Rubem Confete, the Griô do Samba, is a living memory of Rio's carnival

In the month when joy takes over the streets because of Carnival, the Brazil Agency publishes the series of interviews Carnaval Heritage, with personalities who express the history, culture and spirit of the party that mobilizes communities from North to South of the country. This Sunday (11), the interview is with Rubem Confete. Rubem Confete, the Griô do Samba, is a living memory of Rio's carnival

In African culture, griô (or griot) is the one who keeps the memory of the group alive, who tells the stories and myths of that people. This is exactly the role that broadcaster Rubem Confete plays in relation to the samba community and Rio’s carnival.

No wonder, he was nicknamed Griô do Samba. At the age of 86, he lived with people like Pixinguinha, Dona Ivone Lara, Jamelão, Xangô da Mangueira and Candeia, from whom he heard several reports. But he also lived his own stories, which are intertwined with the history of Rio de Janeiro and the most famous cultural festival in the country.

His memory does not allow him to remember exactly when samba came into his life, but it seems that the rhythm has been with him since he was born, on Rua Dona Clara, in Madureira, in the northern part of the city of Rio, on December 7, 1936.

Confete saw the birth of the traditional Império Serrano; he played in the Madureira street carnival between the 1940s and 1950s; and participated in parades on Rio Branco, in the 1960s, when samba schools only had one float and didn’t gather even 500 people on the avenue.

He also experienced the transformation of Rio de Janeiro’s carnival from a simple popular party into the “Biggest Show on Earth” – an expression he borrows from the chorus of the renowned samba Is today (Didi and Mestrinho) – to participate in coverage by vehicles such as Rádio Continental, National Radio and TV Globo.

As a composer, he never had the satisfaction of writing a samba-enredo in a Rio carnival parade, but he created some relatively successful songs, such as Exorcist Pagodawhich was first recorded by partner Nei Lopes, in 1974, and re-recorded in the same year by Wilson Simonal on his album Dimension 75.

The following year, it was the turn of Xangô is from Baêa partnership with João Donato and Sidney da Conceição, initially recorded by João Donato and later re-recorded by Caetano Veloso and also by Joyce Moreno.

Confete is also a reference in Afro-Brazilian culture, having participated in the creation of the Quilombo samba school, with Candeia, and the Small Africa Cultural Center, which operates in the port area of Rio de Janeiro.

The report of Brazil Agency talked to Griô do Samba. Check out the interview:

Brazil Agency: How did you end up in samba?
ruben confetti: On the street where I was born there was a block called Unidos de Dona Clara. By the way, our dear Vilma Nascimento, Cisne da Passarela, flag bearer, also used to play in this block. And I saw the participation of my cousin Juraci, back in the beginning of the Serrano Empire. I was 11, 12 years old. I saw my cousin Aniceto de Menezes, the Aniceto of the Empire [fundador da escola de samba]. And I, a child, teenager, really liked carnival. I would take an old suit from my dad and go to the center of Madureira, where Avenida Edgard Romero is today, for a street carnival, with blocks.

The first time I went to a samba school, it was at Paz e Amor, in Bento Ribeiro. I must have been 15 years old. It was a room. Seu Galdino, master of ceremonies, dancing, the composers singing. Then I went to Independente da Serra, founded by Ivone Lara’s father-in-law [Alfredo Costa]. Then I went as a poet. I wrote lyrics there and Ernani Monteiro wrote music. I met Dona Ivone at that time, in 1954, 1955. But the school did not prosper. A guy would arrive, shoot two shots in the air and the samba would end. Later I found out that that school could not succeed, because when Império Serrano was founded, in 1947, it was agreed that the best-placed samba school would be the local samba school. But it was a very small business. Samba school went out with 30, 40 people. When I went out with 100 people, it was absurd. We were somewhat marginalized. For you to make a samba school official, you had to go to a local police station. That’s how it worked.

