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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.

 

  • Shannon Sims
    I RECOMMEND

CURATION

  • from this node by: Matrix

This is the Universe of

  • Name: Shannon Sims
  • City/Place: Rio de Janeiro
  • Country: Brazil

Life & Work

  • Bio: I'm an independent journalist committed to uncovering thought-provoking stories in overlooked places, from the Amazon to Zanzibar. My self-described beats: (1) women breaking barriers, (2) the legal fallout of climate change, and (3) Brazil.

    My reporting is published by The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Guardian and others.

    My longform work has been featured on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek and the front page of the New York Times repeatedly. My writing for Pacific Standard will be included in The Best American Travel Writing 2019, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in October 2019.

    The Institute of Current World Affairs and The International Women's Media Foundation have generously supported my work.

    I was born in Turkey and raised on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas. Before journalism, I taught elementary school in Harlem and ran a hotel in Italy. I currently spend most of my time in Houston, New Orleans, and Rio de Janeiro.

    I earned my Bachelor of Arts in international politics and women's studies from Pomona College. My Juris Doctor is from The University of Texas School of Law, where I specialized in international environmental law with a focus on coastal environments.

    I am fluent in English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. I'm obsessed with music (especially samba) and sports (especially the '93-'95 Rockets). I also know a lot about Carnaval and cheese.

Contact Information

  • Email: [email protected]

Media | Markets

  • ▶ Twitter: shannongsims
  • ▶ Instagram: shannongsims
  • ▶ Website: http://www.shannongsims.com
  • ▶ YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQVSzzS8eWIELizxmP21Ifg
  • ▶ Article: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/29/travel/cuba-road-trip-music.html
  • ▶ Articles: http://www.shannongsims.com/work

Clips (more may be added)

  • Introduction to my channel
    By Shannon Sims
    233 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 Shannon Sims:

