PORTUGUESE
Me dá um norte! Give me a North!
A column about Amazonian music and culture by Felipe Cordeiro.
Foto de capa: José de Holanda
MANOEL CORDEIRO | PARÁ
Foto: XXX
My father, Manoel Cordeiro, is a multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and cultural agitator from Pará. Though I may be biased, I cannot help but state the obvious: he is one of the most important active figures in the music scene of northern Brazil. About to turn 70 years old, the artist has a fundamental legacy if we want to understand the history of the last 40 years of music produced in the Amazon.
Whether in the hundreds of popular albums he produced in the 80s and 90s or in this second and current phase of his career, where he has recorded instrumental solo albums, his work is intertwined with the very trajectory of Brazilian popular music made in the Amazon.
In addition to the album Sonora Amazônia (2013)—whose standout track "Asfalto Amarelo" was featured in the Oscar-nominated Brazilian film Pequeno Segredo—the album Guitar Hero Brasil (2019) dives into Amazonian sounds like Lambada, Brega, Carimbó, and Batuque, with highlights including the tracks "Kalamazoo" and "Curiaú."
In 2016, he and I recorded a project called Combo Cordeiro, blending our guitars and synths over electronic beats. We toured Europe, even performing at the 2016 Russia World Cup, with the track "Tirando Barato" as a notable highlight.
In 2024, Manoel Cordeiro released a critically acclaimed album with Beto Barreto, guitarist of the group BaianaSystem, titled Estado de Espírito.
He also collaborated with the Bahian collective on the track "Palheiro" for BaianaSystem's latest album, O Mundo Dá Voltas (2024). Additionally, a feature-length film delving deeper into Manoel Cordeiro's life and work is set to be released this year.
