Salgueiro ensaio tecnico

Salgueiro's ensaio tecnico last night. Wednesday is always their tech rehearsal night. This turned out to be their last tech rehearsal at the quadra before their big Sambodromo rehearsal this weekend, and they were really focused and hot, hot, hot.

It was supposed to start at 8pm, so I got there at 9:15, just in time to hear the cavaquinho tuning up for 10 minutes and then the announcer saying for another 10 minutes: "Is everybody in their ala? We're about to start. Everybody get in their ala with their t-shirt. We're starting right now. Right now. Everybody get in their ala right now! We're starting right now! Does everybody have their t-shirt?" etc. etc. The real rehearsal finally started at about 9:20.

I run hot and cold on Salgueiro because of the tourist factor, but what I've found is that if you can just get there on a night when they're not swamped with tourists (i.e. avoid Saturday), they're GREAT. It's actually got a very genuine rootsy community. And a tight, tight bateria - they were sounding especially good last night. Definitely better than 2 years ago. And they were gypped last Carnaval - everyone agrees - easily should have been in the top 2 but they were shut out. So I'm rooting for them this year to place good and high.

So, turns out the Wednesday tech rehearsal is DEFINITELY the night to go to Salgueiro. Because (a) it's the real rehearsal, with all the alas and all the community there, and (b) very few tourists, and (c) outside, so you can actually hear pretty well! and (d) you can get right up next to the bateria!

They've got a pretty good setup for their tech rehearsals, right outside the side door of their quadra - the alas march around a big paved racetrack around a little sandy infield where the bateria plays. It's so cool seeing all the alas (parade sections). You don't see this at the Saturday parties, only in the technical rehearsals and the street rehearsals. It's such a huge cross-section of every possible part of humanity. Buff surfer dudes, supercool baile-funk 18-year-olds, gaggles of tiny little 5-year-old girls samba'ing their tiny butts off, mom, grannies, wirey old guys leaping around, a whole ala of girls doing a fan dance, a whole ala of burly guys shouting and waving their arms in the air (my friend Patricia happened to enter right when one of the guys' alas was going past. She started dancing and of course the entire ala started whooping and dancing with her).

Ala after ala, singing and waving their arms. Girls practicing their fan dance with pieces of paper, bits of newspaper, and some actual fans - I'm curious to see what they'll look like for Carnaval itself!

The ala directors prowling up and down the sides yelling "SING! SING! SING WITH ALL YOUR HEART!!"

Oh, yeah, and the passistas too (the sexy dancing girls), which is usually the showstopper for me, but suddenly they seemed kind of beside the point. Suddenly all I wanted to watch was all the regular people marching past. And of course stand by the bateria.

Another great perk for me was wandering around the bateria and suddenly I heard that bright friendly voice behind me saying "Well hello there!" - Xuxa! From San Francisco. And one of his brothers. Five more steps and there was Jacare! Two minutes later, Pat showed up too. At at the end of the rehearsal, ran into a player from London - we were trying to figure out where we recognized each other from, and turned out to be from my week with Paraiso and Verde Vai. I love this part of Rio - running into my favorite sambista friends from all over the world.

Afterwards I had a hell of a long trek back to Recreio, about a zillion miles to the south (I'm staying out of town for 2 days at a surfing camp). I didn't really know how to get there and it was about 2am, but as usual a succession of kindly Brazilians started steering me from bus to bus, all of them asking curiously why I was wandering around Rio on my own so late at night. It took a while, but the buses always showed up eventually and a bunch of Brazilians would push me onto it ("This is your bus! Driver, take her to Posto 12 at the Macumba beach! She is a foreigner and she is all alone! Make sure you drop her off at Posto 12!") I got home in the end with no trouble at all. 3am and feeling great.

Some mp3s:
Salgueiro's anthem. Every escola has anthem that they sing once or twice at every rehearsal. (It's not for Carnaval. It doesn't change every year.) The thing that cracked me up about this is that none of the drummers were supposed to be playing, but they couldn't help themselves.
The bateria enters. (God, the sound of that whistle at the beginning is so heart-stopping for me - because it means the bateria's about to start.) And check out their entrance - it's a very classic entrance in its general timing and the repique call, but with a few little flourishes.
A break featuring third surdo. The third surdo guys all pulled out a second mallet to do those rolls. Another cool thing was the TWO, THREE, FOUR of the surdos that the bateria comes in with at the very end. Sao Clemente was using that entrance a lot last year, and Salgueiro used it a ton last night. (Caixas & thirds are playing; then primeiro & segundo go TWO, THREE, FOUR and everybody in.) The whole bateria rocked right, left, right on those beats - looked very cool.
Another break. I think this was their Break 7.
A little break. What's interesting about this is the way the chocalhos entered right before the break and played through it. Also a classic example of the way the third surdo always punches a bunch of "ands" right after one of those little breaks.
The bateria alone plays some of their favorite breaks at the end of rehearsal.

And
The tamborims & the singers.
(small fragment of long recording!) A major problem outside Brazil (I think) is that many drummers have no concept that the tamborim desenhos, third surdo desenhos and all breaks are supposed to be fitting into a song. It's hard to get a recording of this, but last night I was lucky and found a magic spot to stand, where all 4 of the singers were standing one foot to my left, and a pack of tamborim players one foot to my right. So you can really hear how the tamborim desenhos fit into the song. In the distance you can hear the rest of the bateria.

Listen for how the tambs & third surdos are, together, sometimes punch the rhythm OF THE SONG on their breaks, as if they are singing along with the singers. And listen how other times, they are alternating with the singers - the spaces in the drum breaks are filled by a song phrase - highlighting the song phrase. The spaces are for the SONG to shine out, or sometimes a little run of chord changes in the cavaquinho. It's not just an empty measure with no drums.

The drumming does not make sense without the song.

Tonight (Thursday): Unidos da Tijuca street rehearsal! By the Praca Maua!!! I'm really looking forward to it - this one of the absolute best rehearsals to catch in Rio. If you're Rio, don't miss it! Hop any bus that says "Praca Maua", keep asking the driver "Praca Maua?" to be sure he'll tell you when you get there. Then ask around for Unidos da Tijuca. All you need to know how to say is "Praca Maua?" and "Unidos da Tijuca?" and you're all set.