Glossary of Afro-Brazilian Music and Culture
This glossary offers definitions and context for the cultural, musical and historical terms used throughout the exhibition. From rhythms and rituals to neighbourhoods and movements, each entry helps deepen understanding of the Afro-Brazilian heritage behind Samba Reggae.
Afrekete
Afro-Brazilian bloco founded in the 1990s in Pereira Vilela, known for centring feminine ancestral power in its music and performance.
Afro blocos / Blocos Afro
Community-based Afro-Brazilian percussion groups formed in Salvador from the 1970s onward. They use rhythm, dance and public performance to affirm Black identity and confront racism.
Afro-Brazilian
Refers to cultural, musical and spiritual traditions shaped by African heritage in Brazil.
Ancestral memory
Knowledge, rhythm and identity carried across generations, often through oral tradition, ritual and music.
Ara Ketu
Bloco from Periperi, active since the 1980s, known for blending samba-reggae with Ijexá rhythms.
Atabaque
Tall hand drum used in Candomblé ceremonies and capoeira, central to many Afro-Brazilian rhythmic traditions.
Bahia
Brazilian state where Salvador is located, known for its strong Afro-Brazilian cultural presence.
Baduê
Bloco from Engenho Velho de Brotas, active since the 1980s, known for mixing capoeira rhythms with samba.
Bantu
A broad cultural and linguistic group from Central and Southern Africa whose rhythms, dances and communal practices shaped Afro-Brazilian music.
Batuque
Afro-Brazilian dance and percussion tradition that survived slavery despite bans. A key ancestor of samba de roda.
Berimbau
Single-string musical bow used in capoeira, producing the rhythm that guides the game.
Bloco
A street-based percussion or carnival group. Not all blocos are Afro blocos, but all Afro blocos are blocos.
Candomblé
Afro-Brazilian religion preserving Yoruba, Fon and Bantu spiritual traditions. Its drumming patterns deeply influence Afro-Brazilian music.
Candeal
Neighbourhood in Salvador known for Timbalada and the musical innovations of Carlinhos Brown.
Capoeira
Afro-Brazilian martial art blending movement, rhythm and resistance. Developed by enslaved Africans as a disguised form of self-defence and cultural survival.
Carnival
Brazil’s annual festival season, where Afro blocos use parades and performance to express identity, pride and resistance.
Cortejo Afro
Bloco from Pirajó, founded in the 1970s, known for its striking visual identity and Afro-centric artistic direction.
Curuzu-Liberdade
Neighbourhood home to Ilê Aiyê, the first all-Black bloco and a centre of Afro-Brazilian cultural pride.
Diaspora
Communities formed by people and cultures dispersed from their original homelands, often through forced displacement.
Dida
Women-led bloco from Pelourinho, active since the 1980s, known for its community energy and focus on empowerment.
Engenho Velho de Brotas
Neighbourhood in Salvador known for Badauê and its blend of capoeira and samba traditions.
Ijexá
Rhythm associated with Candomblé, often used by Afro blocos to honour spiritual heritage. Considered a toque linked to specific orixás.
Ilê Aiyê
Founded in 1974, the first all-Black bloco. A cultural and political force in Salvador’s Black movement.
Liberdade
One of Salvador’s largest Afro-descendant neighbourhoods, home to several blocos including Olujobá.
Malê de Baiano
Bloco from Itapuã, active since the 1970s, carrying Ilê Aiyê–inspired resistance through beachside communities.
Muzenza
Bloco from Ribeira, known for pioneering female-led percussion groups in the 1980s.
Olodum
Bloco founded in 1979 in Pelourinho. Credited with inventing samba-reggae and globalising Afro-Brazilian percussion.
Olujobá
Bloco from Liberdade, active since the 1980s, rooted in Afro-Bahian spiritual traditions.
Orixá
Deities or spiritual forces in Candomblé, each associated with specific rhythms, colours and stories.
Pelourinho
Historic centre of Salvador and a cultural hub for Afro blocos, performances and Afro-Brazilian heritage.
Reggae
Jamaican musical style that influenced the creation of samba-reggae through its steady pulse and political consciousness.
Reggae pulse
The off-beat emphasis characteristic of reggae, which shaped the feel of samba-reggae.
Resistance culture
Cultural practices that preserve identity and dignity in the face of oppression, such as capoeira, drumming and communal dance.
Samba
Brazilian musical genre with Afro-Brazilian roots, distinct from but historically connected to samba-reggae.
Samba de roda
Afro-Brazilian circle dance and musical form from Bahia, combining percussion, clapping and call-and-response singing.
Samba-reggae
Percussion-based musical style created in Salvador in the late 1970s by Afro blocos blending samba, reggae, Candomblé rhythms and African percussion traditions. Designed for large groups and built on layered patterns and a strong forward-driving pulse.
Samba de roda
Afro-Brazilian circle dance and musical form from Bahia, combining percussion, clapping and call-and-response singing.
Senzala
Living quarters for enslaved Africans during slavery in Brazil. A site of cultural survival, memory and resistance.
Timbalada
Bloco from Candeal, founded in the 1990s by Carlinhos Brown, known for its innovative percussion and global reach.
Toque
A rhythmic pattern or drumming style used in Afro-Brazilian traditions, especially Candomblé.
Transatlantic slave trade
The forced movement of millions of Africans to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries, shaping the cultural foundations of Brazil.
Yoruba / Fon
West African cultural groups whose spiritual and musical traditions shaped Candomblé and Afro-Brazilian rhythm.