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Candomble Music

The music of Brazilian Orixa religion is known through various (not necessarily interchangeable) phrases such as candomble, macumba, umbanda, and several other names. As with Cuban santeria and Haitian vodou, the music and the religion it animates comes from deep wellsprings of West African culture, and venerates numerous spirits and ancestral forces -- Orixas -- whose names are also still invoked on the African continent. I do not pretend to be an expert in any of these styles, or even to possess a working understanding of their history, their practice, or their meaning: but I am fascinated by the music, so I'll give it a shot. This page has all the blah-blah-blah stuff: Record reviews are nearby.

To an extent, Brazilian candomble is arcane music that is purposefully hard to find and little known outside of Brazil. Understandably, the ceremonies of the terreiros (or worship groups) are often private or secretive and while there have been many recordings made of ritual music -- including on major labels such as Continental, Philips and RCA -- generally speaking these were limited, niche releases, meant mostly for sale to devotees of the various Orixas, and less for a widespread, mass market.

Then again, the Umbanda movement has relatively modern roots dating back the 1920s, and was in part an effort to bring candomble worship into the cultural mainstream. It is sometimes typified as "white umbanda," to differentiate it from Quimbanda candomble, which is more Africanized, more raucous, and "darker," both racially and spiritually -- a rawer, more carnal ritual form to which some umbanda groups position themselves as polar opposites. However, both schools come from and are aspects of the same religious tradition, and although some umbanda groups may seem a bit genteel, most share the same dynamism and powerful percussive force as the quimbanda musicians> As far as the record industry goes, I'd say it's a safe bet that in many cases it's a little hard to tell where umbanda begins or quimbanda ends, and vice versa. Both branches of modern candomble enjoyed an upsurge in popularity during the 1970s, in conjunction with a vibrant Black pride movement that encompassed the arts, notably in musical movements such as the politically-conscious roots-samba (samba raiz) and the Brazilian funk scene.

The influence of the umbanda groups is deeper and more far-flung than one might imagine, in part because of the diffusion of candomble's spiritual philosophy and musical traditions into numerous styles such as batucada drumming, capoeira, samba de roda, partido alto, classic 'Seventies pagode, and even more modern trends such as the Axe pop music of the 1980s and '90s (which takes its name from the spiritual force "axe," an animating energy in the world view of the Orixa sects...) As with many African roots cultures, the principles of Orixa religion were hidden inside the trappings of the dominant society: for centuries, many of the ancestral spirits were secretly worshipped in disguise, using the names of Catholic saints in place of their original names, and similarly the musical culture has been wrapped inside of pop-culture records by modern recording artists such as Olodum or percussionists like Carlinhos Brown who may not explicitly present themselves as candomble practitioners, but clearly have an understanding of the cultural roots of the music they make.

Anyway, here's a quick (and doubtless quite flawed) glossary of terms which you might encounter while exploring Brazilian candomble music... I've also separately posted reviews and information about many of the ritual music albums I've encountered thus far...



Candomble: An Outsider's Glossary

BABALORIXA -- a (male) candomble priest, literally "the father of Orixa." A related term is pai de santo, or father of saint; there are feminine equivalents: Yalorixa and mae de santo.


BATUQUE -- The word "batuque" is perhaps more commonly associated with drumming ceremonies and a form of dance (and music) which evolved into both capoeira and samba. It was also once a synonym for candomble. There is also a regionally-based Afro-Brazilian religion called "Batuque" which is centered in Belem and Porto Alegre


CABLOCOS -- ghost spirits of dead indigenous Brazilians; both Umbanda and Quimbanda rituals often seek to invite the possession of participants by either cablocos or their African-born counterparts, pretos velhos. Similar to the Orixas, some specific cablocos are importuned or revered, and honored in chants and songs.


CAPOEIRA -- An art form mixing martial arts and dance, with its own specific musical traditions, though there is significant cultural crossover with candomble and its variants. Capoeira grew out of the slavery-era "batuques," which were large drumming ceremonies and public festivals held by African-born slaves, and were frequently suppressed by colonial authorities; the formalization of capoeira into a dance style is typically seen as a method to evade crackdowns by white authorities, a subversive tactic to disguise Africanist rituals while still transmitting their cultural roots


CANDOMBLE -- a blanket term for Afro-Brazilian religious rituals, sometimes used interchangeably with "Macumba," or even with Quimbanda and Umbanda, though these are more accurately seen as offshoots or specific traditions branching out from the wider candomble wellspring.


CENTRO/TERREIRO -- Umbanda groups, congregations, or locations. In general, the Umbanda religion is highly decentralized, and there is a lot of variety between the practices of various centros or terreiros. I'm not sure if the two terms are 100% interchangeable, but they largely seem to be. "Templo" may have much the same meaning.


