Jards Macalé, Untimely Samba and the ‘Malandro Melancólico’

Abstract

In the article, we propose a critical and imaginative reading of the art of the musician from Rio de Janeiro, Jards Macalé, based on two main analytical categories: untimely samba and a figure of the ‘malandro melancólico’. In the investigation of his albums, we were able to perceive the presence of samba in his work as a lens for the observation of Brazilian reality and, going further, samba is also taken up as an inventive procedure for opening up other possible worlds. In this sense, what Macalé's untimely samba seems to point out to us is the exposure of our wounds opened by the colonization process, while at the same time asserting itself as an inventive. We present a figure of the 'malandro melancólico' as a character that haunts the musician's untimely samba and can be approached with exu, orixá of roads and communication, who confuses dual and moralistic views.