♪♪ -♪ Get on your feet ♪ -Next on "Great Performances"... -♪ Stand up and take some action ♪ -Grammy Award-winning superstar Gloria Estefan takes us on a very personal musical journey starting from where it all began.
-[ Vocalizing ] -For my parents, it was incredibly important for us to keep our Cuban roots.
♪ Everybody ♪ -From those roots, she's cultivated her own sound and the Miami Sound Machine, creating a Latin music sensation.
-♪ Rhythm is gonna get you ♪ ♪ Tonight ♪ I wanted to truly understand the roots that connect my Cuban heritage with those of Brazilian music, and the best way to truly understand it was to go there.
-Join Gloria's immersion into the sights and sounds of Brazil, where rhythms trace back to sacred origins and Brazilian schools, stars, and legends still keep the beat.
She's putting a samba spin to her hit songs.
♪♪ Next.
-My name is Gloria Estefan.
You might know that I was born in Cuba and raised in the United States.
And you might know that I built my entire musical career celebrating the intersection of my two cultures.
♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the conga ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger ♪ ♪ Don't you fight it till you tried it, do that conga beat ♪ What you probably don't know is how much I have loved Brazilian music my entire life.
For hundreds of years, African people, food, religion, and music made their way to the Americas and the Caribbean.
-♪ Oh ay oh ay oh ya ♪ [ Singing in native language ] -The idea that the same people who landed on the shores of Cuba also landed in Brazil, inspired me to dig deeper into the musical connections that tie our rhythms and cultures.
♪ Everybody, gather round now ♪ ♪ Let your body feel the heat ♪ ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la ♪ ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la ♪ That story is "Sangre Yoruba: A Musical Journey Through Africa, Brazil, and Cuba."
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversation ] ♪♪ -Why did you make an album about Brazilian music?
-Why does any artist make an album?
Because you have something you want to say.
And I have loved Brazilian music so long that I became really curious as to what the songs that I've created, that I've written in this very space that we're in... ♪ Oh ay Oh ay ♪ -♪ Oh ay Oh ay ♪ -♪ Oh ay Oh ah ♪ -♪ Oh ay Oh ah ♪ -♪ Oh ay Oh ay ♪ -♪ Oh ay Oh ay ♪ -What would happen if I took these songs and I completely re-imagined them?
Alright, the rhythm is gonna get you again!
with the sounds, the rhythms, the sensuality, the syncopation of Brazilian rhythms.
This time from Brazil.
♪ At night ♪ ♪ When you turn off all the lights ♪ ♪ There's no place that you can hide ♪ ♪ No, no ♪ ♪ The rhythm is gonna get you ♪ ♪ In bed ♪ ♪ Throw the covers on your head ♪ ♪ You pretend like you are dead ♪ ♪ But I know it, the rhythm is get you ♪ ♪ Again ♪ ♪ Rhythm is gonna get you ♪ ♪ The rhythm is gonna get you ♪ ♪ Rhythm is gonna get you ♪ -♪ Ooh ♪ -♪ Rhythm is gonna get you ♪ ♪ Tonight ♪ I wanted to truly understand... ♪ Rhythm is gonna get you ♪ ...the roots that connect my Cuban heritage with those of Brazilian music.
And the best way to truly understand it and its nuances was to go there, to walk those streets, to smell the smells, to be among the amazing Brazilian music and the people.
And that's what I did.
I went to Brazil.
♪ Rhythm is gonna get you tonight ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ -[ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -There's no better place to begin a deep dive into the African roots of Brazilian music than in the northeastern state of Bahia, the birthplace of samba.
It's a painful origin story that is sadly all too familiar.
Beginning in the 1500s and for more than 300 years, millions of Africans were captured, loaded onto floating prisons, and shipped to European colonies in the Americas.
Slaves destined for Cuba and Brazil often came from the same regions, spoke the same languages, and shared the same culture and religion.
-[ Singing in native language ] -Of the 10 million Africans that survived the deadly Transatlantic passage, some 5 million landed in Brazil, more than 10 times as many as the United States.