EXUS -- Male spirits, as seen in the Quimbanda tradition. These spirits derive from and Orixa deity, Exu, and are seen as more earthly than the "spirits of the right" in Umbanda, which act on a more spiritual plane. In Quimbanda, the female equivalents to Exus are called pombas giras


KARDECISM -- a branch of French Spiritism, developed in the 1850s by Christian mystic Allan Kardec. Kardecism gained popularity abroad, notably in Brazil where it became fairly mainstream, and is seen as contributing to the growth of Umbanda ritual in the 1920s. Some candomble groups are more welcoming of Spiritists than others, and vice versa.


MACUMBA -- an older form of Quimbanda. The term was once used pejoratively by whites, and later co-opted as an "exotic" term used in jazz, latin dance, and pop music, both in Brazil and elsewhere.


MAE/MAES DE SANTO -- (female) shamanistic candomble leaders; the female equivalent of Pai De Santo, though with different social and religious connotations


OGUM or OGUN -- the Yoruban warrior god (or spirit) of iron and metalworking. Also central to Cuban santeria, Haitian vodou, and other West African-derived religions, in Brazil Ogun is syncretized with the Catholic icon, Saint George (or Sao Jorge)


OMBLOCO -- mix of Quimbanda and Umbanda Branca


ORIXAS -- a pantheon of Yoruban spirits, who are often invoked or importuned in Candomble rituals. The Orixas have specific names and roles, and are revered by candomble followers, though they are more often seen as "spirits," rather than as gods. (Umbanda ceremonies center around the Orixas, though view them as intermediaries for a larger, all-encompassing god figure; the lines are perhaps a bit blurrier in some Quimbanda traditions)


PAIS DE SANTO -- (male) shamanistic candomble leaders. These were often gay men, who were seen as more receptive to possession by spirit ancestors; some ethnographers apparently noted that acceptance of queer shamans was more common in "white" Umbanda groups than in the older Quimbanda rituals


POMBA GIRAS -- in Quimbanda, these are female spirits, and the counterparts to the masculine Exus. Pombagiras are typically the spirits of "fallen" or immoral women, notably dead prostitutes, and are ritually linked to more carnal, risque behavior. Pombagiras are said to possess women and gay men, who then publicly engage in lascivious or outrageous acts, actions which would otherwise be less socially acceptable


PONTO -- a song in praise of a deity, typically used in Quimbanda rituals


PRETOS VELHOS -- ghost spirits of dead slaves who had been born in Africa and brought to Brazil during the colonial slave trade. Both Umbanda and Quimbanda rituals often seek to invite the possession of participants by either pretos velhos or their indigenous counterparts, the cablocos. Similar to the Orixas, some specific pretos velhos are importuned or revered, and honored in chants and songs.


QUIMBANDA -- more African based and seen as "darker," both culturally and spiritually, more male-oriented, and closer to older Yoruban religion


SANTO DAIME -- a separate branch of Brazilian syncretism, based in part in the use of the powerful herbal psychedelic brew ayahuasca (which is referred to as "daime" by its adherents). The music of Santo Daime is much mellower than umbanda, typified by a series of hymns which are generally performed in a mellow acoustic style very much based on the European/North American folk music. Like umbanda, Santo Daime is a decentralized religion, with autonomous groups spread throughout Brazil, as well as offshoots in numerous other countries. Although there is an official musical canon, Santo Daime singers (hinarios) can compose new hymns. Strangely, there seem to be very few Santo Daime albums or other recordings, not at least much that I've found so far.


SPIRITISM -- a reincarnationist Christian/mystic philosophy started in France in the 1850s, especially popular in Brazil, as well as Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America; one of the wellsprings of Umbanda, and also known as "Espiritismo". Umbanda emerged partly as a reaction to the anti-Africanism of Spiritism (i. e. its condemnation of the reverence of cablocos and pretos velhos)


TRABALHO -- an Umbanda or Quimbanda ritual, a religious "work," or act of devotion


UMBANDA -- a newer, "whitened" mirror-image of Quimbanda, Umbanda emerged in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s and was seen as a "correction" to Quimbanda, with more Catholic and Spiritist (Kardecist) influence, and less emphasis on animal sacrifices, alcohol and carnality, etc.


WHITE UMBANDA -- aka "Umbanda branca" more aligned with spiritism; in this version, Orixas are viewed more as "energies," and less as deities


YALORIXA -- a (female) candomble priest, literally "the mother of Orixa." A related term is mae de santo, or mother of saint; there are masculine equivalents: Babalorixa and pai de santo.


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