Cordel do Fogo Encantado

Formed in the northeastern Brazilian city of Arcoverde—260 kilometers inland from Recife in Pernambuco—the Cordel do Fogo Encantado began in 1997 when five young musicians pooled their efforts. Three hailed from Arcoverde itself: Lirinha on pandeiro and vocals, Clayton Barros on guitar and vocals, and Emerson Calado on percussion and voice. The remaining pair, Rafa Almeida and Nêgo Henrique, both percussionists and vocalists, came from Morro da Conceição in Recife. Their debut presentation took the shape of a theatrical spectacle that wove together spoken narrative, visual scenery, indigenous toré rites, an intensely percussive sound, the oral poetry of backland bards such as Manoel Filó, Manoel Chadu, Zé da Luz, Chico Pedrosa, and Inácio da Catingueira, the traditional cordel chapbooks of the Northeast, and regional folk forms including reisado, embolada, samba de coco, and the music of cantadores.

The ensemble first appeared at the Rec-Beat festival in Recife during Carnival 1999. Two years later, the independently released Cordel do Fogo Encantado, produced by Naná Vasconcellos, reached listeners. While touring the Southeast for the first time to promote the record, the musicians drew swift press coverage and sold-out venues. Their initial video, made for the track “Chover (Ou Invocação para Um Dia Líquido),” earned awards at multiple festivals. Between July and August 2001 the group embarked on its first international outing, performing eleven concerts across Belgium, Germany, France, and additional European countries. That October they joined the Free Jazz Festival lineup in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

In 2002 the Association of Art Critics of São Paulo (APCA) named the Cordel do Fogo Encantado its revelation group for 2001. Concerts that year opened with “Os Anjos Caídos,” the theme composed for Cacá Diegues’s film Deus É Brasileiro, a project in which the band also took part.