In Bahia, men, women, and children were forced to work on plantations.
A majority of these people came from tribes like the Yoruba and the Bantu from Western Africa with strong religious, culinary, and musical traditions.
♪♪ [ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Tempo increasing ] ♪♪ The clave is the beating heart of samba de roda.
These circular gatherings of women date back to the 1800s.
The dance was performed during African religious ceremonies rooted in the customs of the Yoruba tribe.
[ Music stops ] The Yoruba were also among the largest ethnic groups enslaved in Cuba.
Like most slave masters weary of a revolt, the Spanish barred the Yoruba from practicing their religion and from playing their drums, except on special occasions.
The Yoruba, in an act of resistance, gave off the impression of converting to Catholicism, but secretly passed down their religion from generation to generation.
To this day, the descendants of African slaves safeguard hundreds of rhythms considered sacred in the religion known in Cuba as Santería.
♪♪ These rhythms evoke the spirits of the gods, inducing believers into a trance-like state.
♪♪ [ Singing in native language ] In Brazil, the Yoruba also practiced their religion in secret by combining elements of Catholicism.
That mix of African and European beliefs is known today as Candomblé.
♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Singing in native language ] -The Yoruba tribe went both to Cuba and to Brazil.
Because of the different influences, the music became different.
And we share a lot of that African root all over the Caribbean, but in Cuba particularly strong.
♪♪ At the beginning, Miami Sound Machine, we played a few of these ceremonies that people would have in their backyards celebrating San Lazaro or celebrating one of the saints that in the Santería religion, in order to hide what they were doing, they would take on the Catholic saints as representations of their gods.
Like Chango, the God of war, was Santa Barbara because she had a sword.
It became a very big part of the religious ceremonies and of the music of Cuba.
[ Conversing in native language ] The teachings of Cuba's African slaves have shaped the island's musical masters, like composer Israel López, famously known as "Cachao," the creator of the mambo.
The most influential rhythm brought by African slaves is the clave, a subtle yet powerful beat that forms the bedrock of Cuban music.
♪♪ [ Drumbeat playing ] The clave can be clapped, played on the drums, or even with spoons.
It allows the best musicians, like Candido Camero, license to imagine new rhythms while maintaining a sense of familiarity.
♪♪ -[ Laughs ] ♪♪ [ Drumbeat plays ] -[ Sings in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -I Think when you talk about the Brazilian music and the Cuban music, the base is Afro, from Africa.
[ Guitar playing ] Still now you go to Africa and you listen to a lot of things that sounds like Cuban music.
Of course, sounds like Cuban music because we copy a lot of things from Africa.
-[ Singing in native language ] What happens is in Cuba, we added guitars.
We added the piano, we added horns, different melodies, because it's a different culture, and that's what made it unique.
This fusion of music was fantastic.
[ Singing continues ] ♪♪ -[ Singing in native language ] -The origins of samba can be traced to the Reconcavo region of Bahia.
On the banks of the Paraguaçu River, African slaves sowed the fertile lands with their rich heritage.
Being here, it's hard not to feel like you're in Cuba.
The people, the food, the music, it all feels so familiar.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -I have long believed that water unites the world.
Water is in our bodies.
It determined where the greatest civilizations were founded, and it is a bridge between distant land masses.
Africa, Brazil, Cuba.
In the Yoruba religion, water is venerated in the form of several deities.
One of the most revered is the goddess Oshun, who, in Brazil, is celebrated yearly at the Lake of Abaete.
-[ Singing in native language ] -Here, women have gathered for centuries to wash clothes and sing samba in a rhythmic call and response.