  • 3 Brazil
  • 3 Journalist
  • 3 New Orleans
  • 3 Rio de Janeiro
  • 3 Writer
  • Leo Nocentelli New Orleans
  • Maciel Salú Maracatu
  • Ben Harper Reggae
  • Derrick Adams Brooklyn, NY
  • Marcus Strickland Saxophone
  • Greg Ruby Guitar
  • Oswaldo Amorim Brazil
  • Obed Calvaire New York City
  • Marilda Santanna Escritora, Writer
  • Regina Carter Multi-Cultural
  • D.D. Jackson Jazz
  • Ed Roth Los Angeles
  • Mestre Barachinha Caboclo de Lança
  • Atlantic Brass Quintet Jazz
  • VJ Gabiru VJ
  • Jericho Brown Poet
  • Elza Soares Singer
  • Dan Auerbach Nashville, Tennessee
  • Henrique Cazes Cavaquinho
  • Nabihah Iqbal Guitar
  • Martin Koenig Record Producer
  • Huey Morgan DJ
  • Teresa Cristina Rio de Janeiro
  • Aderbal Duarte Salvador
  • Elodie Bouny Classical Guitar
  • Lula Galvão Classical Guitar
  • Hugues Mbenda Chef
  • Richard Bona Singer
  • Tiganá Santana Produtor Musical, Music Producer
  • Miguel Zenón Saxophone
  • Ron Carter Jazz
  • Msaki Record Label Owner
  • Marcus Printup Jazz
  • Raymundo Sodré Brazil
  • Igor Osypov Ukraine
  • Augustin Hadelich Classical Music
  • Lucía Fumero Composer
  • Ivan Bastos Brasil, Brazil
  • Celso Fonseca Brazil
  • Jean-Paul Bourelly Jazz
  • Julian Lage Composer
  • Márcio Valverde Guitar
  • Papa Mali Blues
  • MicroTrio de Ivan Huol Bahia
  • Corey Henry New Orleans
  • Anna Mieke Wicklow
  • Aubrey Johnson Montclair State University Faculty
  • Sheryl Bailey Composer
  • Pedro Martins Guitar
  • Johnny Lorenz Montclair State University Faculty
  • Reuben Rogers Bass Instruction
  • Jess Gillam Concert Promoter
  • Ubiratan Marques Música Afro-Brasileira, Afro-Brazilian Music
  • Renata Flores Quechua
  • Júlio Lemos Brazilian Jazz
  • Nabih Bulos Los Angeles
  • Steve Coleman Saxophone
  • Sean Jones Composer
  • Caroline Shaw Record Producer
  • Natan Drubi Brasil, Brazil
  • Asali Solomon Novelist
  • Nação Zumbi Maracatu
  • Jovino Santos Neto Piano
  • Adriano Giffoni Bass Instruction, Master Classes
  • J. Pierre Muralist
  • Tank and the Bangas Spoken Word
  • Sam Yahel Jazz
  • Riley Baugus Banjo
  • Mariana Zwarg Brazil
  • Quatuor Ebène Contemporary Classical Music
  • Tia Fuller Jazz
  • Marta Sánchez New York City
  • Bright Red Dog Jazz, Electronica, Hip-Hop, Psychedelia, Noise
  • Ivan Huol Drums
  • PATRICKTOR4 Brasil, Brazil
  • Tyshawn Sorey New York City
  • Samuel Organ Experimental Rock
  • Antibalas Pan-Africana
  • Simon Brook Writer
  • Merima Ključo Klezmer
  • Nigel Hall New Orleans
  • Clint Smith Writer
  • Burhan Öçal Divan-Saz
  • Cláudio Jorge Record Producer
  • Geraldo Azevedo Música Nordestina
  • Aubrey Johnson New York City
  • Jamel Brinkley Novelist
  • Carl Allen Educator
  • Benjamin Grosvenor Piano
  • André Muato Brazil
  • Mingus Big Band Jazz
  • Paulo Martelli Alto Guitar
  • Ryan Keberle Jazz
  • Manolo Badrena Composer
  • Asa Branca Folk & Traditional
  • Willie Jones III New York City
  • Herbie Hancock Composer
  • Danilo Caymmi Brazil
  • Corey Harris Folk & Traditional
  • Antônio Queiroz Samba Rural
  • Osvaldo Golijov Argentina
  • Gabrielzinho do Irajá Brazil
  • Horace Bray Experimental, Electronic Music
  • Steve Lehman Saxophone Instructor
  • Sam Dagher Author
  • Antônio Queiroz Forró
  • Bobby Sanabria Drums
  • Sharita Towne Multidisciplinary Artist
  • Ana Luisa Barral Salvador
  • Maladitso Band Lilongwe
  • Richie Barshay New York City
  • Cláudio Jorge Rio de Janeiro
  • Nicholas Daniel Conductor
  • Congahead Photographer
  • Matt Garrison Record Producer
