Axé
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The explosive Carnaval pop of Salvador, Bahia: a fast, brass-and-percussion party sound fusing frevo, forró, merengue, reggae and Afro-Bahian bloco rhythms, driven from atop the trio elétrico sound-truck. Tempos are high and relentless, arrangements packed with punchy horns, surdo and timbau drums and call-and-response chants that cue mass dance crazes. Vocals are big, exuberant and crowd-commanding; the whole aesthetic is heat, color and collective celebration built for the streets of Bahian Carnaval.
History
Axé grew from Salvador's Carnaval in the mid-1980s, as trio elétrico music and the Afro-blocos (Olodum, Ilê Aiyê) fed a new pop sound — Luiz Caldas's 'Fricote' (1985) is often cited as an early landmark. Daniela Mercury broke it nationally in the early 1990s with 'O Canto da Cidade,' and bands like Chiclete com Banana, Banda Eva (a launchpad for Ivete Sangalo), Timbalada and the dance-craze act É o Tchan made axé Brazil's dominant summer-pop through the 1990s. Ivete Sangalo became its enduring superstar; though its chart peak passed, axé still powers Bahian Carnaval every year.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Chris McGowan & Ricardo Pessanha, 'The Brazilian Sound'
- Larry Crook, 'Brazilian Music' (Bahian Carnaval chapters)
- Folha de S.Paulo, axé and Carnaval coverage