A Thousand Songs and One Song

These are some songs popular at our place at the moment. They seem to be folk and folk rock songs, ending up in dance tempo tunes with a dash of soul, but that’s just accidentally, it’s a random list. In this place you can hear anything from gazal to electronica. If this list catches your eye you might find a song or two you like. I can’t afford to host them myself so I’m sending you to You Tube. Many thanks to the dedicated posters there who have kept many great songs alive, and introduced them to new listeners. The record companies should pay them a fee for this service.

The Weavers, Wimoweh
Carnegie Hall reunion 1982: Pete Seegar was 63 years old. This 50s band started the ‘protest song’ movement which later so inspired Bob Dylan; they were a top act until stopped by McCarthyism, which terminated their record contract and denied them airtime on radio. They had bought hope to many, and when they reformed in ’82 were more popular than ever. What an ovation! Four great voices, this song features the incredible Pete Seegar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ06MuB8_04

Muzsicas, Fly, Bird, Fly

Marta Sebestyen, one of the world’s great voices (you heard her voice on The English Patient soundtrack). This 1988 album, called The Prisoner’s Song after one of its tracks, contains this track, ‘Repülj Madár, Repülj’ (Fly Bird, Fly). Hungarian folk music. like the music of Bela Bartok, might seem recondite to people not bought up on traditional music from that part of the world. All it takes is innovative phrasing and ‘folk rock’ arrangements by musicians of genius, and interpretation by one of the world’s most expressive vocalists, and you’re right there. A bound and shackled prisoner calls to the bird he sees through the bars of his cell and celebrates the bird’s freedom. He tells the bird how precious that freedom is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apE1n63ZhMQ

Fairport Convention, Farewell, Farewell
An eerie song written by band member of note, Richard Thompson, who also contributes his distinctive guitar sound. The voice is that of the great Sandy Denny, who died too young but was one of the most influential figures in the formation of so-called folk rock. The album is 1969′s Liege and Lief. Despite their later achievements, this could be Fairport’s greatest moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8_eFRZP1uQ

Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call

And will you never return to see
Your bruised and beaten sons?
“Oh, I would, I would, if welcome I were
For they love me, every one”

And will you never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be?
And can you never swear a year
To any one of we?

“No, I will never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
But I’ll swear a year to one who lies
Asleep along side of me”

Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call

Steeleye Span, Dark-Eyed Sailor
Right from the start they were unstable in terms of who was in the band. Here, in almost their first album, 1970′s Hark! The Village Wait, the featured performers were Gay and Terry Woods, who departed soon after the album was recorded. Gay’s beautiful voice brings out the eeriness of the lyrics, about a betrothed couple who break a golden ring and each keep half as a sign of their pledge when they have to part. A sailor’s life was a risky and dangerous one, once upon a time. That’s Maddy Prior singing harmony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8CFB552rNQ

Axelle Red, Tourjours Moi

The Memphis soul sound comes to the albums of this Belgian superstar whose records keep getting better and better. This has been my favourite Axelle Red track for so long, from the 1999 album of the same name. At those times when life has been hard, and you ask yourself, “why me, why does it happen to me?”, take a dose of this song and you’ll start to feel better. Fabienne is also a campaigner for human rights for women and children and has been commended for her work in this area by UNESCO and the French government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSVpirHWH5s

Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now
(something’s lost, something’s gained)
Is this woman a great American poet or is she! And she composes and sings and plays the guitar, how gifted is that. There are those who complain that when she recorded orchestral versions of some of her songs she was too old, and had lost her voice. For me it’s as if the voice has caught up with the words at last. This is the 2000 release of the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9j_j-cUwKc

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, i’ve looked at cloud that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions i recall.
I really don’t know clouds at all.

Moons and junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real; i’ve looked at love that way.
But now it’s just another show, you leave ‘em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know, don’t give yourself away.

I’ve looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions i recall.
I really don’t know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud, to say “i love you” right out loud,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, i’ve looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I’ve changed.
Something’s lost but something’s gained in living every day.

I’ve looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions i recall.
I really don’t know life at all.

Tanita Tikaram, I Might Be Crying

One of the greatest unsung songwriters, Tanita Tikaram made a splash with her first album Ancient Heart in 1988, but has recorded far superior work to that. ‘I Might Be Crying’ comes from I think her finest album, Lovers in the City (1995), with backing vocals from Jennifer Warnes. All Tanita’s albums have meticulous, innovative arrangements and orchestration, but it’s her voice you remember, surely unique in pop music. Tanita is a lyricist like late 60s Dylan, with a vocal timbre reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, but you don’t think of that when you listen to her. The 2005 album Sentimental takes her in a totally new direction, and is mesmerising.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sga9Y-Ky910

Uxia, Alala das Marinas
Celtic soul from Galicia Spain (home of bagpipe virtuoso Carlos Nuñez). This song comes from Estou vivindo no ceo, 1995, and sounds like a Celtic lament sung with the passion of flamenco, a statement that’s probably offensive to Galicians as well as fans of Flamenco and Celtic music, but I’m limited in what I can say. Uxía Domínguez Senlle, a passionate, thrilling voice that just carries me away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAl4-0yOlLM

Dulce Pontes, Mae Preta, Meu Alentejo

The only solution would be to include the whole of Caminhos (1996), my favourite Dulce Pontes album. There’s so many good songs by this magnificent singer from Portugal. No need to evoke the name of Amalia, Dulce has a voice of her own, distinctive, powerful, and usually fully extended to the limit of her range. From lilting folk dances to fado, Dulce is the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAGudZOwIpY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTln3dIIbMA

