Salvador Bahia Brazil Matrix

The Matrix Online Network is a platform conceived & built in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil and upon which people & entities across the creative economic universe can 1) present in variegated detail what it is they do, 2) recommend others, and 3) be recommended by others. Integrated by recommendations and governed by the metamathematical magic of the small world phenomenon (popularly called "6 degrees of separation"), matrix pages tend to discoverable proximity to all other matrix pages, no matter how widely separated in location, society, and degree of fame. From Quincy Jones to celestial samba in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to you, all is closer than we imagine.

  • 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.

 

  • Reggie Ugwu
    I RECOMMEND

CURATION

  • from this node by: Matrix

This is the Universe of

  • Name: Reggie Ugwu
  • City/Place: Brooklyn, NY
  • Country: United States

Life & Work

  • Bio: Reggie Ugwu (“oo-gwoo”) is a pop culture reporter covering a range of subjects, including film, television, music and internet culture.

    Before joining The New York Times in 2017, he was a reporter for BuzzFeed News and Billboard magazine, an intern for PBS Frontline, and a minor blogger for The Awl, Complex and others.

    He grew up in Houston and received a degree in journalism from The University of Texas at Austin.

Media | Markets

  • ▶ Twitter: uugwuu
  • ▶ Instagram: ugwu
  • ▶ Column: http://www.nytimes.com/by/reggie-ugwu
  • ▶ Column 2: http://thenewdaily.com.au/author/reggieugwu/

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 Reggie Ugwu:

  • 0 Journalist
  • 0 New York City
  • 0 Pop Culture Reporter
  • 0 Writer

Nodes below are randomly generated. Reload for a different stack.