[ Women singing in native language ] ♪ Cuando hay amor ♪ ♪ Hay mariposas escondidas ♪ ♪ Los colores brillan, brillan no hace falta nada más ♪ ♪ Hay amor ♪ ♪ Cuando hay amor ♪ ♪ Ya no existen las mentiras ♪ ♪ No te importa lo que digan ♪ ♪ No hay pasado, ni hay dolor, hay amor ♪ ♪ Hacen falta los "te quiero," las caricias, los "te amo" ♪ ♪ Pero sobran las palabras ♪ ♪ Cuando canta el corazón ♪ ♪ Cuando hay amor ♪ ♪ Todo puedes alcanzar ♪ ♪ Lo difícil se hace simple ♪ ♪ Y lo más simple es especial ♪ ♪ Cuando hay amor ♪ ♪ Tu sonrisa es habitual ♪ ♪ Hay un algo en tu mirada ♪ ♪ Que no puedes ocultar ♪ ♪ Cuando hay amor no ves el suelo, ves el cielo ♪ ♪ Cada estrella el corazón te guiará ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Amor ♪ -♪ Amor ♪ -♪ Amor ♪ -♪ Amor ♪ -♪ Amor ♪ [ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ In 1888, Brazil abolished slavery.
it was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to do so.
Thousands of former slaves in Bahia made their way to Rio de Janeiro.
These migrants, settled in makeshift communities, often with the help of older Bahian women known as tias, or aunts.
The tias were cooks, street food vendors, and religious leaders.
Many lived in the emerging neighborhood known as Little Africa.
Tia Ciata, a Candomblé priestess from Bahia, was a singular figure in the emergence of samba in Rio de Janeiro.
Her home was a Candomblé temple, as well as a popular meeting place for budding musicians.
-[ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ -The union of Candomblé drummers and influential songwriters at Tia Ciata's parties ushered in the modern era of Samba from Rio de Janeiro.
The first samba to become a hit was recorded in 1917.
Called "Pelo Telefone," the song was a collective improvisation performed at Tia Ciata's home.
[ All singing in native language ] ♪♪ -[ Singing "Pelo Telefone" ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -When I think about the beginnings of samba and the important role of women in bringing together different groups of people, I'm reminded of my grandmother, Consuelo Garcia Perez, and the impact she had in launching my own career.
My grandmother was very much like Tia Ciata and the women that were really the beginning of Samba.
When we came to the United States, my grandmother, when she finally came, she was already like 57 years old.
And she said to my grandfather, "What are we going to do?
We don't speak the language.
How are we going to survive?"
And she went behind the house that they had rented.
She saw Curtis Park.
There was a bunch of men, Cuban men with their sons at Little League.
And she realized there were no concessions.
So, she grabbed my grandfather, said, "Come on, we're going to the market."
She bought all these things and made croquetas, tamales, took them in a cart that she "borrowed" from the grocery store and sold everything out within 30 minutes.
The following weekend, she brought two carts and created a business for herself in her own home.
She would help anybody that would come from Cuba, help them get on their feet, like have them stay in her home.
She would make me sing at the restaurant that she had created in her house.
♪ More than the greatest love ♪ ♪ The world has known ♪ ♪ This is the love I give to you alone ♪ I would say, "I don't like being the center of attention.
I'm gonna go to school.
I want to be a psychologist."
And she would say, "Singing is your gift.
And if you don't share that with the world, you're never going to be happy.
And one day it's going to fall in your lap, and I hope you're smart enough to recognize that and say yes to that challenge when it comes."
And that's exactly what happened.
♪♪ There is no doubt that politics and revolution left their mark on my family's history.
As it turns out, Samba would undergo a similar transformation more than 40 years after the abolishment of slavery.
-In Rio de Janeiro, Getúlio Vargas... -In 1930, the military, following a bloodless coup, installed Getúlio Vargas as interim president.
During the ensuing political instability, Vargas sought to unify the nation by strengthening the concept of Brazilian identity.
Vargas recognized music transcended race, class, and geographical barriers, and wanted samba to be the face of Brazil's racial integration.
-It is Carnival, and only Carnival counts.
-The government promoted a national radio network that beamed samba across the country.
Emerging samba schools were given government grants, and the first sanctioned competition was held in 1935 in Praça Onze, where Tia Ciata had once lived.
-[ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ -Samba's popularity among the mostly white upper classes skyrocketed.
[ Applause ] But Vargas, an admirer of Mussolini and Hitler, wanted something in return.
He wanted to change samba.
The government censored popular samba artists and imposed strict rules on the patriotic themes samba schools could present during Carnival parades.