Glykeria, O Glyki Mou Ear

Revered over the Middle East, Greece and Turkey as one of the greatest voices in the world, Glykeria Kotsoula has been one of Greece’s best selling artists for more years than she’d care to admit. Her husky, smokey voice can plumb depths of emotion other singers can only dream of. O Glyki Mou Ear (2006) is an album of Greek Orthodox hymns which showcases that emotional depth. Her 1998 album Maska is more pop oriented, and is one of those CDs where every track is a great one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Y6N3VfXM8&feature=fvsr

Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Dinata, Min Orkizesai
One of the greatest live performers in the world, Eleftheria has a strong bond with her audiences wherever she performs. Blessed with a wonderful bell like voice that is very moving to listen to, she has taken great care with her backing bands, and performs with many artists who are soloists in their own right. Her 2010 live concert Face to Face is the most recent example of her great artistry, but almost any of her 24 albums is worth a listen. One of my favourite singers, Eleftheria is rated among the top 5 Greek performers of all time. And even though I don’t understand the language I’d say Greece has the greatest popular music composers in the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERto4ssix24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dag1UH-6qDc

Toni Childs, Zimbabwe
A great singer got meaningful and lost her audience, at least in the USA, but was acclaimed in Australia and New Zealand. Adding the recording studio wizardry of Dave Ricketts to the extraordinary voice of Childs, ‘Zimbabwe’ was a polyphonic, multi-track masterpiece that tried to be a protest song but the words got lost in the wall of sound. Wonderful. Her Ultimate Collection (2000) is the place to start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y_Bmb3RYkI

Ana Carolina and Seu Jorge, E Isso Ai

What can you say! Two of Brazil’s top performers, Ana Carolina Sousa and Jorge Mário da Silva, got together on stage and their performance went to number one on the Brazil charts overnight. When you can see a performance as good as this live, no overdub or multi tracking, you know you’re in Brazil, home of the greatest popular music culture in the world. The song is from 2004′s Ana & Jorge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ggzIvbsFaQ

Alcione, Alem Da Cama

Alcione Dias Nazareth has been recording and performing since the mid 1970s and has released almost 40 albums, most of which have gone gold. That’s quite an achievement. She’s also a trumpet and clarinet player, which has added something to her voice maybe. This track is from A Paixao Tem Memoria (1997) and shows off the warm, soulful sound she can so effortlessly create.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md4nTSm7XbM

I Muvrini, Aspettami
Jean-François and Alain Bernardini are brothers from Corsica playing both traditional music from the island and their own compositions. They’ve made 30 albums over the past 30 years, and are an exceptionally good concert act, with almost a full orchestra and chorus behind them. The 2002 album Umani shows influences from other cultures such as those of Spain and Algeria, and it’s an exhilarating listening experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz3iHLARMyE

Bia, Eu Vi
There’s a revolution going on. From now on, voices have to be warm as honey, interpretations as close as a hug after lovemaking. Bia Krieger is one of my favourite singers and she hasn’t put down a bad track since she began to record. This is from Carmin of 2003, a Henri Salvador song Bia has made her own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGwxVLOdjQ

Jean Duino, La complainte africaine
Jean Duino is a singer/songwriter from Port de Bouc on the Mediterranean coast of France, and one of Bia’s inspirations. I have to thank her for introducing me to this singer. I’d like to find more of his work.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4bayy_jean-duino-la-complainte-africaine_music

Candan Erçetin, Meger

No other singer in the world can do this on video. From Melek (2004). This Turkish superstar is singer, composer, actress and TV presenter, and most of her eight CDs have topped the album charts in Turkey. Almost any album makes for absorbing listening, my favourites are Çapkin (1997), Elbette (2000), Neden (2002) and Melek (2004). The good news is that she has released a new CD, Kırık Kalpler Durağında in 2009, which I didn’t know about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjuCwxLAFb8

Jenifer, J’attends l’amour
Jenifer Dadouche-Bartoli, from Nice, has had problems topping her first big hit ‘J’attends l’amour’, though each of her later CDs contain good material. The first album, Jenifer (2002) is one of those CDs you can play right through and enjoy every track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US4KhnkdUNU

Kiran Ahluwalia, Jhanjra!

An unlikely combination of an Indian woman performing gazal from 10th century Persia in Toronto, Canada, accompanied by traditional Indian instruments, and Celtic fiddle. And it works. The accompaniment is important here, and tracks can feature tabla, slide guitar as well as fiddle. Kiran’s voice takes on the intricate intonations and rhythms of the gazal form with great skill. The melodies are superb. The track is a Punjabi folk song from Kiran’s self titled 2005 album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0U5YezGWUo&feature=related

Rosana, Magia
Rosana Arbelo Gopar comes from the Canary Islands. The track is from her 2005 album Magia. Rosana stepped into the limelight with her first album, Lunas Rotas (1996), platinum sales and still selling strongly, most recently in a remastered edition with deleted tracks and alternate versions. All of her albums feature her marvellous contralto voice, warm and expressive. Just about every track she’s recorded sounds familiar, as though I’d heard it before. It took a while, then I realised I was listening to classic music, songs that will still be heard for years to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EICGZq1w6Sg