  • Luciano Salvador Bahia Bahia
  • Alexia Arthurs Jamaica
  • Kyle Poole New York City
  • Khruangbin Alt-World Music
  • Nick Douglas Journalist
  • Michael Cleveland Bluegrass
  • Nelson Latif São Paulo
  • Alexandre Vieira Brasil, Brazil
  • Jakub Józef Orliński Poland
  • Hélio Delmiro Composer
  • Steve Lehman Saxophone Instructor
  • Isaak Bransah Salvador
  • Luis Perdomo New York City
  • Ana Tijoux Hip-Hop
  • Corey Ledet Singer-Songwriter
  • Jean-Paul Bourelly Multi-Cultural
  • Robertinho Silva Samba
  • Ron Blake Juilliard Faculty
  • John Donohue New York City
  • Leyla McCalla Cello
  • Frank London Jewish Music
  • Roy Germano NYU Faculty
  • Luques Curtis Double Bass
  • Mark Stryker Arts Critic
  • Yayá Massemba Brasil, Brazil
  • Johnny Vidacovich Jazz
  • BIGYUKI Brooklyn, NY
  • Magda Giannikou Accordion
  • Bill Frisell Composer
  • Nora Fischer Contemporary Classical Music
  • TaRon Lockett Singer-Songwriter
  • Theo Bleckmann Singer
  • Jussara Silveira Singer
  • Ken Coleman Detroit, Michigan
  • Alex Cuadros Journalist
  • Mart'nália Rio de Janeiro
  • Wynton Marsalis New York City
  • David Binney Saxophone
  • David Hepworth Podcaster
  • Ben Harper Funk
  • Lenna Bahule Brazil
  • Jean Rondeau Paris
  • Marquis Hill Jazz
  • Merima Ključo Los Angeles
  • Pedrito Martinez Batá
  • The Weeknd Singer-Songwriter
  • Tele Novella Texas
  • Christian McBride Composer
  • Fred Dantas Euphonium
  • Carwyn Ellis Singer-Songwriter
  • Thundercat Los Angeles
  • David Greely Louisiana
  • Tam-Ky Asian-African Foods
  • Gabi Guedes Salvador
  • Iroko Trio São Paulo
  • Magary Lord AFROBIZ Salvador
  • McCoy Mrubata Saxophone
  • Dave Holland Composer
  • Wayne Escoffery Saxophone
  • Marcus Teixeira Brazil
  • Elizabeth LaPrelle Old-Time Music
  • Burhan Öçal Bendir
  • Gel Barbosa Sanfona
  • Ranky Tanky South Carolina
  • Shanequa Gay Poet
  • Dadi Carvalho Brazil
  • Alyn Shipton Writer
  • Billy Strings Bluegrass
  • H.L. Thompson Music Consultant
  • Giorgi Mikadze გიორგი მიქაძე Classical Music
  • Edward P. Jones Novelist
  • Greg Kot Writer
  • Ênio Bernardes Diretor Musical, Music Director
  • Natalia Contesse Santiago
  • Ben Wendel Saxophone
  • Tony Trischka Bluegrass
  • Cedric Watson Singer-Songwriter
  • Dona Dalva Samba
  • Casa da Mãe Espaço Cultural/Cultural Space
  • Tyler Gordon Artist
  • Nduduzo Makhathini Record Producer
  • Tito Jackson Pop
  • Kaveh Rastegar Record Producer
  • Ronaldo do Bandolim Samba
  • Aurino de Jesus Brazil
  • William Parker Composer
  • Alicia Svigals Composer
  • Yoruba Andabo Cuba
  • Mestre Nenel Brazil
  • Eric Bogle Australia
  • Nelson Ayres São Paulo
  • Bill Pearis Music Critic
  • Bob Bernotas Jazz
  • Adam O'Farrill Brooklyn, NY
  • Ron Mader Professional Speaker
  • Abel Selaocoe Johannesburg
  • Dafnis Prieto Author
  • Donnchadh Gough Ireland
  • Eric R. Danton Reporter
  • Clint Mansell Film Scores
  • Lô Borges MPB
  • Jonathon Grasse Gamelan
  • Brentano String Quartet String Quartet
  • Tambay Obenson Journalist
  • Liberty Ellman Jazz
  • Carl Allen Jazz Workshops
  • THE ROOM Shibuya Dance Club
  • Steve Lehman Saxophone
  • David Virelles Piano
  • Congahead Photographer
  • Gregory Tardy University of Tennessee Knoxville School of Music Faculty
  • Ivan Bastos Baixo, Bass
  • Ibrahim Maalouf Classical Music
  • Magary Lord Bahia
  • Nelson Latif Cavaquinho
  • Johnny Lorenz Translator
  • Romero Lubambo MPB
  • Mykia Jovan Blues
  • Román Díaz Havana
  • Nicole Mitchell Composer
  • Leela James Soul
  • Toninho Horta Brazil
  • Ray Angry Jazz
