Tigran Hamasyan Armenia
  • John Waters Ireland
  • Don Byron Film Scores
  • Alan Brain Peru
  • Asa Branca Samba de Roda
  • Jared Sims Saxophone
  • Caroline Shaw Contemporary Classical Music
  • Elio Villafranca Juilliard Faculty
  • Martin Koenig Photographer
  • Custódio Castelo Compositor, Composer
  • Ivo Perelman Brooklyn, NY
  • Joshua Abrams Composer
  • Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro Pandeiro
  • Clint Mansell Composer
  • Kehinde Wiley Portrait Painter
  • Ibrahim Maalouf Trumpet
  • Marcel Powell Brazil
  • Isaias Rabelo Jazz
  • Alegre Corrêa Berimbau
  • Sam Yahel Piano
  • Luciano Calazans Bass
  • Fábio Luna Forró
  • John McLaughlin Multi-Cultural
  • Ana Moura Portugal
  • Wadada Leo Smith Flugelhorn
  • Stormzy Rapper
  • Yacouba Sissoko Kora
  • Masao Fukuda Guitar
  • Ariane Astrid Atodji Director
  • Keyon Harrold New York City
  • Paul McKenna Scotland
  • Karla Vasquez Los Angeles
  • María Grand R&B
  • Tank and the Bangas Hip-Hop
  • Neo Muyanga Contemporary Classical Music
  • Aneesa Strings Jazz
  • David Binney New York City
  • The Umoza Music Project Senga Bay
  • Fatoumata Diawara African Music
  • Thiago Espírito Santo MPB
  • Ramita Navai Documentary Filmmaker
  • John Waters Playwright
  • Jorge Aragão Percussion
  • Cory Henry Jazz
  • Musa Okwonga Writer
  • Mestre Barachinha Nazaré da Mata
  • Aaron Parks Composer
  • Custódio Castelo Fado
  • Cécile Fromont Art Historian
  • Roosevelt Collier Songwriter
  • Tshepiso Ledwaba University of South Africa Staff
  • Kiko Loureiro Author
  • Marquis Hill Trumpet
  • Carol Soares Singer
  • Jon Otis Singer-Songwriter
  • Bob Lanzetti Educator
  • Lula Galvão Arranger
  • Psoy Korolenko Псой Короленко Songwriter
  • Pasquale Grasso Guitar Instruction, Master Classes
  • Dezron Douglas NYU Steinhardt Faculty
  • Diana Fuentes Cuba
  • Yayá Massemba Samba de Roda
  • Lívia Mattos Salvador
  • Gêge Nagô Brazil
  • Tom Schnabel World Music
  • Dwandalyn Reece Writer
  • Fábio Zanon Brazil
  • Paulinho do Reco Salvador
  • Nelson Faria YouTuber
  • Simon Brook Filmmaker
  • Keith Jarrett Classical Music
  • Aditya Prakash Singer
  • Andrew Finn Magill Irish Traditional Music
  • Gab Ferruz Cantora-Compositora, Singer-Songwriter
  • Thiago Espírito Santo Jazz Brasileiro, Brazilian Jazz
  • Stanton Moore Funk
  • Yoko Miwa Boston
  • Liberty Ellman Record Producer
  • Shirazee Benin
  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Violin
  • Barry Harris Piano
  • Fernando Brandão Samba
  • Matt Glaser Composer
  • André Mehmari Contemporary Classical Music
  • Shuya Okino Composer
  • Avishai Cohen אבישי כה Jazz
  • Anthony Coleman Piano
  • Allen Morrison Music Journalist
  • Jeff Ballard Jazz
  • Kevin Hays Woodstock, NY
  • Tomo Fujita Blues
  • Archie Shepp Poet
  • Andrew Finn Magill Appalachian Music
  • Asa Branca Folk & Traditional
  • Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah Mardi Gras Indian
  • Shez Raja Tabla
  • Parker Ighile Rapper
  • Júlio Lemos Guitar
  • Grégoire Maret New York City
  • Patricia Janečková Soprano
  • Tony Trischka Bluegrass
  • Aurino de Jesus Samba de Viola
  • Guillermo Klein New York City
  • Endea Owens Bass
  • Mônica Salmaso Singer
  • Pharoah Sanders Jazz
  • César Camargo Mariano Samba
  • Alita Moses Singer-Songwriter
  • Leela James Blues
  • María Grand Singer
  • Gonzalo Rubalcaba Cuba
  • Roy Nathanson Jazz
  • Rick Beato Multi-Instrumentalist
  • João Callado Samba
  • Dwayne Dopsie Louisiana
  • Gel Barbosa Paraiba
  • Jas Kayser Panama City
  • Alexa Tarantino Composer
  • Sebastian Notini Bahia
  • Imani Winds Multi-Cultural
  • Luciano Salvador Bahia Brazil
  • Paulão 7 Cordas Guitar
  • Luiz Santos New York City
  • McIntosh County Shouters Spirituals
  • Calida Rawles Writer