-[ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing together in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Legendary composer Monarco and his son Mauro are part of the Velha Guarda, or Old Guard, of the Portela samba school.
♪♪ The group has competed since the first official parade in the 1930s, taking home more first place trophies than any other school.
♪♪ Portela and the earliest samba schools emerged in Rio's suburbs and hillside favelas in the late 1920s and provided a space where musicians could perform without being harassed by the police or unapproving neighbors.
♪♪ ♪♪ Nurtured inside the schools, samba came of age in Rio de Janeiro, as did the oral tradition of passing down shared histories.
In the early days, the most popular form of Samba was heavily influenced by European Polka and Maxixe, the Brazilian tango.
♪♪ The samba schools, however, needed a rhythmic cadence that was easier to march and dance to during the Carnival parades.
They developed a syncopated style, played at a faster tempo and with longer notes.
The style was dependent on a strong percussive element made up of drums, tambourines, and the inimitable cuica.
Much has changed since those early days, but one thing remains the same -- the samba schools' trademark drums.
♪♪ [ Singing together in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -I was born in Santiago de Cuba, all the way to the end of the island.
And I always was involved with music.
And there was a lot of a religious music, and definitely that's based a lot on the African Cuban music.
I left Cuba when I was 14 years old.
So I still remember a lot of things.
Santiago was very famous for Carnavales.
Carnavales was something that was the highlight of the whole year.
The only thing they use was congas cowbells -- small one, big ones -- and maybe like a whole base drum.
Big like, boom, ba boom, ba boom.
♪♪ It was only a rhythm and a chant.
♪ La la la la la la la la ♪ People just kept going and kept going.
To me, what I was impressed is how maybe 20 musicians playing percussion, cowbell, and doing chant can have 5,000 people behind them doing a conga line.
I think that's why I became a percussionist because I love percussion.
Percussion, to me, was something that was in me.
I grew up listening to that.
-For me, it took a long time even to learn about the different kinds of music of Cuba, how it came about, the incredible African roto that was at the base of all of it.
♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the conga ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ ♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the conga ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ 10 years later, during Miami Sound Machine's party band days, we realized that the conga could still carry the power of the African beat.
At the end of the night, there was always this medley of old Cuban congas.
that were hundreds of years old, some of them, and people would throw off their clothes and their shoes and it was a free for all at the end of every night, which was really the seed that made us write the song "Conga" years later.
When we wrote "Conga," we knew it was going to be a hit because we were playing it in our gigs before we even recorded it and people were reacting as if it was a hit.
♪ Everybody gather 'round now ♪ ♪ Let your body feel the heat ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Oe, Oe, Oe, Oe ♪ ♪ Arriba con la samba ♪ ♪ Oe, Oe, Oe, Oe ♪ ♪ Arriba con la samba ♪ ♪ Everybody gather 'round now ♪ ♪ Let your body feel the heat ♪ ♪ Don't you worry if you can't dance ♪ ♪ Let the music move your feet ♪ ♪ It's the rhythm of Bahia ♪ ♪ And like sugar cane so sweet ♪ ♪ If you want to do the samba ♪ ♪ You've got to listen to the beat ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the samba ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger ♪ ♪ Don't you fight it till you try it, do the samba beat ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Feel the fire of desire ♪ ♪ As you dance the night away ♪ ♪ 'Cause tonight we're gonna party ♪ ♪ Till we see the break of day ♪ ♪ Better get your, get yourself together ♪ ♪ And hold onto what you've got ♪ ♪ Once the music hits your system ♪ ♪ There's no way you're gonna stop, stop, stop ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the samba ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger ♪ ♪ Don't you fight it till you try it, do the samba beat ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the samba ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger ♪ ♪ Don't you fight it till you try it, do the samba beat ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the samba ♪ ♪ I know you can't control yourself any longer ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger ♪ ♪ Don't you fight it till you try it, do the samba beat ♪ ♪♪ Hey!
♪♪ The 1930s were a golden age for Brazilian music.