  • Papa Mali Guitar
  • Marc Cary Multi-Cultural
  • Keith Jarrett Piano
  • Martin Hayes Fiddle
  • Zé Luíz Nascimento Brazil
  • Walter Pinheiro Frevo
  • John Harle Saxophone
  • Martin Fondse Multi-Cultural
  • Jorge Alfredo Cantor-Compositor, Singer-Songwriter
  • Eric Alexander Jazz
  • Ronaldo do Bandolim Composer
  • Filhos de Nagô Samba
  • Little Dragon Electronic Music
  • Varijashree Venugopal Jazz
  • Sahba Aminikia Iran
  • James Martins Salvador
  • Bob Bernotas Radio Presenter
  • Tommy Orange Native American Literature
  • Ben Allison New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Faculty
  • Ben Harper Reggae
  • Endea Owens Composer
  • Doug Wamble Singer-Songwriter
  • Hélio Delmiro Brazilian Jazz
  • Larry Achiampong Multidisciplinary Artist
  • Jorge Pita Bahia
  • Eric Galm Hartford, Connecticut
  • Terell Stafford Temple University Boyer College of Music & Dance Faculty
  • Angelique Kidjo Africa
  • Yilian Cañizares Classical Music
  • Bright Red Dog Improvising Collective
  • McIntosh County Shouters Spirituals
  • Rob Garland Los Angeles
  • Ben Wolfe Juilliard Faculty
  • Jakub Józef Orliński Countertenor
  • Wayne Escoffery Jazz
  • Mono/Poly Electronic Music
  • Stefano Bollani Jazz
  • Alex Conde Madrid
  • Marquis Hill R&B
  • Taj Mahal Blues
  • Tia Surica Brazil
  • Stuart Duncan Nashville, Tennessee
  • McClenney Singer-Songwriter
  • Flying Lotus Songwriter
  • Horacio Hernández Havana
  • Jovino Santos Neto Rio de Janeiro
  • Case Watkins Writer
  • Stuart Duncan Fiddle
  • Amitava Kumar Screenwriter
  • Sam Eastmond Trumpet
  • Little Simz London
  • Marc Johnson Composer
  • Jean-Paul Bourelly Jazz
  • Lucio Yanel Argentina
  • Hélio Delmiro Guitar
  • Tiganá Santana Produtor Musical, Music Producer
  • Nels Cline New York City
  • Anat Cohen Clarinet
  • Vincent Herring Saxophone
  • Huey Morgan Author
  • Ferenc Nemeth Drums
  • Gabriel Grossi Samba
  • Jeff Tweedy Americana
  • Michelle Mercer Writer
  • Mauro Senise Brazil
  • Imani Winds Multi-Cultural
  • Shoshana Zuboff Harvard Business School Faculty
  • Ned Sublette Singer-Songwriter
  • Brian Q. Torff Bass
  • Şener Özmen Multimedia Art
  • Moacyr Luz Rio de Janeiro
  • Bob Bernotas Music Journalist
  • Matt Dievendorf Washington, D.C.
  • Marcelinho Oliveira Brazil
  • Jas Kayser Drums
  • Mono/Poly DJ
  • Beth Bahia Cohen Berklee College of Music Faculty
  • Emicida MC
  • André Becker Brasil, Brazil
  • Romero Lubambo Guitar
  • Steve Earle Americana
  • Ben Hazleton Double Bass
  • Immanuel Wilkins NYU Faculty
  • Otis Brown III Drums
  • Nahre Sol Classical Music
  • Dona Dalva Samba de Roda
  • Gavin Marwick Composer
  • David Binney Los Angeles
  • Paulo Paulelli São Paulo
  • Sabine Hossenfelder YouTuber
  • Katuka Africanidades Brasil, Brazil
  • Carlinhos 7 Cordas Violão de Sete
  • Matt Garrison Bass
  • Mickalene Thomas Painter
  • Magda Giannikou New York City
  • Aneesa Strings Singer
  • Del McCoury Singer
  • Frank Olinsky Illustrator
  • Fred P DJ
  • Vadinho França Brasil, Brazil
  • Luciana Souza Bossa Nova
  • Guinha Ramires Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Swami Jr. Choro
  • Ivo Perelman Brazil
  • Luciano Calazans MPB
  • Mauro Refosco Experimental, Eletrônica, Electronic
  • Anne Gisleson Writer
  • Savoy Family Cajun Band Cajun Music
  • Matthew F Fisher Brooklyn, NY
  • Sombrinha Banjo
  • Goran Krivokapić Classical Guitar
  • Dan Trueman Electronic Music
  • Lianne La Havas London
  • Carl Joe Williams Sculptor
  • Masao Fukuda Yokahama
  • Becca Stevens Singer-Songwriter