Clara Nunes, O Mar Serenou

One of the two tragic deaths that devastated Brazilian music in the 80s (the other being Elis Regina), all the more tragic by being so totally unnecessary. Clara was the queen of samba, and had 16 million selling albums to her credit at the time of her death. A voice you recognise immediately, a joyous and exultant sound, and song after great song. She is still, 25 years after her death, one of the most popular of Brazilian singers, and in 1995 was the subject of an extraordinary tribute, when some of the greatest names in Brazilian music performed duos with her on her most famous songs, with the aid of some recording studio wizardry (Com Vida). This song is originally from Claridade (1975).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drGewMyo00A

Nina Simone, How It Feels To Be Free
Nina Live at Montreaux in 1976, a short set but in my opinion one of the greatest recorded performances ever, any artist, any time. For those who love her voice, here she shows off her virtuosity on the piano. For those who regard her as a jazz icon, here she shows herself the strong, fragile, deeply emotional, strongly disciplined artist she was, and her rendition of ‘Feelings’ has to be seen to be believed. If you’re not moved to tears you’re made of stone. This track has it all: rhythm, passion and grace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dlrXCYrNYI

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
I wish I could say all the things that I should say
say ‘em loud, say ‘em clear
for the whole round world to hear.

I wish I could share all the love that’s in my heart
remove all the bars that keep us apart
I wish you could know what it means to be me
Then you’d see and agree
that every man should be free.

I wish I could give all I’m longing to give
I wish I could live like I’m longing to live
I wish that I could do all the things that I can do
though I’m way overdue I’d be starting anew.

Well I wish I could be like a bird in the sky
how sweet it would be if I found I could fly
Oh I’d soar to the sun and look down at the sea
and I’d sing cos I’d know that
I’d know how it feels to be free

Syran M’Benza, Biloula
Symbiose 1990. A who’s who of soukous stars jam in a Paris studio, and the result is exhilarating. Not recommended for those who think they can play the guitar: these guys start where others are resting on their laurels, and have fun taking virtuosity to new levels! Bound to brighten your day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PmEQRB1-zo

Hijas del Sol, Kokodico

Piruchi Apo Botupá and Paloma Loribo Apo are from Equatorial Guinea, an aunt and niece duo. Their music is about Bantu, but also about dance, it’s fast, happy, energetic music. The track is from Pasaporte Mundial of 2001.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYk8juTWWIA

Rolling Stones, Down the Road Apiece, Tumbling Dice
What a genius Keith was. Piano player’s pretty good too. Looking back, you can see how insecure Mick was, and Brian is starting the slow slide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzKajOTf_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIrTpi0iaTA

Rod Stewart, Downtown Train
Often just silly on stage, and prone to monotonous rock crowd pleaser anthems, Rod is one of the greatest lyricists of rock (“I was only joking”). Here he interprets another great lyricist, Tom Waits. Dynamite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6yk9wWNB08&feature=fvst

Outside another yellow moon
punched a hole in the nighttime sky
climbs through the window and down the street
shining like a new dime
the downtown trains are full with all those Brooklyn girls
they try so hard to break out of their little worlds

You wave your hand and they scatter like crows
they have nothing that will ever capture your heart
theyr’e just thorns without the rose
be careful of them in the dark
oh if I was the one
you chose to be your only one
oh baby can’t you hear me now

Will I see you tonight
on a downtown train
every night is just the same
you leave me lonely now

I know your window and I know it’s late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light at the four way
you watch them as they fall
they all have heart attacks
they stay at the carnival
but they’ll never win you back

Will I see you tonight, on a downtown train
where every night is just the same you leave me lonely
will I see you tonight, on a downtown train
all of my dreams just fall like rain
upon a downtown train

Neville Brothers, With God On Our Side
Just a reminder that of the five activities we practice in this life, two of them, the music makers and the war makers, are still neck to neck and it’s anybody’s game. Aaron breathes new life into the Bob Dylan song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tyIjfE-tIk

Most of the artists on this list have a substantial body of work to their credit. I could make a similar list devoted to any one of them. And there are hundreds of other performers out there, many of whom get played at our place from time to time. And many interesting performers are emerging every day. There’s a great wealth of music out there in the world, and while there is there’s hope for us all.

©2011 Original material copyright Phillip Kay. Images and other material courtesy Creative Commons. Please inform post author of any violation.

Bia – singer, composer, interpreter

Bia Krieger, often known simply as Bia, is a fascinating and beguiling singer with a voice of milk and honey who has released five CDs over the past 15 years. Bia is nominally Canadian, from Montreal Quebec, but it’s more complicated than that.

Her parents and she were eventually forced to flee from the military dictatorship that took power in Brazil in 1964, reigning, with terror, until 1974, and not completely ousted until the amnesty of 1980. The regime didn’t like dissent, and when the dissent took form in popular music, reprisals were made. One of the most admired cultural figures in Brazil, Chico Buarque, fled to Italy in 1970. Leading Tropicalismo artists Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were exiled, and gloomed around London for two years, 1970-72. In Chile a similar reaction on the part of a military dictatorship in power there took place, with barbarous savagery. In 1973 prominent teacher, playwright and composer Victor Jara was tortured, beaten with clubs and the bones of his hands deliberately broken because he had written and performed on the guitar songs of protest. Then he was machine gunned to death. The situation was not as extreme in Brazil, but the threat was there. In these cultures performers could be poets, poets could be leaders, and singers could be politicians. It is a dimension to be aware of.

