Take Five: Rio de Janeiro for Music Lovers

Photo by Alex Carvalho CC BY-SA
Rio de Janeiro is more than just a tropical resort town set against a stunning natural backdrop of towering rainforest covered mountains. The Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City) is also a world class music city on par with New Orleans, Havana, Paris or Chicago. But unless you are content with the tired acts trotted out time and time again for tourists, you will have to tear yourself away from the packed white sand playgrounds of Ipanema and Copacabana and head to the historic city center for an authentic slice of Rio’s deep rooted music scene.
One of the most innovative musical meccas on the planet, Rio is where both the Samba and its jazz-fusion offspring, Bossa Nova, were born. More recently, it has developed its own take on hip-hop, known as “Rio Funk”—an infectiously twerk-worthy rhythm that was forged in the same harshly unequal social conditions that incubated its predecessors. As a major metropolis of Brazil that attracts immigrants en masse from the countryside, Rio is also a great place to sample folk and traditional music, like Forro and Axe from the heavily African-influenced Northeast of the country. Jazz is also ubiquitous here and rock music is so much part of the urban psyche that the city now hosts the biggest rock and roll festival in the world every year during Rock in Rio.
For a music lover, Rio is a contender for the most multifaceted and all-around satisfying vacation destination possible—these five downtown Rio musical hotspots are just a taste of what’s in store.
1. Lapa
The center of nightlife in Rio de Janeiro, Lapa is a historic downtown bohemian district packed with classic venues that have been popping since the 1940s. Antique-filled three-story Rio Scenarium and sleek, stylish Lapa 40 Graus both host live acts all week long, but for something a bit off the tourist path, Clube dos Democraticos showcases top Brazilian artists in an 1867 architectural masterpiece and attracts a more local crowd. Over at Circo Voador, big name bands and genre-specific music festivals—including regular electronica and “Eu Amo Funk ” (I love Funk) shows—offer the opportunity to rage out in an open-air concert-like atmosphere. Old school watering holes, known as botecos, abound in Lapa as well; check out 100-year-old Armazem Senado for ice cold chopp (draft beer) over house samba bands made up of neighborhood players.
Although there are dozens of bars and clubs in Lapa, much of the party happens in the street. The famous Arcos da Lapa—a historic aqueduct that is lit up at night—holds sway over a large plaza where impromptu samba bands seem to form and disintegrate right out of the humid night air. Continue down Ave. Mem de Sa—Lapa’s caipirinha vendor and transvestite lined main thoroughfare—for a full-blown street festival every night of the week. Over by the Selaron Steps, Rio’s iconic multicolored tiled stairway that was built by a homeless street artist, reggae and funk bars fuel drinking, dancing and partying that usually rings in the dawn.
2. Pedra do Sal
Photo by Matt Spur CC BY
Just north of Rio’s modern skyscraper-studded downtown lies the historic port district of Saude, also known as “Little Africa.” This is where the samba was invented in the early 20th century after newly freed slaves converged on Rio from the hinterlands. Here in the center of Saude, on a giant slab of raw stone (Pedra do Sal means “Rock of Salt”) that was once a major outdoor slave market, hundreds of people gather every Monday and Friday night around a live Roda do Samba. In true traditional style, musicians sit in the center of the square at a long table while the boisterous yet friendly crowd sings along to each and every song, sloshing their ice-cold Antarctica beers onto the ancient streets in the process. It is an event not to be missed by anyone who wants to feel the passion of Brazil’s musical history deep in their soul. After the Roda, which quiets down around midnight, quaint locally owned clubs keep the party going until the wee hours.
3. Santa Teresa