Brazil Agency: But even though you’re from Madureira, stronghold of the Serrano Empire and Portela, you ended up in Mangueira. How did this happen?
ruben confetti: I was a little afraid of the samba school, because it was a very elegant group. I didn’t have that purchasing power, so I was kind of aloof. I used to go to dances a lot. And there was a dance on Wednesdays at Clube Carioca, which was in Estácio. I was there dancing and the director of harmony Xangô da Mangueira arrived there, along with Galego and Zambeta. They invited me to go out in Mangueira. Mangueira rehearsed at Cerâmica, in a block next to a ceramics factory, on Rua Visconde de Niterói. Ibrahim Sued, famous social columnist, decided to take some socialites there, including [então] First Lady Maria Teresa Goulart. There were no bathrooms, so they rented two shacks, found a way, created a urinal for men and also a toilet for women. It was precarious indeed. Then I paraded in Mangueira. It was the last school parade towards Presidente Wilson, it entered Rio Branco, Cinelândia and dispersed in Almirante Barroso. That was in 1962. I took a step there, I did a trick. I was even photographed by Walter Firmo.

The samba schools were small. There was only one float, which represented the school’s plot. It was a struggle to get to the parade site. They were pushing it from Mangueira. I think if they had 300 to 400 people, that would be a lot. But there were drums, a wing of the baianas, a master of ceremonies and a flag bearer, and some schools were already starting to have some wings. One day, Seu Natalino José Nascimento, Natal da Portela, came up to me and said: “That’s right. I don’t know how you ended up at that school.”

Brazil Agency: In those first parades, you came out as a passista. But did you ever have any of your sambas on the avenue?
ruben confetti: I had a good samba in Império da Tijuca, with Délcio Carvalho, but I didn’t understand politics, so we were cut.

Brazil Agency: But there was already a samba-plot dispute at that time?
ruben confetti: They had their disputes there. There were schools that didn’t have competition, they arrived with the samba ready. At Mangueira, composers listened to each other’s sambas and chose one of them. Those who decided were the composers themselves. It was very democratic.

Brazil Agency: You’ve had some songwriting that’s been successful. How was your experience as a composer?
ruben confetti: I did some compositions, but I was never very interested, because of the collection society, publishers. For a sambista, it was very difficult. Silas de Oliveira, from Império Serrano, author of Brazilian watercolor and other successes, went out into the streets of the city, going through publishers, recording companies, to get 500 cruzeiros to buy his children’s school notebooks. Everyone said no. When Silas passed away, a music publisher sent him a beautiful wreath worth 700 cruzeiros. So it was very difficult.

I watched a lot of humiliation of composers. It took me a long way away from this composing business. I was very afraid of record companies. I had a popular music column on [jornal] The Press Tribune. I lived inside record labels. I heard what they said about samba dancers. It was a tremendous prejudice. I thought: “I’m not going to stay there, no”.

Brazil Agency: How did you arrive at João Donato and composed Xangô is from Baê?
ruben confetti: The Adelzon [Alves] I was going to produce an album with my lyrics and music by João Donato. But Adelzon abandoned the record. So there was only that show [uma música]. But the 12 letters [do disco do João Donato] would be mine and I would be on another level now [risos].

Brazil Agency: There was also the Exorcist Pagodawhich was covered by Wilson Simonal…
ruben confetti: O Exorcist Pagoda it was a joke of mine with Nei Lopes from the time of the movie exorcist. I even got a little bit. I had a hole in my shoe and I could buy a pair of sneakers [risos]. you got an advance [dinheiro oferecido na hora do contrato] and then I saw nothing more. There is execution, disc sales, but you didn’t participate in anything.

A Xangô is from Baê [gravada por Caetano Veloso] Joyce also recorded there for Japan. Every now and then a little money drips. It pays little, but it still does. The composer had to live off production. He had to produce a lot.

Brazil Agency: What does carnival represent to you today?
ruben confetti: Carnival today for me is just a great longing, a meeting with friends. In fact, most are gone. almost all [os amigos] are gone. [No último carnaval, de 2022]Império da Tijuca, which paraded in the Golden Group [o grupo de acesso] paid homage to the Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Quilombo, in Candeia. Candeia put me as president of the composers’ wing and I was master of ceremonies. So I paraded in Império da Tijuca because of this homage. And I paraded in Salgueiro, there in the last car, up there, in a carnival that talked about “resistance”.

Now I only parade when I’m invited. This year, I was not invited, but at the 2024 carnival, I will be at Intendente Magalhães. Because I am honorary president of a school that is emerging, América Samba e Paixão. I will be the honorary president and the [tema do] plot.

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