A conversation with...The co-founder of Samba Ja, Jake Pegg.Byline: LEWIS TAYLOR The Register-Guard ANYTHING CAN happen at a Samba samba Ballroom dance of Brazilian origin, popularized in the U.S. and Europe in the 1940s. Danced to music in ⁴⁄₄ time with a syncopated rhythm, the dance is characterized by simple forward and backward steps and tilting, rocking body movements. Ja performance, says Jake Pegg, co-founder of the Eugene rhythmic group. He recalls the time a member of the audience came up and showed her appreciation by licking Licking, river, c.320 mi (515 km) long, rising in E Ky. and flowing NW to the Ohio River opposite Cincinnati; the North and South Forks are its chief tributaries. him. Launched 2 1/2 years ago with 12 people, the collective quickly has grown to its current size of about 40. Since making its public debut at the Eugene Celebration The Eugene Celebration is an annual community celebration and civic event held in downtown Eugene, Oregon, United States. Featuring bands and performers from throughout the Pacific Northwest, the three-day festival is held in early September and attracts more than 40,000 attendees in 2001, the samba group has snaked its way through the streets and into the heart of the community. Last year, the group won first prize in the Eugene Celebration parade. On Saturday, the band will march into the Erb Memorial Union ballroom as part of the Carnival Brazil. In anticipation of the performance, we caught up with Pegg, a University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. music student with a taste for Brazilian rhythms. QUESTION: How do you define samba? ANSWER: I guess the simplest definition would be Brazilian music and dance. People used to say it's the national dance and music of Brazil Strong influences on the music of Brazil come from many parts of the world, but there are very popular regional music styles influenced by African and European forms. After 500 years of history the Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles like choro, música . What we play is a kind of samba that's just played with drums called batucada. Q: What does Samba Ja mean A: Colloquially col·lo·qui·al adj. 1. Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal. 2. Relating to conversation; conversational. it means "now." Literally it means "already," like, "I'm coming already," "samba already," "samba now." We used to have a different name, and that name was unpronounceable and also unintelligible UNINTELLIGIBLE. That which cannot be understood. 2. When a law, a contract, or will, is unintelligible, it has no effect whatever. Vide Construction, and the authorities there referred to. by most people. It was a name that I made up based on Amazon Creek. We were called Bloco Amazina. Q: Why did a samba group seem like a good idea for Eugene? A: The good thing about this kind of music is that everyone can participate. ... There's really not a cap to the size. This kind of ensemble in Rio would get up to about 400 people. The different styles of drums allow a lot of different skill levels, everything from a master drummer The title of master drummer is given to a drummer who is recognized by other masters for his high degree of skill and knowledge in African drumming. The title itself is very much respected in the culture where it originates. - someone who's got some really serious hands - to someone who's never played music before. A lot of people in the group, this is their first musical experience. There's a lot of room for a lot of different skill levels, and everyone basically comes together and makes a really neat community of people. ... `They come together every Saturday, and they make a tremendous amount of noise." Q: Can anyone join your group? A: Pretty much, yeah. There's really no auditions. There are not entrance requirements. I don't say, "I need you to have at least a bachelor's in music." Some people have a longer way than others, and for people that do have a longer way to go, I would kind of hope that they were working on it. We strive to be an inclusive group. ... I'm really kind of going for the soul of it and to have more people enjoy themselves rather than have a real professional product. Q: You say there are lots of different instruments in your group. What's one of the more difficult instruments you play? A: I would say the repnique. You play with one stick in one hand, and the technique is very strange; it takes some experience, some good hands. Q: And an easy instrument? A: The truth is that none of them are really easy. Some of them are better to get started on. A lot of people tend to get started on the shakers Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the trembling produced by religious emotion, were also known as Alethians. , because they figure, "Well, it doesn't look like it's going to hurt me, and all I gotta do is move it back and forth." It's one of those things that's easy to start, but to master it is a different story. ... When played properly, they're all challenging, but something like the agogo Agogo may refer to:
Q: Which is the most commonly played instrument in the group? A: It's pretty evenly distributed, it's maybe about a half a dozen players of each of the instruments. I can tell you some of the least common instruments. The cuica is an instrument that's very rarely heard. Cuica is played by rubbing a wet rag against a bamboo stick inside the instrument, and that stick in turn excites the drum head, which makes a sort of a squeaking squeak v. squeaked, squeak·ing, squeaks v.intr. 1. To give forth a short, shrill cry or sound. 2. Slang To turn informer. v.tr. or kind of like monkey or barking dogs
It's capable of some really amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. melodic and expressive stuff. Q: What's your connection to Brazil and Brazilian music. Do you have Brazilian blood in you? A: No, I'm from upper Michigan. ... I've always been a drummer, and just the idea of a drum ensemble that big was always fascinating to me. I've heard Brazilians tell me about them, and I finally heard one and I said, "That's it. That's what I've gotta do." Q: Where do you think this group is headed? Do you think it's going to continue to grow? A: I sure hope so. Being in front of a group that's making this much sound is like basking in front of this giant sort of music spirit radiator - this massive heat lamp heat lamp n. A lamp that emits infrared light and produces heat, used to apply topical heat to the skin for therapeutic purposes. heat lamp Infrared lamp, see there of some kind - and the bigger it gets, the more intense that feeling is. It's a really fun thing, and I think a lot of people would really enjoy it." Q: Has interest in this kind of music increased in this country? A: I think actually interest worldwide has grown in this specific genre. This is like a little tiny piece of the Brazilian music. It has such great community potential. ... There's groups like this in Finland, in Norway, lots of them in England, in Israel. More and more, you're seeing groups like this starting up around the world outside of Brazil. Q: Were you surprised by how quickly the group took off here? A: I was. When people (in Portland) heard I was moving down here, they said, "Oh, Eugene, that place is ripe for that. Those people are ready. Those people like drums. Those people like music from other parts of the world." Part of it is just the Portland stereotype of Eugene, but they ended up being right, for different reasons. What ended up happening was there were a lot of really curious people - musically, intellectually curious people who came by. ... It took the (samba) folks in Portland a couple of years before they were getting their first shows. ... Here, I think we had our first show after three months, because there was so much response and so many people took it seriously enough to really do the listening and do the practice." Q: I can picture you playing on a crowded street, but not in an indoor ballroom. What's your performance going to be like? A: We try to mix in as much audience participation as we can in terms of dancing or in terms of handing somebody an instrument and having the group stop for eight counts so they can just go nuts. David (Adee), the co-founder and co-leader of this group, he likes to call it "rhythmic street theater street theater n. Dramatization of social and political issues, usually enacted outside, as on the street or in a park. Also called guerrilla theater. Noun 1. ." It's really hard to tell what's going to happen. ... This set of rhythms has been around for a long time, and they've survived crossing the Atlantic in slave ships and years of marginalization mar·gin·al·ize tr.v. mar·gin·al·ized, mar·gin·al·iz·ing, mar·gin·al·iz·es To relegate or confine to a lower or outer limit or edge, as of social standing. and racism in their own countries. They've been through an awful lot, and their function is to uplift the spirit of people who have been downtrodden down·trod·den adj. Oppressed; tyrannized. downtrodden Adjective oppressed and lacking the will to resist Adj. 1. for centuries. ... In terms of our point of the show, we will do everything we can to help people get up and dance. CAPTION(S): Samba Ja booked its first gig after only three months together. |
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