Founded in 1979
by former members of a carnival band from Salvador, Olodum is currently
a cultural group, registered as a Non-Governmental Organization which
develops cultural/education projects. The group made its debut during
the 1980 carnival, gathered over 2,000 members and started focusing on
historic themes related to Afro-Brazilian roots. The group's first LP,
"Egito, Madagascar", was recorded in 1987, and the track
"Faraó" became a huge hit in Bahia. Soon, Oludum's reputation
as an Afro-Brazilian percussion group grew and they toured Europe, Japan
and South America. In 1990, the group reached international success for
having recorded the track "The Obvious Child", on Paul Simon's
album, "The Rhythm of the Saints". In 1995 recorded the video
clip of Michael Jackson´s “They don´t care about us” . These
videoclips of the songs had been recorded in the district of Pelourinho,
in Salvador, Bahia, and had been exhibited in more than one hundred
countries. In the last years, Olodum recorded with famous musicians like
Wayne Shorter, Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Herbie Hancock and Caetano
Veloso, promoting its special blend of rhythmic elements which include
African beats, reggae, samba and Latin rhythms. OLODUM is not only a
band, but also NGO, active and engaged in many social and educational
projects. Their name is an abbreviation of Olodumaré, the Yoruba
expression for god of all gods. A language that is much alive in the
African Diaspora of Bahia and the religion of Candomblé. The group has
served as a backbone for the Black community in Salvador and throughout
Bahia and is a crucial part of the Black Movement “movimento Negro”
in Brasil. Through their organization they seek to recover the roots,
value and preservation of the Black culture and stand up against racism.
Situated right in the historic centre of Salvador, Pelourinho, it was
much through OLODUM´s initiative that the once rotten down district has
been restored and counts nowadays to the main tourist attractions of
Salvador. It is there that OLODUM is seated in a pink house, with
administrative offices and store selling T-Shirts and other OLODUM
stamped items. Everybody that has been to Salvador has passed by the
office or the show area of OLODUM, which institutionalised its rehearsal
concert on Tuesdays. The band is just one part of the whole Organization
lead by its charismatic and determined president Joăo Jorge Santos
Rodrigues. Freedom, human rights, equal opportunities, peace, love,
liberty, education, respect and fight against social injustice and
racism are just some of the keywords in connection with the organization
that will also reflect in the lyrics of the band OLODUM. 70% of the
direct income from the bands concerts go to the musicians and singers
and 30% are used for other youth and kids related activities throughout
the year, like education in the field of history, English, handcraft,
percussion or alike. Besides taking care of their career, Olodum is also
engaged in several social movements against racism and pro-human rights.
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