The music from Piauí

Map of Piauí, from Wikipedia

In a country where five cities – São Paulo, Rio, Brasilia, Recife and Salvador – seem to concentrate most of the musical production, or at least most of the music that reaches the radios,  it is pretty hard to remember a successful musician from Piauí. The state, in the Northeast of the country, is normally associated with three features: its peculiar shape, mostly inland, with a really tiny coast; a few rich, wet areas, such as the Gurguéia Valley, surrounded by lots of drylands; and the amazing Serra da Capivara archeological site. Now, music?

Hopefully, this might change thanks to the local musicians union, known as Capivara (just like capibara, the giant rodent). It just released a double CD with 34 songs by some great piauienses artists, covering several styles, from baião to reggae, from bossa nova to tango. Listen here to a few of these really amazing artists:

“Quer dizer você” (Anderson Nóbrega / Carol Costa / Glauco Luz), sang by Carol Costa.

“Baião no terreiro” (Vagner Ribeiro), sang by Vagner Ribeiro e Valor de Pi.

“Boca de Barro” (Fátima Castelo Branco), sang by Fátima Castelo Branco.

“Cajuína” (Geraldo Brito), sang by Geraldo Brito

“Cantigas de apaixonar” (Gilvan Santos), sang by Gilvan Santos

“Calmaria” (Vavá Ribeiro), sang by Vavá Ribeiro

“Zabumba” (Júlio Medeiros), sang by Júlio Medeiros e Banda

“Paixonite” (Glauco Luz), sang by Glauco Luz / Carol Costa.

Thanks to Laura Macedo, from Portal Luiz Nassif, that first wrote about this project.