-♪ Sí, sí, sí, señor, I think I've found the love ♪ -But nobody's light shone brighter than samba's greatest international star, Carmen Miranda.
-♪ I-I-I-I can see, see, see that you're for me ♪ -In 1939, Miranda moved to Hollywood and became Brazil's first international superstar.
She sang on Broadway, appeared in Hollywood films, and performed at the White House for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
-I'll be thinking of you.
[ Speaks indistinctly ] -My mom was in love with the Carmen Miranda image and her movies.
She would act them out like if she was Carmen Miranda.
-You know it's me, right?
-Right, I know.
-She was a star.
She was a diva.
-That's for my fans.
-She gravitated towards Carmen Miranda big time.
But as Miranda's success in the United States grew, back home, she was accused of becoming to Westernized and of playing into unflattering stereotypes.
I am absolutely sure that she went through a lot of struggles.
You can't cover everyone's feeling about what their culture is through one image, you know, and in a, way for me, we became that worldwide, that Latin image to people, and that really became real for me when I was opening up the American Music Awards and someone had the idea to try to put fruit on my head, and I go, "Oh, hold on.
This is not me."
So even though for my mom, she loved that music, I think that for me, she became more of what a stereotype of a Latina is to Americans and that they expected everybody to look and sound and have that kind of personality.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Like all good things that endure the test of time, samba has continuously evolved.
One of the most influential new sounds emerged in Rio de Janeiro almost by chance.
♪♪ In the 1970s, the founders of the Cacique de Ramos samba school held weekly jam sessions in the improvised style used at Tia Ciata's.
-[ Singing in native language ] -The sessions gave rise to Fundo de Quintal, or The Backyard.
-[ Singing in native language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ By introducing novel drums and a banjo, Fundo de Quintal's unique Samba Pagode style was equally roots, sonically groundbreaking, and straight up irresistible.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I sat down with current and former band members to learn about music's evolving roots.
[ All cheering ] [ Instrument bellowing ] [ Laughter ] ♪♪ [ Applause ] [ Instrument bellowing ] -[ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Laughter, applause ] ♪♪ As it was for samba, dealing with pain and staying connected to my roots have been a huge part of my musical journey.
I was born in Havana, Cuba, on September 1st of 1957.
My father, Jose Manuel Fajardo, was a police officer assigned to the motorcycle escort of Cuba's first lady.
When Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista's government in 1959, it changed our lives forever.
The night of the coup, my father was stationed, since he was the motorcade of the first lady, they were at a big party, and he was stationed outside.
He came home to my mom and he said, "We are in big trouble.
The president and the first lady just left the country.
This is going to get bad."
-My father was blacklisted because of his ties to the previous government, so he knew he had to move us to Miami.
But my father never intended to stay.
In 1961, he participated in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
He was arrested and imprisoned for two years.
Upon his release, he joined the U.S. Army in 1963, and I grew up on military bases in Texas and South Carolina.
When I was 9, he was deployed to Vietnam.
He was so scared I would forget him he devised a plan for us to keep in touch.
He went and he bought two quarter-inch tape recorders, one for my mom, and he took one with him, and he said to her, "I want to hear Gloria singing."
Because at that point, I could already play the guitar.
"I want her to talk to me on these tapes and I want you to talk to me.
And I'm going to do the same on my end."
Every night I say a silent prayer so that someday I may go back to the land I love and walk where I used to run.
And I remember running to the mailbox, looking every day to see when these tapes would come and how happy I would feel when I would see the little box of the quarter-inch tape.
-After 18 months in Vietnam, my father finally came home.
We thought life would go back to normal, like it had been before the war, or before Castro.
But he soon began to show the symptoms of what would later be diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
The toll was mental, physical, degenerative, and ultimately fatal.
-I thought she was shy, maybe.
Of course, when I understood everything that happened to her, I understood, I learned how much responsibility and how hard was for her to be able to, you know, help her mom.
Her mom was a very proud immigrant, that when her dad went to Vietnam, didn't want to take money from the government.
She wanted to be sure that she was doing something and giving back to this country back, helping this country fight for freedom.
But she was a sad kid.
