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Dates:
Events: 05/04 - Brazil's pioneering pop songwriter Noel
Rosa dies in Rio of tuberculosis at age 26 (1937). Rosa gave Samba a new
twist by injecting social commentary into his lyrics, much like our own Cole Porter.
05/07 - Proto-Bossa
legend Elizeth
Cardoso passes away in Rio de Janeiro (1990),
Her original version of 'Chega de Saudade' in May of 1958 included João
Gilberto's revolutionary guitar rhythm, preceding Bossa Nova's birth by about
eight weeks. Birthdays: Singer & songwriter Lulu Santos,
Herbert Vianna (Paralamas), guitarist Celia
Vaz 05/04; Samba's Beth Carvalho,
guitarist José da Silva (Dino Sete Cordas)
05/05; MPB singer Fátima Guedes, songwriter
Luís Bittencourt 05/06; Composer Billy
Blanco 05/08; MPB star Nei Lopes. Feliz Aniversário! We're
number one!
Arbitron's radio ratings were released this week and The Sounds of Brazil is once
again the market leader for its time period for adult listeners in our anchor
market of Chicago on WNUA FM. It makes the third consecutive
quarter of #1 rankings for our show, but what is surprising about the Arbitron
numbers this time is how our show stacks up against
the other Smooth Jazz specialty shows. The Sounds of Brazil beats 'The Dave Koz
Weekend Show', Ramsey Lewis's 'Legends Of Jazz', 'Chill' with Mindi Abair and
'Musical Star Streams'. With Brazilian music. So
once again, thank you so much for being loyal listeners and for helping to make
The Sounds of Brazil what it is today. If you don't have our radio show in your
city, you can us the handy Radio Station Locator Guide on
this page to send a copy of this e-letter to Program Directors in your area.
And if we are already part of your city's radioscape, use the guide to send them
a big 'thank you' message! I'm very grateful to be
able to do what I do - and for your support! Turn
the page:
We have only a few copies of Rio de Janeiro's 2008 wall
calendar remaining. As you may know, US retailers did not offer a Brazilian-themed
calendar this year, so we secured a smaller than usual inventory directly from
Rio - with beautiful photography to capture the spirit of the city and its environs
printed on heavy, semi gloss stock. Almost as good as being there - every day!
Price is $39.99. If you are interested send me an e-mail request here.
Push
Play:
What am I listening to? Pianist Mike Catalano's 'A
Manhattan Affair'. The best moments? Ivan Lins singing 'Dindi', and 'Take Me Back
To Rio' - track seven, which is mislabeled as 'Coast To Coast' on the CD's back
panel. Kudos to Heads Up for signing singer/upright bassist Esperanza
Spalding. Although most of the songs are originals, her jazzy self-titled
debut includes a song from Milton
Nascimento, plus an unreleased version of Dorival Caymmi's
'O Bem do Mar'. And Rosa
Passos' 'Romance' just arrived in time for Sunday afternoon listening; a welcome
habit now that Baseball season has begun. Both of these
last two will release on May 20th. Meanwhile,
Djavan's latest
self-produced CD 'Matizes' left me wanting - somehow I expected more (well, to
be fair, I always expect more from Djavan. '3 Na Massa: Her Name Is Rio' is a
musical montage of nu-gen femmes: CeU, Leandra Leal and 11 more with a creative
cultural clique that really caught the ears of many at a recent listening
party. And cheers for Far Out's 'Subtropical Sun Stroke Psych Out' from Brazilika.
It's not right for radio, but you'll hear selected songs on our Brazilian Blend
channel. Suffice to say that this is what cachaça would sound like if you
could smoke it. Never thought I'd write that sentence.
Its
been sitting here on my desktop for a couple of months
now - and living happily in my mp3 player, but we're still about seven weeks away
from seeing Sergio Mendes' new 'Encanto' CD on store shelves. That's not the case
with Japan (a February launch ) and this week, the Philippines, where it carries
the title 'Morning In Rio'. Regardless of the name, you're sure to call it 'fantastic'.