  • Garth Cartwright DJ
  • Bongo Joe Records Geneva, Switzerland
  • Leyla McCalla Cello
  • Marcelo Caldi Brazil
  • Siba Veloso Rabeca
  • Marvin Dunn Educator
  • Tele Novella Austin, Texas
  • Rudy Royston Composer
  • Yasushi Nakamura Japan
  • Daniel Owoseni Ajala Dance Instructor
  • Benny Benack III New York City
  • Orrin Evans Piano
  • Stefon Harris Manhattan School of Music Faculty
  • Jam no MAM Salvador
  • Brian Jackson Keyboards
  • Jimmy Cliff Jamaica
  • Tony Allen Afrobeat
  • Chris Speed New York City
  • Fernando Brandão Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • Oscar Bolão Choro
  • Daniel Jobim Brazil
  • Antonio García Piano
  • Simon Singh Physics
  • Yola R&B
  • Steve Cropper Songwriter
  • Bill Hinchberger Brazil Expert
  • Imani Winds Contemporary Classical Music
  • Nancy Viégas Fotógrafa, Photographer
  • John Schaefer New York City
  • Carlos Blanco Flamenco
  • Willie Jones III Drumming Instruction
  • Bob Reynolds Saxophone
  • James Andrews Songwriter
  • Gevorg Dabaghyan Yerevan State Conservatory Faculty
  • Márcio Bahia Drums
  • Courtney Pine Clarinet
  • Antônio Queiroz Brazil
  • Simon Shaheen Arabic Music
  • Terence Blanchard New Orleans
  • Kurt Rosenwinkel Composer
  • John Zorn Record Label Owner
  • Mischa Maisky Cello
  • Biréli Lagrène Jazz
  • Hilton Schilder Cape Jazz
  • Jacám Manricks UC Davis Faculty
  • Ronaldo Bastos Record Producer
  • Luiz Santos Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Daedelus Record Producer
  • Madhuri Vijay Novelist
  • Bodek Janke Composer
  • Taylor McFerrin Brooklyn, NY
  • Cristovão Bastos Rio de Janeiro
  • Utar Artun Jazz
  • Luke Daniels Melodeon
  • Tal Wilkenfeld Jazz
  • David Simon Television Producer
  • Corey Henry Tremé
  • Tonynho dos Santos Bahia
  • Uli Geissendoerfer UNLV School of Music Faculty
  • Liron Meyuhas Singer
  • Ronald Bruner Jr. Composer
  • Eddie Kadi Pan-African Culture
  • Mykia Jovan Blues
  • Brett Orrison Record Label Owner
  • Dale Barlow New York City
  • Francisco Mela Drums
  • Karsh Kale कर्ष काळे Record Producer
  • Glória Bomfim Samba
  • Sombrinha Bandolim
  • Eric Bogle Scotland
  • Guinha Ramires Brazil
  • Edil Pacheco Record Producer
  • J. Cunha Figurinista, Costume Designer
  • Eli Teplin Guitar
  • Chris Boardman University of Miami Frost School of Music Faculty
  • Ronaldo do Bandolim Composer
  • Los Muñequitos de Matanzas Matanzas
  • Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram Blues
  • Nelson Latif Violão de Sete
  • Ronald Bruner Jr. Singer
  • Baiba Skride Violin
  • Fabiana Cozza São Paulo
  • Roque Ferreira Chula
  • Amitava Kumar Poet
  • Al Kooper Singer-Songwriter
  • Warren Wolf Piano
  • Perumal Murugan Writer
  • Nels Cline New York City
  • Nancy Viégas Brasil, Brazil
  • Ashley Page Aukland
  • Bruce Molsky Appalachian Music
  • Isaiah J. Thompson Artistic Director
  • Frank London Klezmer
  • Ron Miles Composer
  • Nicole Mitchell University of Pittsburgh Faculty
  • Larry McCray Blues
  • Marcelinho Oliveira Artistic Director
  • Duncan Chisholm Scotland
  • Jorge Pita Percussion
  • Alexandre Vieira Jazz Brasileiro, Brazilian Jazz
  • Otto Singer-Songwriter
  • The Bayou Mosquitos Amsterdam
  • Mark Stryker Author
  • Ajeum da Diáspora Restaurant
  • Kim Hill Songwriter
  • Philip Glass New York City
  • Stacy Dillard New York City
  • Betsayda Machado Parranda
  • Susheela Raman Singer-Songwriter
  • Gino Banks Drums
  • Bill Callahan Singer-Songwriter
  • Darrell Green Jazz
  • Demond Melancon Mardi Gras Indian
  • Marcel Camargo MPB
  • Shaun Martin R&B
  • Kamasi Washington Multi-Cultural
  • Alma Deutscher Piano
  • Natan Drubi Brasil, Brazil
  • LaTasha Lee Soul
  • Abel Selaocoe Johannesburg
  • Dan Moretti Saxophone
  • Nikki Yeoh Piano
  • Matthew Guerrieri Washington, D.C.