Believe it or no, she became a different Gloria.
I think our base of music really saved her life.
-I grew up in this country, but for my parents, it was incredibly important for us to keep our Cuban roots for them thinking, "We're going to go back."
And then the more we saw that we weren't going back, the more important it became to celebrate and honor those roots and for us to know where we came from and who we were.
I've passed that on to my kids, and I know that they will do the same to theirs.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ De mi tierra bella ♪ ♪ De mi tierra santa ♪ If I had to leave one album behind in this world, it would be "Mi Tierra."
♪ La tierra te da ♪ We released it at a moment where we were at our most famous in the pop world, and everybody told us, "You're crazy.
This is a risk.
Why would you deviate your career as it's going so well?"
And we go, "This isn't deviating.
It's evolving my career."
We wanted to reclaim and to celebrate those musical roots of a Cuba that will never be again.
[ Singing in Spanish ] So I take particular care in how we do that song, and it's got a beautiful string arrangement, it's got horns.
I re-sang everything because I wanted it to be natural, and really the challenge was to keep the integrity of the song, but evolve it and grow it.
♪ Y cada calle que va a mi pueblo ♪ And to allow the fans to re-imagine these songs as if they had been born that way.
♪ Corre en la sangre y sigue llegando ♪ ♪ Con más fuerza al corazón ♪ ♪ La tierra te duele ♪ ♪ La tierra te da ♪ ♪ En medio del alma, cuando tú no estás ♪ ♪ La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal ♪ ♪ La tierra suspira si no te ve más ♪ ♪ Ohh ♪ ♪ Mi tierra, mi tierra, mi tierra ♪ ♪♪ ♪ La tierra te duele ♪ ♪♪ -[ Laughs ] -Uh-huh.
♪♪ -[ Laughs ] -Brazilian popular music is as varied as anything I've heard.
Samba alone has some 200 offshoots.
To help me envision my songs as if they had been originally inspired by Afro Brazilian rhythms... [ Singing in Spanish ] ...there was really only one person I could call on.
[ Singing in Spanish ] Laercio Da Costa is a producer, arranger, and one of the world's foremost percussionists.
And what can I say, he has sublime taste in music.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -One of my all-time favorite singers is Elis Regina.
Infused with style and gifted with mind-bending vocals, Elis was a powerful force in jazz taken too soon at age 36.
Hello, hello, hello.
-Oh, gosh.
-I'm so thrilled!
I'm so thrilled to meet you.
Her daughter, Maria Rita, is a multiple Grammy Award-winning artist in her own right.
Your voice is so beautiful.
I love you.
-Okay, I can die now.
-No, please!
-Maria's version of the samba classic "O Homem Falou," and "The Man Spoke," moved me in a way only a great samba song can.
What drew you to the song?
What made you want to record that song?
-The song was written originally after the dictator-- the military dictatorship was over, almost officially over in Brazil.
So he talks about what we call here the "apertura."
It was the opening of society, to democracy finally after 30-some years.
And so you can come in and enjoy the party and the house is ours and the home and so on and so forth.
It just made sense at that time in the '80s when this happened.
So at the time, when I was recording it, it kind of made sense for me to open myself up to samba so that those words made sense to me personally and my history and my story within samba, because I wasn't born a sambista.
But ever since I was a little girl, I had an understanding.
I don't know why, but I did have an understanding that samba was something sacred, probably because of my sense of tradition and my sense of culture.
-When I'm doing this record, I really wanted to understand what it was that I was doing and why and, you know, really celebrate and show how songs that, for me, came from an African root can now transform into the sounds that they would have been if I had grown up in Brazil, perhaps.
-Perhaps.
-So that's kind of what we're doing.
That's why when your song, when I heard it, I thought, "Oh, my gosh, this sounds, like, legit," you know?
So it's daunting to me, too, to cover you, you know, because you're the stuff.
So it's funny for me to hear that it was daunting for you... -Come on, now.
-...to, you know, do that type of music.
But now I'm in your position because now I am going to do this daunting thing that you did, and you're Brazilian, alright?
