Not just one style or genre, MPB—or Música Popular Brasileira—is a term that encompasses numerous Brazilian popular music styles as they evolved and expanded during the decade of the 1970s and beyond. Spearheaded by such noted artists as Milton Nascimento, Ivan Lins, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Djavan and many others, MPB celebrates the birth of modern Brazil and its most prolific musical era since the dawn of the bossa nova.
The 1970s began as a transition from the controversial and politically repressed art form known as tropicália, when Brazilians were grappling with a less-than-tolerant military regime (that had taken control in 1964) while trying to maintain peaceful resistance. Tensions grew in the late sixties as violence erupted between the opposing groups, and leading artists (along with politicians, students and intellectuals) were arrested and tortured. Many of the prominent tropicália figures would find relief in exile, but returned to Brazil as political amnesty was granted, among them Brazil's current Minister of Culture and celebrated singer/composer/guitarist Gilberto Gil. Into the 70s, many artists who had already set the tone as innovators of the Brazilian music scene began to further develop their sound while incorporating elements of Western popular music, in particular American rock and jazz.
In many ways, MPB encompasses the entire wealth of Brazil's regional sound, from the ever-popular samba and its descendants from Rio to the northeastern accordion-driven forró, and truly celebrates the art of songwriting. The richness of modern harmony combined with exquisite poetry became the norm for Brazilian composers such as Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Dori Caymmi and Gilberto Gil, among others, who had already emerged during the bossa nova era and were pushing the envelope harmonically as well as lyrically. The influences of American rock and jazz in Brazil were important in establishing a more modern sound, and soon many traditional regional styles were transformed with electric guitars, funky drum set playing and jazzy chords.
Another aspect of MPB was the expansion of popular genres beyond the capital state, and the increasing popularity of the Afro-Brazilian sounds coming from the state of Bahia. Considered the more "African" of Brazil's provinces, Bahia is the center of candomblé, Brazil's syncretic religion, and is home to some of the more traditional rhythms and dances that would go on to join the repertoire of MPB's artists. The modern sounds combined with the more "roots" music tradition would eventually lead to a shift in the mainstream Brazilian music industry by the 1980s, as more and more artists looked to Bahia for inspiration. The Bahian city of Salvador, the original colonial capital, was home to a new core group of artists who developed a blend of the spiritual rhythms of candomblé with samba and other genres, leading to Brazil's most celebrated new sound: axê music. —Rebeca Mauleon
