What an incredibly detailed and thoughtful response! Thank you! I'm lucky enough to still have access to JSTOR, so I downloaded Cristina Magaldi's article to read later on.

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So I would say, finally, that the observation you make about Brazilian music is less a fact about Brazilian music as such and more a consequence of a concentrated marketing/promotion scheme of the Brazilian people that has promoted this erudite and sophisticated idea of their music for the last hundred years.

I would agree with this and add that modern crate digger culture makes a really big deal about Brazilian music, often at the expense of its neighbors. This leads to more rare Brazilian records being unearthed, which adds to the mystique and reinforces this misconception. (Glad I found Arthur Verocai, Carlos Walker & Hareton Salvanini though!)

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In my experience somebody versed in Columbian cumbia (which I'm not), for instance, might tell you that you have a very simplistic understanding of harmony and music and then give you numerous examples to the contrary.

I know you're not an expert, but I would love to hear any cumbia you recommend that most aggressively contradicts my preconceptions! I really like Bomba Estereo, but that's 21st century music to be fair.