Forró de rabeca: from Pernambuco to the World

20 Nov, 2013

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B y Alba Cabral

The Quarteto de Olinda brought a warmth to the evenings this side of the Atlantic Ocean, where cold autumnal winds blow – each night it gets colder! But forró does not have that cold feeling. Find a partner and go “forrozear”, a new verb can be added to the dictionary to describe the act of dancing forró. Travelling through London and Dublin, as well as a month-long tour of Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy, the quartet is now heading to Russia. The Quarteto Olinda’s forró brings something different: the main lead is not the accordion as often happens with traditional forró, it’s the rabeca ^[1] , an extermely popular and quirky instrument with a rustic sound. Forró de rabeca emerged in the state of Pernambuco, where the rabeca is used in folguedos (folk traditions) such as Cavalo Marinho, and the quartet is also inspired by the first group who spread the use of the rabeca throughout Brazil in the 1990s, Mestre Ambrósio .

By Cidy Souza

The Quarteto de Olinda was formed in 2005. The meeting of the musicians came amid the shining musical and cultural scene of Pernambuco, mainly found in the capital Recife and the historical city Olinda, where many masters of folk groups live, as well as hosting the most traditional of Brazilian Carnavals. Formed by Yuri Rabid (bass), Carlos Amarelo (percussion), Guga Amorim (zabumba) and Claudio Rabeca (rabeca), the quartet recorded their first album in 2009 and are releasing their second album on this tour.

By Cidy Souza

Cláudio Rabeca, central figure in the band, the “rabequeiro”, singer and one of the songwriters says that “they drank from the font of Master Salustiano, Luiz Paixão and Biu Roque”. Master Salustiano was the founder of the Casa da Rabeca, close to Olinda, and dedicated his life to teaching and spreading the folk culture of Pernambuco. Cláudio, who also takes part in the Cavalo Marinho , believes that it is one of the biggest rabeca schools. With a humorous, dynamic and professional repertoire, and also playing songs from the greats of forró like Jackson do Pandeiro and Luiz Gonzaga amongst others, the Quarteto de Olinda has won over the Brazilian public ever more. Regularly appearing in the capitals of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santa Catarina and abroad as seen in the United States and Europe. The London show took place on 7th November at Forró do Galpão, in the busy London area of Brick Lane, which this year is celebrating 7 years of being the largest and most traditional space for forró in the UK.