# The 8 Best Samba Tracks of All Time

Rio de Janeiro's national music, out of the Bahian communities of the Praça Onze district and onto record in 1917. Built from interlocking percussion and a syncopation that lands everywhere except where a European ear expects it.

- **Origin:** Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1917
- **Tempo:** 90–140 BPM
- **Also known as:** samba carioca, samba de roda, pagode, samba-canção
- **Tracks:** 8
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/samba/

## The list

### 1. [Ary Barroso](https://waxonia.com/artist/ary-barroso/) — [Aquarela do Brasil](https://waxonia.com/track/ary-barroso--aquarela-do-brasil/)

*1939*

The samba-exaltação, written in one night during a rainstorm, and the tune the rest of the world means when it says Brazil. Grandiose, and it earns it.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Ary%20Barroso%20Aquarela%20do%20Brasil) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OJfOG6pbnvI)

### 2. [Donga](https://waxonia.com/artist/donga/) — [Pelo Telefone](https://waxonia.com/track/donga--pelo-telefone/)

*1917*

The first record registered as a samba, and its authorship was disputed immediately by everyone who had been in the room. A fair beginning for a collective music.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Donga%20Pelo%20Telefone) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=m0LyMqdicj8)

### 3. [Pixinguinha](https://waxonia.com/artist/pixinguinha/) — [Carinhoso](https://waxonia.com/track/pixinguinha--carinhoso/)

*1937*

Choro rather than strict samba, by the greatest Brazilian musician of the century, and the most loved melody in the country. Booed as too American when it appeared.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Pixinguinha%20Carinhoso) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7217Xga4zOw)

### 4. [Zé Kéti](https://waxonia.com/artist/ze-keti/) — [A Voz do Morro](https://waxonia.com/track/ze-keti--a-voz-do-morro/)

*1955*

"I am samba" — a song that argues the music belongs to the hillside favelas rather than to the studios below. It won the argument.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Z%C3%A9%20K%C3%A9ti%20A%20Voz%20do%20Morro) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pebcDCvtJKE)

### 5. [Elizeth Cardoso](https://waxonia.com/artist/elizeth-cardoso/) — [Coisa Mais Linda](https://waxonia.com/track/elizeth-cardoso--coisa-mais-linda/)

*1959*

Cardoso is the bridge from samba-canção to what came next; her 1958 sessions with João Gilberto are usually called the first bossa nova record. This is the older art at its most refined.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Elizeth%20Cardoso%20Coisa%20Mais%20Linda) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hSX1kB-t_OQ)

### 6. [Zeca Pagodinho](https://waxonia.com/artist/zeca-pagodinho/) — [Deixa a Vida Me Levar](https://waxonia.com/track/zeca-pagodinho--deixa-a-vida-me-levar/)

*2002 · Universal*

Pagode, the backyard variety, sung by a man with no interest in appearing to try. Proof the tradition kept producing standards long after the tourists moved on.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Zeca%20Pagodinho%20Deixa%20a%20Vida%20Me%20Levar) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oTREAvZbmME)

### 7. [Baden Powell](https://waxonia.com/artist/baden-powell/) — [Canto de Ossanha](https://waxonia.com/track/baden-powell--canto-de-ossanha/)

*1966*

Afro-sambas — Powell and Vinicius de Moraes going to the candomblé terreiros for melodies and coming back with something darker than bossa allowed.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Baden%20Powell%20Canto%20de%20Ossanha) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NQKIVYlBKdc)

### 8. [Adoniran Barbosa](https://waxonia.com/artist/adoniran-barbosa/) — [Trem das Onze](https://waxonia.com/track/adoniran-barbosa--trem-das-onze/)

*1964*

São Paulo, not Rio, and a man explaining he cannot stay because his mother will worry and he must catch the eleven o'clock train. Comic, sad and perfectly built.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Adoniran%20Barbosa%20Trem%20das%20Onze) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RkkGVgOqPuM)

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