Bia’s family escaped first to Chile, then left Chile for Peru and finally went to Portugal. Bia spent the age between three and 12 as an exile, and returned to Rio de Janeiro in 1980 to finish her schooling and start university. Her upbringing must have been unsettling, because she then left Brazil again to travel around Europe, finally settling in Paris, where she began her music career. French producer Pierre Barouh offered her a contract which resulted in Bia’s first album, Le memoire du vent, largely a tribute to Chico Buarque. In 1998 Bia appeared briefly in a film by Claude Lelouche, Hasards ou coïncidence, and performed a song of Chico’s on the soundtrack. Concert tours followed, in Japan, Italy and Quebec. Bia was particularly popular in Quebec, and gave more than 100 performances there. Other studio albums followed, Sources, recorded in Rio in 2000 on which she emerged as a songwriter, and Carmin in 2003 on which all but two tracks were her own compositions. Coeur Vagabond of 2006 reprises the tour de force of her first release by showcasing Brazilian composers (Djavan, Buarque, Veloso) whose songs are sung in French, and French ones (Gainsbourg, Brassens, Keren Ann), performed in Portuguese. These albums resulted in promotional tours, and Bia travelled further than ever, from western to eastern Europe and then Turkey. Bia’s fifth CD, Nocturno, was released in 2008. It is an album of her own compositions, sung in Portuguese, with some tracks in Spanish and English.

Like a lot of performers, Bia is talented in several fields. She is a skilled guitarist, dances on stage at professional level, has a warm and expressive singing voice just different enough to give her songs greater depth without drawing attention to itself, and can compose and sing in several styles (and languages), Afro-Brazil, bossa nova, chanson, pop, MPB, samba. What I enjoy about Bia’s CDs is that they’re put together with good taste. No virtuoso showing off, no trip-hop overlay, no downbeat chill (thank god: go home, Ibiza). Just melody, rhythm, a tight band, and a door into traditions and cultures accessed in an unexpected way. Imagine, a song by Brassens in Spanish with a bossa arrangement! Talk about cross-fertilisation. That’s what Bia’s music is all about. Circumstances dictated that she grew up influenced by many cultures (remember how much it meant to you when you were growing up?). Now Bia gives her listeners the opportunity to broaden their world while enjoying that most precious of things, good music. For some reason my mind jumps to Woody Guthrie’s slogan “this machine kills fascists”. However unlikely it appears, maybe Bia is a politician after all.

The music
Bia’s first released CD was called La memoire du vent and it came out in 1996. It’s been reissued several times. This is an album that will appeal to fans of the great Brazilian singer/poet Chico Buarque de Hollanda. The album features six of his songs, most of them in French translation. This was a momentous thing to do. Chico, some feel, is Brazil’s answer to Shakespeare. For an unknown singer to adapt (!) his words might have seemed presumptuous. In fact Bia was not only a fan of Chico’s, but his protégé, and he may even accompany her on one of the tracks (I think). The best track on the album is Chico’s Barbara, a soulful rendition with a superb guitar and flute backing. The album skillfully melds the three cultures important to Bia and which are part of her background: France, Spanish America and Brazil. She frequently translates lyrics between the three languages (Chico in French, Brassens in Spanish for instance). Another featured composer on the album is Jean Duino, a singer/songwriter from Port de Bouc on the Mediterranean coast of France. Each of his three tracks is an outstanding example of fine songwriting: Le mirior aux oiseaux, La tour de Constance, and, most especially, Complainte Africaine, a man’s lament on waking to find himself on a ship loaded with African slaves and bound for America, and presented in soukous style with a rocking guitar and improvisational flute accompaniment. The great Georges Brassens is represented by a translation of one of his songs (Por una muñeca), with a mesmerising jazz guitar accompaniment. There is a version of Los Hermanos by Atahualpa Yupanqui. And Bia contributes her own composition, Un million d’etoiles, a bossa flavoured number that in this company must be a salute to Jobim. The accompanying music backing all this is underscored and expertly played, with a sophistication English speakers associate with jazz but which in the cultures the songs come from are not part of any genres. They are all songs expressing a personal view of the world, protests at injustice, irony about fate, fantasy and regret. Represented are some of the giants of South American and French musical culture. This is a very autobiographical mix, music chosen, I think, because it has meant something in Bia’s development, and it’s a very successful presentation.
http://www.biamusik.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=87

Sources was released in 2000, recorded partly in Rio de Janeiro. Bia emerged on this album as a composer: five of the 12 tracks are by her. These include two outstanding compositions, Baby Neném and Sous le vent du monde, the latter with a very effective piano accompaniment. The mix of languages is still there, extended this time to include a track in English (Paul McCartney’s Golden Slumbers, from Abbey Road and from a Thomas Dekker poem); and one in Italian, Gianmaria Testa’s Piccoli Fiumi, from his 2000 album Il valzer di un giorno. Testa is apparently one of Bia’s heroes, as he is of mine (see http://phillipkay.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/gianmaria-testa-sotto-voce/). This is easily the best track on the album, a great song sung extremely well, and with a wonderful accordion and guitar backing that makes the most of the song’s atmosphere of gentle melancholy. There’s another version of Duino’s Complainte Africaine, heard on Bia’s first album in a very different arrangement, and I guess there’s a story about this to track down. Another outstanding track is Araurum Kim Kim, written by the prolific and multi-talented Adão Xalebaradã (who had a small part in Meirelles’ City of God, though he died only a year after the film’s release), a reminder that in Brazilian music, under the exuberance of samba and the sophistication of bossa there lies the rhythm of Africa. Jacques Higelin’s Ballade pour un matin is bracketed with Golden Slumbers in a medley that’s one of the highlights of the album. Higelin is apparently one of Bia’s influences, as he is for many other singers. This is another eclectic mix of ‘singer/songwriter’ material, bossa, samba and chanson, songs that must mean a lot to Bia, and she interprets them so they mean a lot to the listener. An album with six of the 12 tracks standing out as exceptionally good is hard to put down, and Sources remains one of my favourites.
http://www.biamusik.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=86

