Adrianno Pressao

Adrianno Pressao came up in Pernambuco, where forró has deep roots. He started playing accordion and singing at local festivals as a teenager, and by 2005 he had a debut album out called "Vem Aqui Dancar Mais." The title track caught on quickly, with its danceable groove and straightforward lyrics about getting people on the floor.

That song and others like "Vovô Namorador" helped define his sound, upbeat, traditional forró with a clear vocal delivery. He kept recording through the late 2000s, putting out albums like "Forró do Bom" in 2007 and "O Baile do Adriano" in 2010, plus a live set from Fortaleza. The music stayed close to the genre's core rhythms and themes, without much fuss or crossover ambition.

There was some talk about legal issues around song rights in 2010, and Pressao had a reputation for being outspoken at times. But what stuck was the music itself, the kind of forró that worked in dance halls and on car radios across the northeast.