It's been a minute, but I must remind you that Sound Travels loves little guitars; ukeleles, mandolins, ouds and of course the little Portuguese guitar called a cavaquinho; a guitar brought with them on their travels and to their colonies in the New World. Brazil was one such place and the cavaquinho is a part of many forms of music in Brazil; from samba to Bossa Nova, from forro to carnival music the cavaquinho is a big part of Brazilian music. That said, the cavaquinho tends to function in very traditional ways, rarely employed outside of the "comfort zone" of classic arrangements. I say rarely, but the Brazilian group BaianaSystem is a group more than ready to update the sound of Bahia's Carnival guitar, the cavaquinho and do a great job of it on their new single "Calundu."
Based out of Salvador, Bahia, BaianaSystem are an exciting band doing new things with traditional Bahian music. They make hip hop in a jazzy way with the cavaquinho at its heart. In BaianaSystem the little guitar harmoniously dialogues with the sounds of Africa and with the freedom of psychedelia and dub and the right touch of hip hop beats. This is a Brazilian band to watch, their sound is definitely on the rise...