Carmin, an album released in 2003, is Bia’s announcement she has come of age as a songwriter. She has had a part in the composition of 11 of the album’s 13 tracks. Even more, the seven tracks that stand out on the album (for me) are all her compositions, Helena, with a gentle bossa beat, Je n’aime pas, Lobo, Andei procurando, Endereço, in lively dance tempo, and Ilhabela, which has a touch of tango in the arrangement. And there is a version of fellow expatriate Silvano Michelino’s Sábio Rei. While I don’t know what she’s saying, as music and as performance this is a substantial achievement. As this is a Bia CD there is also present the now expected acknowledgment of influences and admiration, a Gianmaria Testa song (Polvere di gesso), a poem by Chico Buarque (translated as Dans mon coeur), a Henri Salvador composition (J’ai vu) – in Portuguese of course. The most striking track of all is a traditional hymn from the Andes, which Bia calls Inti, a drum based invocation to the sun which is quite hypnotic to listen to. Most well known of the tracks is a Bia composition, Mariana, which found its way onto a Putamayo compilation of so-called ‘lounge music’ but is not as bland as that makes it sound. Overall this is much more focused than Bia’s previous releases, which were all bursting with the richness of the three cultures of Latin America, France and Brazil. Here, on Carmin, we have a Brazilian woman expressing her roots. But unlike other Brazilian music, it’s played by a band of French and French Canadian musicians, and sung partly in French, and features French and Italian and South American composers as well. This is something only Bia can do.
http://www.biamusik.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=84 (song lyrics are on the site as well as sound samples)

Coeur Vagabond of 2006 (“My vagabond heart wants to hold the world inside me” Velloso and Costa, Domingo 1967) looks like a reprise of Bia’s first album, La memoire du vent in that it features a mix of Brazilian and French composers whose songs Bia has translated, singing the Brazilian songs in French and the French ones in Portuguese. It is in fact a very focused album, one whose style is very Brazilian, in the bossa/early MPB style. Composers represented include Laurent Voulzy, his sometime songwriting partner Alain Souchon, Serge Gainsbourg, Henri Salvador, the marvellous Keren Ann Zeidel, Georges Brassens all from France and Michel Rivard from Quebec, and that’s a selection from someone who knows her music. From Brazil, the country of a thousand great singer/songwriters, are composers such as Caetano Veloso (who contributes the album’s title track, a title from the Shy Moon end of his spectrum, not the Estrangeiro end), Chico Buarque and Tom Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes and Baden Powell, and the great Djavan. And Bia Krieger, whose one track is called Bilingue. Standout tracks for me were Buarque and Jobim’s Portrait en noir et blanc, De Moraes and Powell’s Appel, Djavan’s Amour secret and Brassens’ A má reputaçåo. The publishers have tried to make things clear by providing first the song’s title in the language it is sung, then in brackets the original title, so you can see at a glance for example that the Brassens title was originally La mauvaise réputation. Arrangements are minimal, at times only an acoustic guitar, letting the singer’s voice and the melody of the song do the job of gaining the listener’s attention. Dominique Bouzon’s flute is used sparingly but effectively on some tracks. Like a lot of Brazilian music, this is an album that repays more concentrated attention, smooth as a capuccino on the surface, revealing a shy and sudden beauty on repeated listenings.
http://www.biamusik.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=85 (song lyrics are on the site as well as sound samples)

Nocturno was released in 2008, a collaboration between Bia and her producer and bass player Erik West-Millette. The two wrote seven of the album’s 15 songs (including an instrumental number, Coffee in bed), and Bia alone another seven. Also included is a reprise of Yupanqui’s Los Hermanos, heard on the 1996 CD La memoire du vent. The album is a departure from Bia’s earlier work, a sign she is still developing as a songwriter, with arrangements that make use of horns, organ and what sounds like a synthesiser. The album is a low-key, introspective collaboration, as befits its title. Stand out track for me was Bia’s Personne, one of her best songs, backed by clarinet and oboe and withThomas Hellman, a singer from Quebec with a hit album in France, L’Appartement, to his credit, accompanying Bia on vocals. Also notable was the collaborative-written Vehna, a very melodic number with a skillful guitar accompaniment. The album highlights the fact that an important strand of Bia’s work has been collaboration with other musicians, often seen on concert, as in the recent one with Yves Desrosier. Nevertheless, on this album, despite the co-writing with West-Millette, listeners will find Bia’s most personal statement, a melodious, rhythmic, expertly performed meditation.

Composers
Georges Brassens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Brassens
Chico Buarque http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Buarque
Djavan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djavan
Jean Duino http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4bayy_jean-duino-la-complainte-africaine_music
Serge Gainsbourg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Gainsbourg
Jacques Higelin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Higelin
Bruno Martino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Martino
Michel Rivard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Rivard
Henri Salvador http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Salvador
Alain Souchon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Souchon
Gianmaria Testa http://phillipkay.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/gianmaria-testa-sotto-voce/
Caetano Veloso http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caetano_veloso
Laurent Voulzy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Voulzy
Adão Xalebaradã http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adão_Dãxalebaradã
Atahualpa Yupanqui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atahualpa_Yupanqui
Keren Ann Zeidel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keren_Ann_Zeidel
Discography
Bia’s CDs are available through Amazon’s stores, and via several mp3 sites.

