Azulão da Bahia / Jackson do Pandeiro - Minha Zebelê from Nossas Raizes - Alvorada (1974) & Tráz Elas Prá Cá - Tropicana Cantagalo (1975)

Jackson do Pandeiro often creates definitive interpretations of forró material through his brilliance with rhythm, melodic variation and arrangement. Minha Zebelê is an exception. I prefer Azulão da Bahia's recording from one year later. Even through a somewhat thin mix, Azulão da Bahia manages to find a melodic edge, energy and joy in the song that surpasses Jackson do Pandeiro's. 

Azulão da Bahia - Minha Zebelê from Tráz Elas Prá Cá - Tropicana Cantagalo (1975)

Jackson do Pandeiro - Minha Zabelé from Nossas Raizes - Alvorada (1974)

Azulão da Bahia - Tráz Elas Prá Cá - Tropicana Cantagalo (1975)

Jackson do Pandeiro - Nossas Raizes - Alvorada (1974)

Luiz Wanderley - Turista Baiano & Mané Baiano from E Seus Grandes Sucessos - Rosicler / 78rpm (1961)

Luiz Wanderley - Turista Baiano & Mané Baiano from E Seus Grandes Sucessos - Rosicler (1960s) & 78rpm (1961)

Luiz Wanderley's powerful voice and excellent tunes have aged well. Like the shift from boogie woogie / rhythm and blues into rock music in the 1950s in the United States, Northeastern Brazilian music began to coalesce the sound of baião, xaxado, côco, embolada, arrasta-pé, xote and forró into one blanket genre called forró. It should be noted that although the entire form is called forró, forró is actually a separate rhythmic style from the other categories in the genre. 

Luiz Wanderley entered at the right time. From 1952 to 1963, Wanderley released nearly 30 78rpm singles. Wanderley's internet discographies are somewhat incomplete. Some claim that he stopped recording in 1967, although an undated Caravelle LP seems like it may have been recorded somewhere between '67 and 1970. 1970 seems to be the likely release year based on the LP label.

Like Gordurinha, Borrachinha, Jackson do Pandeiro and Genival Lacerda, Luiz Wanderley mixed flamboyant performance and humor in his music. Turista Baiano and Carolina (which I will feature in a future post) are two of my favorite tunes by any forró artist. 

Wanderley also followed Ary Lobo, Moura Junior and Jackson do Pandeiro by branching off into samba in the early 1960s before returning to forró. I have never solved the mystery of why many of the major artists shifted to samba briefly, but it is logical to assume that forró may have been going through a decline in popularity at that moment and the more versatile folks needed to pay the bills.

The LP, E Seus Grandes Sucessos, on Rosicler is a scarce collection of great 78rpm records from his early days. The LP is not from 1961, but was likely released in the late 1960s.

Luiz Wanderley - Turista Baiano from E Seus Grandes Sucessos - Rosicler (1960s) & 78rpm (1961)

Luiz Wanderley - Mané Baiano from E Seus Grandes Sucessos - Rosicler (1960s) & 78rpm (1961)

Luiz Wanderley - E Seus Grandes Sucessos - Rosicler (1960s)

Carmelita - Cuidado Menina & Forró De Pé De Serra from Recordação - Cantagalo (1969)

Ah, the wonderful Carmelita (not to be confused with the also wonderful Carmélita Alves). Her recording career was seemingly short-lived, with this single LP and several appearances on Cantagalo compilations. Her legacy, though, is gold. Recordação is a gorgeous LP with a slew of excellent tracks. My personal favorite, which may also be one of my favorite tracks of all time in the genre, is Cuidado Menina written by Durval Vieira. The track has a graceful elegance and phrasing which is similar to Pedro Cem by Sacy (my previous post). Some artists in the late 60s got a fairly shaky deal in terms of production. In this case, the man behind the desk was Pedro Sertanejo who lent his "Dr Art = Direção Artística" production skills to some of the best albums of the 60s and 70s. Having Pedro behind the board was a lucky break for virtually every artist that worked with him.

Carmelita - Cuidado Menina from Recordação - Cantagalo (1969)

Carmelita - Forró De Pé De Serra from Recordação - Cantagalo (1969)

Carmelita - Recordação - Cantagalo (1969)