Think of it as a blending of his powerhouse 2006 Grammy winner 'Timeless'
and the thoughtful artistry that also earned his
'Brasileiro' album a Grammy award in 1992. His
new album contains 14 songs which highlight the classic Mendes ear "for enticing
melodies and contagious rhythms," performed by no less than a dozen of the
world's great artists personally selected by Mendes. They are: The Look of Love
featuring Fergie Ledisi; Funky Bahia, will.i.am and Siedah Garrett; Waters of
March, Ledisi; Odo-Ya, Carlinhos Brown; Somewhere in the Hills, Natalie Cole;
Lugar Comum, Jovanotti; Dreamer, Lani Hall and Herb Alpert; Morning in Rio, Vanessa
da Mata; Y Vamos Ya, Juanes; Catavento, Gracinha Leporace; Acode, Vanessa da Mata;
Agua de Beber, will.i.am; Les Eaux de Mars, Zap Mama; Two tracks - E Vamos La,
the Portuguese version, plus a bonus track of Lugar Comum (Japanese version) by
Dreams Come True don't make it to the US release. Standouts? Too
many to mention, but I will say Lani Hall sounds better than I've heard
in many years. Watch for a full review soon on this page. Meanwhile Sergio weighed
in with an interview for ABS-CBN: "I
recorded the album in Brazil. I went to Rio de Janeiro which is my hometown, and
also in Bahia. The album has the diversity of the sounds of Brazil; it's a celebration
of Brazil in music with a lot of international artists like Juanes from Colombia,
Carlinhos Brown and Vanessa da Mata from Brazil, the Japanese pop group Dreams
Come True, Zap Mama of Belgium and rapper Jovanotti of Italy; and artists from
America like Fergie Ledisi, Natalie Cole, Herb Alpert and his wife, Black Eyed
Pea will.i.am and Lani Hall, the original Brasil '66 artist. It's a great party!"
|more| Another
springtime fav this year is Emilio Santiago's new 'De
Um Jeito Diferente'. Happily, some things get better with time and that’s
certainly the case for the Brazilain crooner who, ever since his career was resurrected
by the ‘Aquarela Brasileira’ series years ago, has established and then
redefined his unique place in contemporary Brazilian music. Some
say his sound is a throwback to Brazil’s pre-Bossa 50’s, when another
crooner – Dick
Farney – reigned supreme over the musical landscape in Rio and beyond.
Farney was a staple of young carioca teens back then, on a plateau shared only
by Sinatra
when the topic of the day turned to the latest and greatest jazz singers. And
so it is, still today with Santiago. Set
aside his richly-toned tenor and you’ll discover why. Santiago has depth:
in his easy phrasing, in his immutable style. He also hand-picked these 15 songs
for a small group approach and then settled into a comfortable relationship with
a new producer – guitarist Ricardo
Silveira. It’s
a perfect match. As a performer, Silveira in many
ways mirrors the best qualities of Santiago’s
talent. The nuance and perspective that can only be found in hands of a master
of the Brazilian guitar shapes Santiago’s performance in a way that we’ve
not heard before: ‘contrast and compliment’ become the ebb and flow
of this album and this simple setting absolutely percolates with the creative
effect. Here, even the headlines are understated. We
all know that experience shows when it comes to worldly expression and these songs,
from Jobim’s reverent ‘Dindi’ to Victor Young’s ‘My Foolish
Heart’ (an obvious dedication to Farney) are perfect examples of how a
truly great performer can reward us with a simply song.
We've
been telling you the last few weeks about festivals announcing shows this spring
and summer with big-name Brazilian acts - festivals that will run you
$50-$100 per ticket. What about a more affordable option? Well,
there's one taking place in central New York next month that won't cost you a
thin dime to get into the gates. Sergio Mendes will headline the city of Syracuse's
26th annual Jazzfest along with singer Chaka Khan on June 27 at Onondaga Community
College. Though it takes place in a midsized city away from most major metropolitan
areas, past festivals have drawn big crowds. Last year, more than 80,000 people
attended the festival to see Aretha Franklin perform, according to event organizers.