  • Harvey G. Cohen King's College London Faculty
  • Clint Mansell Composer
  • Mario Caldato Jr. Brazil
  • James Martins Jornalista, Journalist
  • Biréli Lagrène Guitar
  • Mulatu Astatke Ethiopia
  • Beth Bahia Cohen Balkan Music
  • Bombino Singer-Songwriter
  • João Rabello Classical Guitar
  • James Shapiro Columbia University Faculty
  • Cedric Watson Accordion
  • Leandro Afonso Federal University of Bahia
  • Las Cafeteras East Los Angeles
  • McCoy Mrubata South Africa
  • Arthur Verocai MPB
  • Yunior Terry Bass
  • Carlos Aguirre Singer
  • Onisajé Educadora, Educator
  • Martín Sued Accordion
  • John Luther Adams Composer
  • Shannon Ali New York City
  • Eduardo Kobra Arte Urbana, Urban Art
  • Inaicyra Falcão Candomblé
  • Ivo Perelman São Paulo
  • Tom Piazza Liner Notes
  • Milton Primo Singer-Songwriter
  • Thundercat Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Luques Curtis New York City
  • Trilok Gurtu Drums
  • Ballaké Sissoko Bamako
  • Mingo Araújo Composer
  • Jake Webster Indiana
  • Jared Sims Flute
  • Carrtoons Brooklyn, NY
  • Hermeto Pascoal Alagoas
  • Chris Speed Avant-Garde Jazz
  • Philip Ó Ceallaigh Romania
  • Tiganá Santana Salvador
  • Marcus Printup Arranger
  • Ari Rosenschein Seattle
  • Sam Yahel New York City
  • Corey Harris Guitar
  • Yosvany Terry New York City
  • Archie Shepp Pianist
  • Hilary Hahn Violin
  • Iuri Passos Percussion
  • Henrique Cazes Brazil
  • Marvin Dunn Documentary Filmmaker
  • Paulinho Fagundes Guitar
  • Melvin Gibbs Jazz Fusion
  • Margareth Menezes Samba-Reggae
  • Tia Surica Brazil
  • Lokua Kanza Congo
  • Kim André Arnesen Oslo
  • Bertram Hand Percussion Performance
  • Tedy Santana Bahia
  • Rudy Royston Photographer
  • Ron Carter Composer
  • Nara Couto MPB
  • Armen Donelian Multi-Cultural
  • Gail Ann Dorsey Singer-Songwriter
  • Marcelinho Oliveira Keyboards
  • Taylor Eigsti Piano
  • Gerson Silva Brazil
  • Magda Giannikou Piano
  • Hélio Delmiro Brazilian Jazz
  • Arismar do Espírito Santo Composer
  • Luis Paez-Pumar Writer
  • Django Bates Multi-Instrumentalist
  • David Chesky Piano
  • Marcel Camargo Record Producer
  • Alana Gabriela Cantora, Singer
  • Larissa Luz Singer-Songwriter
  • Marquis Hill R&B
  • Jon Faddis Composer
  • Michael Janisch Avant-Garde Jazz
  • João Callado Samba
  • McCoy Mrubata Jazz
  • Giba Conceição Brazil
  • David Castillo Actor
  • Gabriel Geszti Brasil, Brazil
  • Brian Jackson Jazz
  • Bill Frisell Composer
  • Shez Raja Indo-Jazz Funk
  • Ricky (Dirty Red) Gordon Washboard
  • Di Freitas Brazil
  • Jeff Preiss Director
  • Django Bates Jazz
  • Chris McQueen Guitar
  • Dan Moretti Saxophone
  • Jon Batiste Multi-Instrumentalist
  • Jubu Smith Singer-Songwriter
  • Stuart Duncan Americana
  • Richie Stearns Americana
  • David Ritz Lyricist
  • Super Chikan Blues
  • Kengo Kuma Architect
  • Laércio de Freitas Brazilian Jazz
  • Gilmar Gomes Bahia
  • Hugues Mbenda France
  • Fred Dantas Ethnomusicologist
  • Beeple Short Films
  • Weedie Braimah Hip-Hop
  • J. Period Brooklyn, NY
  • Herlin Riley Northwestern University Bienen School of Music Faculty
  • Camille Thurman Flute
  • Ana Tijoux Hip-Hop
  • Luíz Paixão Ciranda
  • Clint Mansell Singer-Songwriter
  • Arto Lindsay MPB
  • Andrés Prado Afro-Peruvian Music
  • Brandee Younger Jazz
  • Raelis Vasquez Drawings
  • Terrace Martin Ropeadope
  • Cécile McLorin Salvant New York City
  • A-KILL India
  • John Medeski Piano
  • Ricky (Dirty Red) Gordon New Orleans
  • Fred Hersch Composer
  • Harish Raghavan Educator
