Jackson do Pandeiro: Notes on the Daily Life in the Works of the King of Rhythm

Abstract

The present article, which is theoretical, bibliographical as well as phonographic-documental in nature, aims to reflect on how daily life influenced Jackson do Pandeiro’s compositions and interpretations. Moments of Jackson do Pandeiro’s trajectory and excerpts of songs were selected to expose the importance of daily life for his work. The article shows that Jackson do Pandeiro’s works establish a dialectic relationship with the society that raised him, enabling listeners to access a critical potency. This potentiality grants them a new set of lenses to interpret daily life, which, in turn, is the cradle of artists’ inspiration. This set of factors led the musical sphere as well as some of the Brazilian intellectual elite to consider Jackson do Pandeiro the King of Rhythm in the Música Popular Brasileira, MPB [Brazilian Folk Music].