  • Serwah Attafuah Punk
  • Wynton Marsalis Classical Music
  • Cécile McLorin Salvant Composer
  • Jeremy Pelt Composer
  • Tigran Hamasyan Singer
  • Deesha Philyaw Short Stories
  • Joshua Abrams Bass
  • George Cables Jazz
  • Anna Webber Saxophone
  • Vânia Oliveira Candomblé
  • Mauro Senise Choro
  • Marc Johnson New York City
  • Weedie Braimah Drums
  • Cinho Damatta Brasil, Brazil
  • Jubu Smith Singer-Songwriter
  • Nicolas Krassik Violin
  • George Garzone Saxophone
  • Anna Webber Brooklyn, NY
  • John Edward Hasse Piano
  • Brenda Navarrete Singer
  • Béco Dranoff New York City
  • Siphiwe Mhlambi Visual Story Teller
  • Jeffrey Boakye Educator
  • Ari Hoenig New York City
  • Nei Lopes Singer-Songwriter
  • Clarice Assad Composer
  • Ashley Page New Zealand
  • Stormzy Writer
  • Terence Blanchard Composer
  • Marcos Portinari Compositor, Composer
  • Olivia Trummer Germany
  • Miles Mosley Composer
  • Nath Rodrigues Belo Horizonte
  • Mou Brasil Jazz
  • Daniel Jobim Samba
  • Shaun Martin Songwriter
  • Guinga Rio de Janeiro
  • Spok Frevo Orquestra Frevo
  • Sarz Nigeria
  • Derrick Adams Sculptor
  • Greg Kot Chicago
  • Shaun Martin Ropeadope
  • Frank Olinsky Parson's School of Design Faculty
  • Jeff Tweedy Record Producer
  • Jamie Dupuis Harp Guitar
  • Mateus Alves Bass
  • Serwah Attafuah Singer
  • Chris Potter Composer
  • Thiago Amud Brazil
  • Guto Wirtti Composer
  • Asanda Mqiki Jazz
  • Immanuel Wilkins New York City
  • Augustin Hadelich Classical Music
  • Léo Rodrigues Choro
  • Mou Brasil Bahia
  • Kaveh Rastegar Los Angeles
  • Chico César Paraíba
  • Nego Álvaro Samba
  • Melanie Charles Jazz
  • Marcel Powell Rio de Janeiro
  • Siphiwe Mhlambi Johannesburg
  • Towa Tei テイ・トウワ Electronica
  • Ben Wendel Brooklyn, NY
  • Nicolas Krassik Rio de Janeiro
  • Ryuichi Sakamoto New York City
  • Kenny Garrett Multi-Cultural
  • Leon Bridges R&B
  • Menelaw Sete Brasil, Brazil
  • Will Holshouser Folk & Traditional
  • Luke Daniels Glasgow
  • Joachim Cooder Drums
  • Bisa Butler Quilts
  • BIGYUKI Keyboards
  • Bob Bernotas Writer
  • J. Pierre Illustrator
  • Brandon J. Acker Chicago
  • Nação Zumbi Rap
  • Gab Ferruz MPB
  • Nick Douglas Journalist
  • Rowney Scott Brasil, Brazil
  • Phakama Mbonambi Journalist
  • Sarz Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Magda Giannikou Accordion
  • Nelson Cerqueira Faculdade da UFBA, Federal University of Bahia Faculty
  • Damon Albarn Theater Composer
  • Robert Glasper Songwriter
  • Cyro Baptista Composer
  • Paul McKenna Singer-Songwriter
  • Restaurante Axego Pelourinho
  • Michelle Mercer Music Critic
  • Brigit Katz Canada
  • Di Freitas Brazil
  • Yo La Tengo Film Scores
  • Jim Lauderdale Country
  • Kurt Andersen Novelist

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

 

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