So for me, it's with deep respect and a lot of love that I have for the music and the genre that I do this.
♪♪ ♪ Puedes entrar, la fiesta va a comenzar ahora ♪ ♪ Puede venir quién desea si la tristeza no trae ♪ ♪ Trae solo tu corazón, espíritu de hermandad ♪ ♪ Que tu presencia es primordial en esta unión ♪ ♪ Puedes entrar, la casa es grande y pertenece a todos ♪ ♪ Hay que limpiar el salón para la celebración ♪ ♪ Conmemorar la armonía de nuestra evolución ♪ ♪ De esta unidad va a nacer un nuevo mundo ♪ ♪ De esta unidad va a nacer un nuevo mundo ♪ ♪ Debes ya llegar sabiendo ♪ ♪ Que la gente brilla como el sol ♪ ♪ Con almas que nos hacen resplandecer ♪ ♪ Llenando con su luz a las mañanas ♪ ♪ Formemos esta Samba con mucha unión ♪ ♪ Al ritmo de un equipo campeón ♪ ♪ No vamos a permitir que nos detengan nuestro andar ♪ ♪ No habrá quién desanime la fe en cada paso ♪ ♪ Andemos que ahora es la hora de al mundo sanar ♪ ♪ No hay nadie que nos impida al fin llegar ♪ ♪ Eo eo ea ♪ ♪ La fiesta al fin está por comenzar ♪ ♪ Eo eo ea ♪ ♪ No habrá nada que nos pueda parar ♪ ♪ Puedes entrar, la fiesta va a comenzar ahora ♪ ♪ Puede venir quién desea si la tristeza no trae ♪ ♪ Trae solo tu corazón, espíritu de hermandad ♪ ♪ Que tu presencia es primordial en esta unión ♪ ♪ Puedes entrar, la casa es grande y pertenece a todos ♪ ♪ Hay que limpiar el salón para la celebración ♪ ♪ Conmemorar la armonía de nuestra evolución ♪ ♪ De esta unidad va a nacer un nuevo mundo ♪ ♪ De esta unidad va a nacer un nuevo mundo ♪ ♪ Debes ya llegar sabiendo ♪ ♪ Que la gente brilla como el sol ♪ ♪ Con almas que nos hacen resplandecer ♪ ♪ Llenando con su luz a las mañanas ♪ ♪ Formemos esta Samba con mucha unión ♪ ♪ Al ritmo de un equipo campeón ♪ ♪ No vamos a permitir que nos detengan nuestro andar ♪ ♪ No habrá quién desanime la fe en cada paso ♪ ♪ Andemos que ahora es la hora de al mundo sanar ♪ ♪ No hay nadie que nos impida al fin llegar ♪ ♪ Eo eo ea ♪ ♪ La fiesta al fin está por comenzar ♪ ♪ Eo eo ea ♪ ♪ No habrá nada que nos pueda parar ♪ ♪ Eo eo ea ♪ ♪ La fiesta al fin está por comenzar ♪ ♪ Eo eo ea ♪ ♪ No habrá nada que nos pueda parar ♪ ♪♪ -Mom, film this.
-I'm filming.
[ Conversing in Spanish ] How do you feel on your birthday, Mama?
-Great.
-My mom was so incredibly excited about the whole concept for this album, and she was so excited, as a matter of fact, that when we had all the tracks ready and I was about to enter the studio that week to sing the songs, she didn't want to wait until I recorded the album.
And she asked me to come to her house and show her.
So, I literally played the songs and sang them to her live in her kitchen table.
-No.
-Take a picture, take a picture.
[ Conversing in Spanish ] She got up and danced a little, even though she couldn't move as well as before, but she danced, she cried, she sang along with me.
[ Voice breaking ] She loved it.
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ [ Speaks Spanish ] Love you.
-Love you, too.
-Bye.
And thank God that I did, because that very week, she took ill, and I had to cancel my sessions and spent 33 days in the hospital with her, and she passed away.
So, she never would have been able to listen to that album had I not sung it for her live in her kitchen.
-I think the death of her mom, her connection between her mom, I mean, it was not a day that Gloria call her mom at least four or five times a day.
