music

I recently fell in love with the music of Luisa Maita. Her first album Lero-Lero is as Street Smart as it gets. Do you know what "lero-lero” means? It means a casual conversation without a goal in mind; or simply chit-chat :) How could I not love this album? READ MORE>

Picture by Sussepudim
 

This is what I call a fun event: You listen to live Brazilian music by Joseh Garcia and you learn about the history of Brazilian Jazz. This is a multimedia event in which live music is intertwined with a presentation of slides. Awesome! READ MORE>

----> Legião Urbana

Twenty five years ago the song Eduardo e Mônica, by the band Legião Urbana, became an integral part of Brazilian pop culture. Now cell phone carrier Vivo partnered with O2 Filmes to recreate the story in a short movie. O2 belongs to Fernando Meirelles, director of City of God, The Constant Gardener, and Blindness. I hope that you are at least curious to learn more about Eduardo and Monica :) READ MORE>

Street Smart Brazil is proud to be a sponsor of BCC Brazilian Beats, a fundraising event to support the Brazilian Community Center. We will have great DJs playing Brazilian tunes, Brazilian snacks, and very wonderful people.

Brazilian Community Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing the Brazilian community in the San Francisco Bay Area with information ranging from legal issues to cultural events.

I hope to see you there. READ MORE>

One of my favorite things about visiting Brazil is regarding the African influence on the culture. The food, the rythms, the dance the clothing, the lengends; it gives me a truly warm feeling inside. Coming from a Zimbabwean family, these aspects of Brazil bring back fond memories of my childhood experiencing those same things. READ MORE>

 For all you Carnival fans unfortunate enough not to be in Brazil right now (like me), YouTube is streaming Carnival live. It also features a live Twitter/Facebook stream below. To shout out your Carnival excitement, just make a status update on one of those services with the word #ytcarnaval - Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/carnaval?feature=ticker READ MORE>

Aula Viva Get Together: save the date!!! November 17th, 6 - 10 pm, at Space Gallery (1141 Polk Street, San Francisco).

2010 was a great year for Aula Viva. Together with you, Street Smart Brazil and Taba Theater brought to life a whole new approach to Portuguese teaching and learning. We immersed ourselves in some of the best of Brazilian literature and dove deep in Brazilian culture. We saw theater. We discussed it. We re-created it... in Portuguese!

Now it’s time to celebrate. READ MORE>

Last week I flew home (Recife, Brazil) to visit my family. I was pleasantly surprised to find a good selection of songs in Portuguese on the plane entertainment system. Their World Music channel had a total of 21 songs, 10 of which were in Portuguese from different places in the world. Below is a widget with these songs. Place your cursor at the center of the widget and you will see a list of the songs. Click on a song to listen to its sample. You will also be able to purchase the MP3 dowloads from Amazon if you wish to do so. READ MORE>

We have two wonderful Brazilian musical events coming up in San Francisco: Seu Jorge and Olodum.

<------ Seu Jorge

Seu Jorge will be performing on August 10 at The Regency Ballroom. Tickets are on sale. This will be a big event and I expect to see tons of Brazilians at the concert. READ MORE>

A few weeks ago I went to Santa Cruz (California) for the beautiful wedding of my student Sarah. Carl and I were driving to our hotel when I spotted the familiar green and yellow colors. I basically yelled: "Eita, Brazilian place, I am hungry, stop the car!"

READ MORE>