  • Margareth Menezes Afropop
  • Matt Ulery Contemporary Classical Music
  • Helado Negro Latin Experimental Music
  • Tierra Whack Rapper
  • Jeff Ballard Percussion
  • OVANA Xangongo
  • Negrizu Bahia
  • Gonzalo Rubalcaba University of Miami Frost School of Music Faculty
  • Cara Stacey Umrhubhe, Uhadi, Makhoyane
  • Ned Sublette Guitar
  • Tony Trischka Americana
  • Anna Mieke Irish Folk Music
  • Cleber Augusto Brazil
  • Linda Sikhakhane Composer
  • Armandinho Macêdo Guitarra Baiana
  • Matt Garrison Composer
  • Al Kooper Singer-Songwriter
  • Lalah Hathaway Record Producer
  • Louis Marks Apparel & Fashion
  • Cathal McNaughton Ireland
  • Edmar Colón Piano
  • Gian Correa Brazil
  • McClenney Singer-Songwriter
  • Soweto Kinch Rapper
  • Paulo Paulelli MPB
  • Evgeny Kissin Classical Music
  • Daru Jones Jazz
  • Bill T. Jones Choreographer
  • Armandinho Macêdo Brazil
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Basketball
  • Dwayne Dopsie Zydeco
  • Adriano Souza Brazil
  • Ronell Johnson New Orleans
  • Arturo Sandoval Trumpet
  • Pierre Onassis Música AFRO
  • James Carter Contemporary Classical Music
  • Alexa Tarantino Composer
  • Richard Rothstein Historian
  • Beats Antique World Fusion
  • Lavinia Meijer Classical Music
  • Ronaldo Bastos Composer
  • Steve Lehman Saxophone
  • Barlavento Bahia
  • César Camargo Mariano Record Producer
  • Janine Jansen Netherlands
  • Rita Batista Bahia
  • Siobhán Peoples Fiddle
  • Joshue Ashby Jazz
  • Ethan Iverson Writer
  • Joshue Ashby Panama
  • Angel Bat Dawid Chicago
  • Tom Oren Jazz
  • Eamonn Flynn Soul
  • John Patitucci Composer
  • Elza Soares Brazil
  • Vanessa Moreno São Paulo
  • Brandon Coleman Keyboards
  • Thiago Espírito Santo Jazz
  • Tommy Peoples Ireland
  • César Camargo Mariano Arranger
  • Safy-Hallan Farah Writer
  • Sebastian Notini Percussão, Percussion
  • Alex de Mora Documentary Filmmaker
  • Carrtoons Record Producer
  • Hercules Gomes Samba
  • João Camarero Samba
  • Victor Gama Contemporary Musical Instrument Design
  • Gal Costa Brazil
  • Donald Harrison Mardi Gras Indian
  • Eric Alexander New York City
  • Roy Nathanson Saxophone
  • Yosvany Terry Jazz
  • Anat Cohen New York City
  • Ryan Keberle Manhattan School of Music Faculty
  • John Francis Flynn Dublin
  • Liron Meyuhas Percussion
  • Dan Trueman Princeton University Faculty
  • McCoy Mrubata Flute
  • Chris Thile Classical Music
  • Henrique Cazes Rio de Janeiro
  • Gui Duvignau Contemporary Classical Music
  • Gabriel Grossi Samba
  • Nara Couto Brasil, Brazil
  • Ron Miles Jazz
  • Urânia Munzanzu Poeta, Poet
  • Ibrahim Maalouf Composer
  • Cássio Nobre Viola Machete
  • Ben Street New York City
  • Questlove Music Journalist
  • Paquito D'Rivera Clarinet
  • David Greely Louisiana
  • Igor Osypov Jazz Fusion
  • Jocelyn Ramirez Los Angeles
  • Bill Hinchberger Journalist
  • Cassie Kinoshi Saxophone
  • Roy Ayers Singer
  • Michael W. Twitty Washington, D.C.
  • Terell Stafford Jazz
  • Ariel Reich Dance for PD®
  • Maia Sharp Guitar
  • Wouter Kellerman South Africa
  • Africania Brazil
  • David Chesky Jazz
  • Tony Kofi Saxophone
  • Wouter Kellerman Alto Flute
  • Joe Chambers Vibraphone
  • Ivan Sacerdote Choro
  • Wolfgang Muthspiel Guitar
  • Mike Marshall Guitar
  • César Orozco Violin
  • Myles Weinstein Agent
  • John McLaughlin Jazz
  • Luíz Paixão Rabeca
  • Plinio Oyò Camaçari
  • Carlos Blanco Brasil, Brazil

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

 

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