She wasn't ready for that.
She wasn't ready to to lose her.
It was devastating for her.
-And about four or five months after she passed, I tried to go to the studio, but it was impossible.
I could not vocalize.
I couldn't sing.
And it took me a year to be able to get back, to be able to sing and put the joy that was intended for this album.
And then at that point, my mom helped me through it.
I felt that she was with me helping me through.
But imagine that first time I went back to try to sing songs like "Don't Want to Lose You" or "Mi Tierra."
It was tough.
♪♪ ♪♪ -So it took a long time.
A long time.
I mean, the album was done there.
But, you know, she said, "I don't want to go.
I don't want to do it now.
I don't feel like doing it."
I said, "Do it when you're right."
-♪ It cuts both ways ♪ -We have a beautiful family, and, you know, we suffer a lot because, you know, we lost her.
But we know that's life.
I always believe, and I tell Gloria, the main thing is when you live on this earth is to share these special moments.
And she got to see a lot of the success.
In many ways, I think Gloria was in peace.
After a while, she understood that, you know, something was her time to go -- was the perfect time.
-♪ We're heading straight into a broken heart ♪ -And sure enough, she did the album in no time.
-♪ 'Cause I feel too much to let you go ♪ ♪ I'm hurting you and it's hard, I know ♪ ♪ To stay and fight for what we've got ♪ ♪ Knowing it'll never be good enough ♪ ♪ 'Cause you and I are dangerous ♪ ♪ We want too much and life ain't that way ♪ ♪ Don't ask for more, you'd be a fool ♪ ♪ Haven't we already broken every rule?
♪ ♪ It cuts both ways ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Salvador de Bahia is Brazil's musical heartland.
The city is home to the largest and richest collection of African culture in the Americas.
You can hear it when the Blocos Afros, ensembles featuring hundreds of percussionists, take over the streets, their beating drums echoing into the night.
♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing together in native language ] ♪♪ In a city of drummers, Carlinhos Brown stands alone for his profound understanding of the power of music.
♪♪ ♪♪ As a child, Carlinhos sold bottles of water on the streets.
He created his first drum kit with the empty bottles he carried back home at the end of the day.
His band, Timbalada, is based in his childhood neighborhood Candeal, where Candomble's African roots remain strong to this day.
♪♪ Oh, Dios mío.
♪♪ [ Speaks Spanish ] ♪♪ Ah!
♪♪ [ People shouting, singing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Drums playing rapidly ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Drums playing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Hey!
[ Applause ] -Bravissimo.
-Bravo.
♪♪ -♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Stand up and take some action ♪ -♪ Ohh-oh, ey-ohh ♪ ♪ Ohhh ♪ ♪ Ohh, ey-oh ♪ ♪ You say I know it's a waste of time ♪ ♪ There's no use trying ♪ ♪ So scared that life's gonna pass you by ♪ ♪ Your spirit dying ♪ ♪ Not long ago ♪ ♪ I could feel your strength and your devotion ♪ ♪ What was so clear is now overcast ♪ ♪ With mixed emotions ♪ ♪ Deep in your heart is the answer ♪ ♪ Find it, I know it'll pull you through ♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Get up and make it happen ♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Stand up and take some action ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I think it's true that we've all been through ♪ ♪ Some nasty weather ♪ ♪ Let's understand that we're here to handle ♪ ♪ Things together ♪ ♪ You gotta keep looking onto tomorrow ♪ ♪ There's so much in life that's meant for you ♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Get up and make it happen ♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Stand up and take some action ♪ ♪ Get on your feet, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Don't stop before it's over ♪ ♪ Get on your feet, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ The weight, the weight is off your shoulder ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ Ohh-oh, ey-oh ♪ ♪ Ohh ♪ ♪ Ohh, ey-oh ♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Come on, get up, get up ♪ ♪ Get up and make it happen, yeah ♪ ♪ Get on your feet ♪ ♪ Stand up, stand up ♪ ♪ Stand up and take some action ♪ ♪ Got to get on your feet ♪ ♪♪
