MM0013 – Moçambique de São Benedito do Marechal de Cunha – SP (2008)
This album is part of a series on Congado Brasileiro. From it we can learn about the richness and importance of this traditional expression, which is one of the oldest cultural manifestations in Brazil and the one that has been able to resist and reinvent itself. This is one of the first extensive records of the Congado do Vale do Paraíba, a region rich in popular traditions. We will hear the typical canes and paiás (bells) that, in this form, only exist in the region. Moçambique and the Congado have been around for almost 350 years. The members of this group are almost all of elders, a few young people participate, being the only chance of perpetuating this tradition. The group has a beautiful story. Capitão Zé Jerome and the older members possess an impressive intellectual capacity, for even some of them are illiterate, they know by heart enormous texts. In addition to Moçambique, we have excerpts from two embaixadas, Autos de Batalha and Christian conversion. One curiosity is that the group made one type of Embaixada and, over time, started to carry out another. One of the next releases will be a DVD about various traditions practiced by this community. These simple people besides making Moçambique and Embaixadas have a Folia do Divino and know how to sing Mutirão, Calango, which is the Embolada of Minas Gerais and São Paulo, by heart. Despite 44 years without watching a Jongo, they remember many pontos, demandas and stories of each one, because memorizing was the only way to record and learn the knowledge they had. We continue to believe that records and releases like these can help communities perpetuate their (our) traditions. For with this knowledge we will have more capacity to try to build a better World.