La Memoire Du Vent (1996, Saravah)
1 A Volta Do Malandro (Buarque) 2:40
2 Mon Amour (Barouh, Vallejo) 3:01
3 Photo! (Barouh, Mille) 4:42
4 Bárbara (Bia, Buarque) 4:52
5 Estate (Bruqhetti, Martino) 5:23
6 La Nuit des Masques (Barouh, Buarque) 3:24
7 La Grán Péraida de Alhama (Anonyme, Ibañez) 5:15
8 Le Mirior aux Oiseaux (Duino) 4:04
9 La Tour de Constance (Duino) 4:52
10 Un Million d’Etoiles (Bïa) 5:29
11 Los Hermanos (Yupanqui) 3:28
12 Rémi (Bïa, Buarque) 3:19
13 Hasards ou coïncidences (Buarque) 3:50
14 Le Chevalier (Bïa, Buarque) 4:34
15 Por Una Muñeca (Brassens, Pascal) 0:45
16 L’ Horaire et le Temps (Barouh, Vallejo) 7:16
17 Complainte Africaine (Duino) 6:02

Sources (2000, Audiogram)
1 Araurum Kim Kim (Xalebaradã) 4:03
2 Baby Neném (Krieger) 3:22
3 Les Mures Sauvages (Krieger) 3:43
4 Piccoli Fiumi (Testa) 5:56
5 Minha Andorinha (Krieger) 3:43
6 Olga Maria (Krieger) 3:13
7 La Nuit de Mon Amour (Barouh, Duran) 4:06
8 Ballade Pour un Matin (Higelin)/GoldenSlumbers (Lennon, McCartney) 3:18
9 Sonho Meu (Carvalho, Lara) 3:36
10 Complainte Africaine (Duino) 4:59
11 Aunque Es de Noche (de la Cruz, Pradal…) 4:06
12 Sous le Vent du Monde (Krieger) 4:13

Carmin (2003, Saravah)
1 Carmin (Intro) (Galdino, Krieger, West) 0:53
2 Mariana (Krieger) 3:12
3 Polvere Di Gesso (Testa) 4:03
4 Helena (Krieger) 2:39
5 Eu VI (J’Ai Vu) (Krieger, Modo, Salvador) 3:37
6 Je N’Aime Pas (Krieger) 2:41
7 Lobo (Krieger) 2:59
8 Andei Procurando (Krieger) 3:26
9 Sábio Rei (Krieger, Michelino) 3:52
10 Endereço (Krieger) 3:24
11 Ilhabela (Krieger) 3:57
12 Dans Mon Cœur (Terezinha) (Buarque, Krieger) 2:44
13 Inti (Traditonnel Aymara) 11:41

Cœur Vagabond (2006, Sony BMG)
1 Cœur Vagabond [Coração Vagabundo] (Veloso) 3:52
2 Ilha Do Mel [Belle Île En Mer] (Voulzy) 3:01
3 Tão Sentimental [Foule Sentimentale] (Souchon) 3:16
4 Portrait En Noir Et Blanc [Retrato Em Branco E Preto] (Buarque, Jobim) 4:26
5 Água Na Boca [L'eau À La Bouche] (Gainsbourg, Goraguer) 2:44
6 Comme Une Vague [Como Uma Onda] (Motta, Santos) 3:32
7 À La Fontaine [Lavadeira Do Rio] (Lenine, Tavares) 3:48
8 Appel [Apelo] (DeMoraes, Powell) 3:12
9 Como Eu Sonhei [J'ai Tant Rêvé] (Michel, Modo, Salvador) 3:39
10 Amour Secret [Meu Bem-Querer] (Djavan) 2:57
11 Estrela Do Mar [Bille De Verre] (LeForestier, Rivard) 4:09
12 L’ L’échelle De La Douleur [a Dor Na Escala Richter]  (Faraco) 3:01
13 Jardim [Jardin D'hiver] (Biolay, Biolay, Keren Ann Zeidel…) 2:26
14 Bilingue (Krieger) 2:54
15 A Má Reputação [La Mauvaise Réputation](Brassens)2:34

Le Géant de La Forêt (2007, children’s musical)

Nocturno (2008, Audiogram)
1 Feio (Krieger, West-Millette) 4:10
2 Caminhar (Krieger) 3:19
3 Nocturno (Krieger, West-Millette) 1:52
4 Vehna (Krieger, West-Millette) 3:13
5 Personne (Krieger) 3:46
6 Vento (Krieger, Papasoff) 4:16
7 Momento de Graça (Krieger) 1:52
8 Sombres (Krieger) 0:58
9 Revolta (Krieger) 3:32
10 Coffee in Bed (Krieger, West-Millette) 1:24
11 Madalena (Krieger) 3:06
12 Los Hermanos (Yupanqui) 3:27
13 Exil (Krieger, West-Millette) 5:03
14 Foi a Flor (Krieger, West-Millette) 3:48
15 Mes Zaricots (Krieger, West Millette) 7:41

©2011 Original material copyright Phillip Kay. Images and other material courtesy Creative Commons. Please inform post author of any violation.

