Cascabulho

Cascabulho drew inspiration from coco master Jackson do Pandeiro and received acclaim from numerous fellow artists for its effective fusion of Pandeiro’s traditional sounds with present-day global music currents. The band’s name stems from the regional expression for the assorted fruit skins and hulls fed to pigs. Emerging in the wake of the mangue beat movement launched by Chico Science & Nação Zumbi and Mundo Livre S.A., which opened mainstream pop channels to roots-based projects, Cascabulho formed as a vehicle for rojão, coco, maracatu, xangô, and batuque rather than rock or pop.

Serious folklorist Antônio Nóbrega introduced the group in 1996 during the street-parade launch of its album and musical show Na Pancada Do Ganzá, presented alongside a trio elétrico. National visibility followed in 1997 when Cascabulho was named the revelation of the fifth Abril Pro Rock festival, sharing the bill with Jorge Cabeleira, Devotos do Ódio, Dona Margarida Pereira, Faces do Subúrbio, Selma do Coco, Paulo Francis Vai Pro Céu, Eddie, and others. That same year the band performed at New York’s five-day Brazilian Muzic Festival in Central Park, earning favorable international notices; the event was recorded and broadcast worldwide, with interviews featuring Daúde, Zélia Duncan, Mestre Ambrósio, Hermeto Pascoal, Lenine, Marcos Suzano, and additional artists. Cascabulho also appeared at Rio’s Free Jazz Festival in 1997. In 1998 the musicians played São Paulo and other Brazilian capitals to promote their debut album Fome Dá Dor De Cabeça, which centered on Jackson do Pandeiro’s forró hits from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s—“Sebastiana,” “Canto Da Ema,” “Forró Em Limoeiro,” “Como Tem Zé Na Paraíba”—alongside vignettes saluting other key Northeastern composers such as Luiz Gonzaga and Tom Zé.

May 1998 brought an invitation to perform at the 11th Prêmio Sharp de Música ceremony honoring Jackson do Pandeiro. The band returned to the Abril Pro Rock stage for its sixth edition that April. In 1999 Cascabulho contributed “Deixa De Banca” to the double-CD Reiginaldo Rossi -- Um Tributo on Mangroove/Abril Music, participated in the Womex 99 fair in Berlin, Germany, and secured a tour of six major European festivals across Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Spain. The same year the group joined the Jackson do Pandeiro tribute Jackson do Pandeiro Revisto E Sampleado alongside Geraldo Azevedo, Zé Ramalho, Marinês, Elba Ramalho, and further artists, revisited the Abril Pro Rock Festival in Recife, and collected the Prêmio Sharp de Música in the regional category for Fome Dá Dor De Cabeça; the track “Quando Sonhei Que Era Santo” earned a second Sharp award in the regional category. May 2000 found Cascabulho at the 31st New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with Hermeto Pascoal, Chico César, Carlos Malta & Pife Muderno, Ilê Ayiê, and Maracatu Nação Pernambuco. After the event, which drew 514,000 attendees, Silvério Pessoa left for a solo career, yet the band continued with Kléber Magrão on lead vocals, saxophonist Alexandre Ferreira, and percussionists Guga Santos and Zé Manuel, formerly of Naná Vasconcelos’ band. The debut CD Fome Dá Dor De Cabeça later appeared in Europe on Germany’s Piranha Records and in Japan on Nikita Records.