  • Dave Douglas Record Label Owner
  • Marcos Portinari Produtor Multimídea, Multimedia Producer
  • Nduduzo Makhathini Fort Hare University Faculty
  • María Grand Saxophone
  • João Rabello Choro
  • Juliana Ribeiro Brazil
  • Burhan Öçal Istanbul
  • Lula Galvão Arranger
  • Leela James Los Angeles
  • Richard Bona Bass
  • Michael Pipoquinha Brazilian Jazz
  • Mika Mutti MPB
  • MonoNeon Gospel
  • Lorna Simpson Brooklyn, NY
  • Mateus Asato Songwriter
  • Cássio Nobre Viola Brasileira
  • Terence Blanchard New Orleans
  • Kurt Andersen Novelist
  • Alan Williams Found & Recycled
  • Eli Degibri אלי דג'יברי Composer
  • Tommy Peoples Irish Traditional Music
  • Brenda Navarrete Singer
  • Alegre Corrêa Violin
  • Walter Ribeiro, Jr. Singer-Songwriter
  • Betão Aguiar Documentary Filmmaker
  • Rob Garland Jazz, Funk
  • Stuart Duncan Violin
  • Jennifer Koh Classical Music
  • Shabaka Hutchings Composer
  • Larissa Luz MPB
  • Germán Garmendia Writer
  • The Umoza Music Project Senga Bay
  • Yilian Cañizares Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Brandon J. Acker Baroque Guitar
  • Manuel Alejandro Rangel Classical Guitar
  • Nancy Viégas Cantora-Compositora, Singer-Songwriter
  • Nate Chinen Jazz
  • Azadeh Moussavi Iran
  • Colm Tóibín Ireland
  • John McLaughlin Jazz
  • Chris Dingman Vibraphone
  • Stefano Bollani Brazilian Music
  • João Bosco MPB
  • Congahead World Music
  • Yotam Silberstein Guitar Instruction
  • Case Watkins James Madison University Faculty
  • Daniel Jobim MPB
  • Django Bates Bern University of the Arts Faculty
  • Astrig Akseralian Cambridge, England
  • John Zorn Composer
  • Brandon Seabrook Avant-Garde Jazz
  • Andrés Prado Afro-Peruvian Music
  • Walmir Lima Samba
  • Dezron Douglas Bass
  • Darryl Hall Paris
  • Benoit Fader Keita Afrohouse
  • David Bruce Opera
  • Joe Newberry Banjo Instruction
  • João Luiz Guitar
  • Victor Wooten Author
  • Raphael Saadiq Neo Soul
  • Peter Mulvey Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Renee Rosnes Jazz
  • Bebel Gilberto Brazil
  • Archie Shepp Saxophone
  • Gab Ferruz MPB
  • Paquito D'Rivera Classical Music
  • Chelsea Kwakye UK
  • Marilda Santanna Samba
  • Gringo Cardia Video Director
  • Django Bates Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Sérgio Pererê Percussion
  • Curtis Hasselbring Jazz
  • Antonio García Virginia Commonwealth University Faculty
  • Dan Auerbach Singer-Songwriter
  • Maria Drell Chicago, Illinois
  • Robert Glasper Hip-Hop
  • The Umoza Music Project London
  • Guillermo Klein Tango
  • Tonynho dos Santos Brasil, Brazil
  • Warren Wolf Composer
  • Martin Fondse Jazz
  • Brandon Coleman Jazz, Funk, R&B, Soul
  • Kiko Loureiro Heavy Metal
  • Karsh Kale कर्ष काळे Tabla
  • Omari Jazz Music Producer
  • Mestre Nenel AFROBIZ Salvador
  • Alicia Keys Actor
  • Andrew Finn Magill Irish Traditional Music
  • Frank Negrão Jazz
  • Tia Fuller Composer
  • George Porter Jr. Bass
  • James Brandon Lewis Composer
  • Raymundo Sodré Forró
  • João Teoria Salvador
  • Berkun Oya Turkey
  • Mazz Swift Singer
  • Curtis Hasselbring Brooklyn, NY
  • Bebel Gilberto Singer-Songwriter
  • Mulatu Astatke Percussion
  • Nego Álvaro Brazil
  • Tatiana Campêlo Salvador
  • Ari Rosenschein Indie Pop
  • Michael Formanek Peabody Conservatory of Music Faculty
  • Shaun Martin Ropeadope
  • King Britt Record Label Owner
  • Colm Tóibín Journalist
  • Yola R&B
  • Isaak Bransah Bahia
  • David Wax Museum Folk Roots Rock
  • OVANA Homemade Instruments

 '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