Ara Ketu began as a carnival bloco-afro in 1980. Originally a huge drumming ensemble like Olodum, it is also dedicated to the preservation of Afro-Bahian culture. Their name means "People of Ketu," adopted from the Yoruba orixá Oxossi (the god of hunters). Their blue outfits, adorned with the bow and arrow, are in honor of Oxossi. Like the escolas de samba in Rio, the blocos-afros of Salvador are also neighborhood social organizations. Based in Salvador's Periperi district, Ara Ketu's social mission includes a massive campaign to fight discrimination based on sex, religion and race.

Ara Ketu has also been at the forefront of a movement that began in the late 1980s, taking the traditional Afro-Bahian drumming patterns, and adding a salsa-tinged brass section, bass and guitar to create an infectious sound that has brought the group to superstardom not just in Bahia, but across Brazil. Their first bloco-crossover albums "Ara Ketu de Periperi" and "Bom Demais" are perhaps the finest examples of this bloco-salsa-pop mix before the movement began to rely too heavily on keyboards in the mid-90s.

Contributed by: Dan Rosenberg