1st Edition
Fiddles in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Cultures Transatlantic Aesthetics
Fiddles in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Cultures presents fresh data and debates drawn from extensive research to broaden the study of African music by focusing on fiddle playing, exploring rhythm aesthetics and tonal systems within cultural contexts.. Focused on Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Brazil, the research maps cultural affiliations, addressing cultural displacement and historical ties. It engages with postcolonial power dynamics, highlighting fiddle playing as a form of resistance and revival.
Primarily aimed at academic researchers in ethnomusicology and related fields, the book provides detailed analytical descriptions and narratives of artists, instruments, and playing styles. It contributes to discussions on music, decolonization, and diasporic communities' demands for authenticity and recognition.. By revealing lesser-known fiddle traditions, it enriches the world music genre, attracting both academic and general readers interested in transcultural music studies.
Table of Contents
List of Maps
List of Illustrations
List of Music Examples
Forward
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Introduction: Mapping Afro-Fiddle Playing in Three Different Contexts
Busking in Lisbon
First beats
Up-beat down-bow: musical identities
African musical aesthetics? Perception, the ‘sensuous’ and improvisation
Rhythm as a diasporic reinvention
Approaching the fieldwork
Fiddles in transit
Chapter 2. The Kriolu Violin of Cape Verde
The archipelago at the Atlantic crossroads
Transnational cultures
The violin in Cape Verde
Antoninho Travadinha (the improviser)
Research in the Ilhas do Sotavento (Santiago)
Kim Alves
Nhô Djonzinho Alves
Nhó Nani
Research in the Ilhas do Barlavento
Francisco Sequeira (archivist) and Malaquias Costa (violinist)
César Costa
Nhô Kzik
Breka (‘The Tall Man’)
Kriolu violin playing: a dynamic tradition
Chapter 3. The Cimboa in Cape Verde
Rumours of extinction
A Fulbe heritage?
The cimboa in batuku
The rhythm of cimboa music
Mano Mendi and Pascoal Fernandes
Ntóni Denti d’Oro
Transcultural revivals
Chapter 4. The Cimboa Becomes the Orocongo
The transformation of the cimboa in Brazil
Gentil do Orocongo
The orocongo, the rhizome and ‘creative creolisation’
Chapter 5. Vanished Fiddles: Vestiges of Mozambique in Brazil
Investigating historical traces
Fiddle paintings
Across the ‘emaka’ (ocean): the journey from east to west
The disappearance of the one-stringed fiddle
Chapter 6. The Tchakare in Mozambique
The Makua peoples
On the way to Niassa
The Makua tchakare and tchkwèsa
Between Mandimba and Mitande
Nfani Wathunia
A traditional Makua village
Almirante Bilale
The Makua tchakare and Mozambique’s nationalist agenda
Chapter 7. The Rabeca in a Brazilian Quilombo
Quilombola culture: resistance, identity and ethnic reassertion
Vale do Ribeira
Quilombos: cultural heritage and the struggle for recognition
Caiçaras, quilombos and music
Rabeca players in Quilombo do Moro Seco
Bonifácio Modesto Pereira
The fandango-rufado
The role of the rabeca
Hermes Modesto Pereira
Music and religion
Musical and social change
Chapter 8. Conclusion: Creolisation and the Revival of FiddleTraditions
The fiddle and the African diaspora
The Kriolu violin: local and overseas circuits, transnational identities
One-stringed fiddle connections
Fiddling in a quilombo: land, memory and identity
Unperceived aesthetics and disappearing traditions
Glossary of Terms
Index
Biography
Dr Luiz Moretto holds a doctorate in ethnomusicology from King’s College London. He is a professional fiddle player and composer, performing and recording in many different styles of African and Brazilian music. This has also been the focus of his research over the course of many years.
“This is a solid and complex piece of multi-sited research that, in lucid prose, tackles a novel topic – bowed chordophones across the Afro-Lusophone world, encompassing Portugal, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Brazil. Challenging a range of preconceived ideas about African musical principles, Luiz Moretto shows how bowed chordophones of various types mediated encounters in different settings, each presenting very distinct and context-specific responses, from cultural dissemination, independent invention, hybridizations, resistance and revivals”.
Suzel Reily, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Universiade Estadual de Campinas
“This is an extremely rich account of one could call “the black fiddle”, immersing readers in a meticulously researched journey through the rich tapestry of African and Afro-diasporic music cultures. Readers will find detailed analyses of how the European instrument was incorporated and re-signified in countries deeply marked by the history of the Atlantic Slave Trade, such as Brazil, Mozambique and Cape Verde. Through vivid ethnographic accounts and previously unpublished materials, this groundbreaking work sheds light on the transcultural dynamics of fiddle traditions, challenging notions of authenticity and decolonization. It not only fills a void in music literature but also captivates a broader audience with its exploration of untold narratives and rhythmic aesthetics, resonating across continents and cultures”.
Felipe Correa, Reader in Cultural Studies, King’s College London.
"This compelling work challenges entrenched stereotypes and narratives rooted in colonial history, offering fresh perspectives on African traditional instruments and their rich cultural contexts. Moving beyond the confines of authenticity politics and power dynamics, it presents a nuanced and contemporary discourse. Written by a seasoned musician deeply immersed in the world of African music and its diasporic encounters, this book is a must-read."
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Genitho Santana, Anthropology Teacher at School of Art and Communication, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Bottom of Form