Brazilian
singer Seu
Jorge may be popping up again on your local movie screen soon. Jorge plays
a supporting role in "The Escapist," a British film starring Brian Cox
("The Bourne Supremacy") and Joseph Fiennes ("Shakespeare in Love")
that debuted at the recent Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Jorge plays a prisoner
who helps Cox escape from prison so that he can visit his critically ill daughter.
ThinkFilm has just bought the North American rights to the independent picture,
which was directed by Rupert Wyatt and plans to release it this fall. In his sideline
career as an actor, Jorge made a memorable U.S. splash in 2004 as a sailor singing
David Bowie songs in Portugese in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"
He also had a key role in the 2002 Brazilian film "City of God." Brazil
and at least six other countries are scheduled to participate later this month
in an event called "Pangea Day." Named
after the supercontinent that crunched together all the earth's continents more
than 200 million years ago, the four-hour event will consist of 24 different snippets
that will include musical performances, films and speeches intended to promote
world peace and unity. Among those scheduled to participate: Queen Noor of Jordan,
CNN's Christiane Amanpour, musician/activist Bob Geldof and Iranian rock band
Hypernova. The event will be broadcast worldwide in seven
languages and is expected to reach more than 500 million viewers via traditional
broadcast, free-to-air feeds, and web-based and mobile phone platforms. Globosat
will broadcast the event in Brazil.
Speaking of worldwide events, the
approach of the 2008 Summer Olympics may be raising
hackles in some circles, but not in Brazil's largest city. On May 1, São
Paulo kicked off "100 Days Until Beijing" by unveiling a countdown display
at the city's Liberty Plaza. The accompanying ceremony included speeches, cultural
displays and performances. "We want to bring a little of China to Brazil,"
Daniel Guth, the city's director of Culture and Sport, told Xinhua, China's official
news agency, before the event. More than 150,000 residents
of Sâo Paulo are said to have Chinese heritage. Brazilian
supermodel Gisele Bundchen isn't forgetting her roots
with her latest shoe line. The main squeeze of New England Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady is behind G2B
Sandals, which includes 35 styles for women and children. A portion of the
profits supports water-protection projects in Brazil.
A
bizarre story from Brazil: Hopes
dimmed
on Wednesday for a priest who vanished after sailing into
the air under hundreds of colorful balloons. The cleric's former flight
teacher called his disappearance a "tragedy foretold." Paragliding instructor
Marcio Andre Lichtnow, who gave courses to the Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli three
years ago, described him as a "headstrong, anxious individual who was always
in a rush." "After
two or three months, I asked him to abandon the course because of these personality
traits, which are not the ideal profile for a paraglider," Lichtnow told
The Associated Press by telephone. "So what happened comes
as no big surprise." The 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest has been
missing since Sunday, when he lifted off from the port city of Paranagua wearing
a helmet, an aluminum thermal flight suit, waterproof coveralls and a parachute.
But less than an hour in, de Carli told his support crew by satellite phone that
he would not be able to complete the planned flight to the city of Dourados, 465
miles (750 kilometers) away, according to team member Jose Carlos Bom. "He
told us he was beginning to descend over the ocean, but never said he was about
to crash into the water," Bom said. "There was never any panic in his
voice." For the next eight hours, until his phone went dead, de Carli maintained
contact with the team, using a GPS device to report
his position as he descended. The
priest hoped his flight would help raise money for a center where truck drivers
could stop "to rest and receive the gospel," said Denise Gallas, treasurer
at his Sao Cristovao parish. |more
with picture|
Connectbrazil.com
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can use our keywords to access various pages at Connectbrazil.com from the top
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