CMJ Feature: "Nothing Short of Groundbreaking"
Aug 6, 2008
By Liz Pelly
NATION BEAT: From Brazil To N'awlins
When Nation Beat bandleader Scott Kettner moved to Brazil to study northeastern Brazilian music, he returned with a vision to combine the country's maracatu rhythms with American sounds, like New Orleans second line, bluegrass, country, western and honky-tonk.
"I'm from the south, and I noticed a lot of connections culturally and musically [between there and Brazil]," said Kettner, who was elected by the U.S. State Department as a 2006 Latin Jazz Ambassador. "Aesthetically from an instrumentation point of view they're very similar, and also the whole concept behind each music—:how it came about and why it's there, for dancing—is very similar."
In terms of instruments, Kettner noticed that a northeastern Brazilian style of music called forro incorporates violin, fiddle, accordion and a triangle—the same key instruments that are essential to Deep South styles like Cajun and zydeco. He also noticed the similarly deep African influence and tradition surrounding both northeastern Brazilian maracatu and New Orleans second line rhythms. "The similarities became very evident to me immediately," says Kettner, "and that's what kind of bred this concept of Nation Beat."
On Nation Beat's most recent album, Legends of the Preacher (released July 15 on Modiba), the fusion of these two influences is more expansive than ever. Melodic, bluegrass fiddling and meandering, funk-influenced bass lines create a solid, distinctly Americana foundation, danced upon on by strong, soulful Brazilian female vocals that take center stage. All the while, Brazilian rhythms like maracatu, forro, coco, ciranda, frevo and repente act as a driving force between drums and guitar, creating a fluid album of fifteen highly danceable songs. The resulting sound is creative and flawless, a new multi-cultural energy that sounds like it had been bottled up and ready to explode for ages. Luckily, Nation Beat has finally popped the cork on this perfect combination.
Though vocals are predominantly sung in Portuguese by lead singer Liliana Araujo, cameos are made on several tracks by both the English language and some folksy group vocals. Grammy award winners The Klezmatics also join the fun for three tracks, blending in their Yiddish vocals and violin.
"Conceptually the band has evolved and is a lot more mature," Kettner says. "On the first record, [Maracatuniversal], the concept was mixing maracatu with New Orleans music and the blues. So the concept of the first record is really just using that rhythm, whereas the new record is more diverse. We explore different rhythms and styles of the music from the south and from the northeast of Brazil."
In addition to the rhythms and the vocals, Brazilian influence also comes along in the form of folklore, which winds in and out of each track's lyrics. "The name, Legends of the Preacher, has to do with the folklore behind the songs," says Kettner. "Basically, there's a deity that appears in each song as a different character, with a different mask on. He appears as a preacher twice, he appears as a king, he appears as a queen... all these difference characters. There's a song on the record called 'The Preacher,' which is about this old folklore from the south," Kettner continues. "These old gospel preachers that used to travel through the South from town to town, taking advantage of poor people, and taking their money, and going on to the next town to rob people. We noticed after we developed that song that even today, if you turn on the news, it's still happening. There's all kinds of shit going on. [The legend] is still happening, just on a whole different level."
This is the band's first time recording with Araujo on vocals, who the band met when they were recording their last album in Brazil in 2005. (She was recently a finalist on Brazil's version of American Idol, "FAMA," and provided backing vocals on Nation Beat's 2005 recordings.) Kettner met percussionist Eduardo Guedes on the subway, when they struck up a conversation about a Brazilian band t-shirt; he met bassist Mike Lavalle after the two played a gig together; violinist Skye Steele and Kettner met when were both students at the New School in NYC together; and guitarist Rafael McGregor was a student of Kettner's before joining Nation Beat.
"It's called Maracatu NY," says Kettner, of the school he started in Brooklyn five years ago, where he teaches maracatu drumming. In 2003 and 2005, Kettner received an artist grant from The Brooklyn Arts Council to fund the school and Nation Beat. "We run a cultural exchange program between Recife, Brazil and New York City. We bring my teacher in Brazil to New York every year to give master classes; and I bring the students to Brazil every year to learn the music, rhythms and culture." The school also organizes a performance group that plays at festivals and parties.
Like Maracatu NY students, Nation Beat has done its fair share of traveling. The band has been touring extensively all summer in support of the record. The Grassroots Festival in upstate New York, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Ottawa Blues Festival, and Floyd Festival are just a few of the places they stopped. Nation Beat has also performed on several occasions in Brazil where Kettner says their music is understood well. Because American music and culture has infiltrated other countries so prominently, Brazilian listeners are more easily able to pick up the different forces of influence in Nation Beat's sound. "They're used to hearing American music, moreso than the American audience is used to hearing Brazilian music," says Kettner. "So when they hear the Brazilian rhythms and they hear our lyrics in Portuguese, they understand it immediately. And when they hear the American influence, they also understand it immediately." Although Nation Beat's music has been well received in America, Kettner says that audiences don't fully understand it as well. "They hear the American influence, and they understand that, but they don't understand the Brazilian influences as quickly."
Legends of the Preacher is available now via Modiba Productions, a forward-thinking, socially conscious record label with a distinct vision to invoke positive social and political changes in Africa. "I think that when I contacted them and they learned about our social programs that we do with Brazil, with the cultural exchange program and everything, that got them really interested," says Kettner, "because they have a whole social side to what they do." Nation Beat and Modiba are donating ten percent of the album's proceeds to benefit Corpos Percussivos, a school of music and culture for underprivileged youths in Recife, Brazil.
In addition to pushing their social causes, Nation Beat has other goals in mind as well. "To just tour the country, eventually tour Brazil and Europe, and just keep putting out new music," Kettner says. Though their plans might seem conventional, Nation Beat's cross-pollination of music is nothing short of groundbreaking.