Singers from Brazil

In Brazil popular music can be an unexpected mix of jazz, folk, pop and rock, genres which are usually kept separate in American popular music. The big names, some of whom have been around since the 60s or before, are joined each year by new stars and each has their following. Some musical styles are very local, others spread throughout the culture. The result of all this, for listeners, is exhilarating. Brazilian pop is smart, sophisticated, rhythmic and sometimes raucous. I couldn’t possibly list even a fraction of the interesting performers, so I’ve collected some information on some of my favourites. sample sounds

Adriana Calcanhotto
Born 1965 in Porto Alegre, Adriana’s melancholic songs are most often categorized as being from the MPB (popular music) genre. She started her professional career in 1984 and released her first studio album in 1990. Of her nine albums, 5 have been gold and two, Perfil and Cantada, have been platinum.

Alcione
Born 1947 in Sao Luis, Maranhao, Alcione (Birth Name: Alcione Nazaré) has won 19 gold records and two platinum records. Alcione recorded her first single in Brazil in 1972. In 1975, she recorded her first LP, A Voz do Samba. It became her first gold record.

Ana Carolina
Born Juiz de Fora, September 9, 1974, Ana Carolina Sousa released her first CD in 1999. In 2003 she released her third, Estampado and in 2004 she performed a show with Seu Jorge. The song, “É Isso Aí” reached the #1 spot on the charts. She released her 6th album, Dois Quartos 2008.

Antonio Carlos Jobim
Born January 25, 1927 in Rio de Janeiro, died December 8, 1994 in New York City, also known as Tom, Jobim was a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. A primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, Jobim is acknowledged as one of the most influential popular composers of the 20th century.

Beatriz Azevedo
Poet, singer and composer Beatriz Azevedo is a multi talented artist who uses samba, bossa nova, afoxé, xaxado and maxixe and other traditional rhythms to create a contemporary, seductive and truly personal style. “Bum Bum do Poeta” was her debut CD. “Mapa-Mundi (samba and poetry)” is her latest release.

Bebel Gilberto
Born Isabel Gilberto on May 12, 1966 in New York City, Bebel is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque. Bebel has been performing since her youth in Rio de Janeiro.

Beth Carvalho
Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho (born May 5, 1946 in Rio de Janeiro) is a samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer. Beth has celebrated the work of legendary composers such as Cartola, Nelson Cavaquinho & Guilherme de Brito, at a time when they were neglected.

Bia
Bia is a Brazilian-born singer currently living in France. Bia sings in several languages, creating tasty mixes between Bossa Nova, Samba and Pop, all sung in a South-American way.

Caetano Veloso
Born Aug 07, 1942 in Santo Amaro da Purificação. A true heavyweight, Caetano Veloso is a pop musician/poet/filmmaker/political activist whose stature among international pop musicians is on a par with that of Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and Lennon/McCartney. He has made 50 albums, created a new style in Brazilian pop music (tropicalia), influenced a generation of singers and composers and remains totally original.

Cassia Eller
Born December 10, 1962 , died December 29, 2001. Cássia Rejane Eller was born in Rio de Janeiro but spent most of her adolescence in Brasília. Eller is known for her fusion of rock and MPB, and for her extremely deep and husky singing voice. Eller died in December 29, 2001. Her death was found to be due to a heart condition.

Ceumar
Ceumar’s (born Ceumar Coelho) debut album Dindinha, released in 1995, is an acoustic Brazilian pop classic. The daughter of a multi-instrumentalist and singer, Ceumar was born in the interior of Brazil, south of Minas Gerais. Ceumar’s most ambitious project was 30 Musicas Que Voce No Radio (30 Songs That You Won’t Hear on Radio).

Ceu
Céu’s full name is Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças. She is a singer-songwriter whose first album was released in April 2007. Born around 1980 into a musical São Paulo, Brazil, family, her father was a composer, arranger and musicologist. Her songs reveal her many influences, which include samba, valsa, choro, soul, rhythm and blues, hip hop, afrobeat and electrojazz music.

Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born June 19, 1944 in Rio de Janeiro), popularly known as Chico Buarque, is a singer, composer, dramatist and writer, one of the country’s greatest singer-songwriters and interpreters of the samba.

Cibelle
Cibelle Cavalli Bastos was born in Sao Paulo. She met the then-unknown Yugoslavian DJ Suba and worked on an album with him, São Paulo Confessions. Cibelle appeared on guitarist and singer/songwriter Celso Fonseca’s 2003 album, Natural, and released her self-titled debut album. She followed up in 2004 with her EP About a Girl, and in 2006, Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, which featured duets with Seu Jorge and Devendra Banhart.

Clara Nunes                                                                                                                             Clara Francisca Nunes Pinheiro (1943-1983) became known as a samba singer. Her rhythms were inspired by her religion, Candomblé. She was recognised as one of the top three “Samba Queens” with a huge following. In 1983 she died during surgery. Com vida is a tribute album on which the most prominent singers from Brazil duet with her recorded voice, singing some of her best loved songs.

Eliana Printes
Eliana Printes is a singer/songwriter. Her first CD, Eliana Printes (1994), was nominated by the Sharp Awards as the best new MPB CD of the year. Later in that year, her third CD, O Próximo Beijo, had two hit songs, “Sobre o Tempo” and “Você e Eu”.

Eliane Elias
Eliane Elias (born March 19, 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a consummate Brazillian jazz pianist, arranger, vocalist and songwriter. Elias has lived and worked in New York City since 1981. Her music is readily recognizable by her mature command of jazz harmonies, her rich blending of rhythmic styles, and (occasionally) her soft, warm voice.

Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa, known simply as Elis Regina (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982) was a singer of popular music who achieved great success and recognition during her lifetime. She remains one of the most popular and beloved stars in Brazil today.

Gal Costa
Born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos September 26, 1945 in Salvador, Gal became one of Brazil’s foremost female Tropicalismo movement singers and guitar players during the late 1960s and 70s. Along with her friend Maria Bethânia, she became a political activist. She has made over 30 albums.

Ivete Sangalo
Born May 27, 1972 in Juazeiro, Bahia, Ivete is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian axé and MPB singer, songwriter, and occasional actress. She is arguably the most popular and best-selling Brazilian female singer of the present, with six albums released with Banda Eva, and seven more albums in a solo career. Ivete is most often recognized by her powerful voice, charisma and live performances. Her music is also popular in Portugal.

João Bosco
João Bosco de Freitas Mucci, better known as João Bosco, is a famous MPB singer, guitarist, and composer. Born on July 13, 1946, in Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, Joäo Bosco’s profession was engineering when he moved to Rio de Janeiro. He soon became admired as a virtuoso vocalist and a dynamic performer. Joäo Bosco has been noted for “his singular fusion between the Arab culture, Afro-American music and the Brazilian style bossa nova,” influenced by American jazz.

Joyce
Joyce Silveira Palhano de Jesus, commonly known as Joyce, is a singer/songwriter, as well as an accomplished guitarist and arranger. She was born in Rio de Janeiro on January 31, 1948. Joyce premiered in the late 60s, and since then has recorded over 20 solo albums. Much of Joyce’s work has been compared to the early boom of the jazz fusion scene in the U.S.

Leila Pinheiro
Leila Pinheiro moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1979 and recorded her first album, Leila Pinheiro, with guests Tom Jobim, João Donato, Ivan Lins, Francis Hime, and Toninho Horta. In 1989 she recorded and released a bossa nova album which sold a total of 200,000 copies, the biggest sales of a bossa nova album in Brazil until then. In 1993, her album Coisas do Brasil won a gold record as did next year’s Isso é Bossa Nova.

Lisa Ono
Lisa Ono (小野リサ, Ono Risa) is a popular Japanese bossa nova singer. She was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1962 but moved with her family to Tokyo at the age of 10. From that time on she spent half of every year in Japan, and half in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She became a type of MPB (Brazil Popular Music) ambassador in Japan. Besides singing, Lisa Ono plays the guitar and is a songwriter. Her first album, Catupiry, was released in 1989.

Maria Bethania
Maria Bethânia (full name: Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso) is a Brazilian singer, sister of Caetano Veloso, born 18 June 1946 in Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia, Brazil. She started her career in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro with the show Opinião (Opinion). With her strong, low-key voice and dramatic interpretation, she is the second best selling Brazilian female singer of all time, with more than 26 million albums sold.

Maria Rita
Maria Rita (born September 19 1977 in São Paulo, Brazil) is the performance name of Maria Rita Mariano, the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to Pedro Mariano. Maria Rita began singing professionally at the age of 24. Her first CD, Maria Rita, went platinum and was a hit worldwide, making her an international star. Rita is pronounced “Hee-Ta”.

Monica Salmaso
Mônica Salmaso recorded the CDs Canções de Ninar and Canções de Brincar (Paulo Tatit/Sandra Peres), both winners of the Sharp award in 1995 and 1997 as Best Children’s CDs. In 1999, she won the Prêmio Visa MPB – Vocal Edition. With her third CD, Voadeira, she won the APCA award as Best Singer of the Year; the album was judged the best feminine solo album of the year.

Mylene Pires
Mylene’s first album was released in 2003. Called Mylene, it is downtempo Brazilian popular music (MPB) with a nicely contemporary electronic edge.

Nana Caymmi
Full name Dinahir Tostes Caymmi. The daughter of singers Dorival Caymmi and Stella Maris (Adelaide Tostes Caymmi), Nana Caymmi is an established singer on her own, with an extensive discography and two gold records. Nana debuted on record in Dorival Caymmi’s album Acalanto (1961). She moved to Rio in June 1966 and became involved with the Tropicalia movement. She met Gilberto Gil and eventually they became informally married, with general scandal, as she was white and he, black.

Rabo de Lagartixa
A choro group formed in Rio de Janeiro in the 1990s by Daniela Spielmann (soprano and alto saxes), Alessandro Valente (cavaquinho), Marcello Gonçalves (seven-string guitar), and Alexandre Brasil (acoustic/electric basses), Rabo de Lagartixa launched its first album in 1998 with the participation of Elza Soares and Pedro Luís e a Parede.

Rosani Reis
Rosani Reis is a Brazilian singer who lives and works in Germany. She has released two CDs with a bossa nova/jazz fusion style, in 1991 Cafuso and in 2001 Mosaico. She also performs with the a capella group Chocolat.

Sabrina Malheiros
Born in Rio about 1983, Sabrina presents a mix of bossa and samba with touches of hip-hop, r’nb and electronica. She is the daughter of Alex Malheiros, bassist from legendary Brazilian band Azymuth. ‘Equilibria’ is her debut recording. Sabrina’s follow up album is ‘New Morning’, an album of bossa – soul that mixes bossa, samba, disco and house together to create a sophisticated and sublime album.

Sambaguru
Featuring Katia Moraes, Sambaguru is an ensemble of six musicians from Brazil, Sri Lanka, and the United States, who have been playing a wide-ranging blend of Brazilian music since 1997. It is a vibrant band that produces an upbeat world music experience of remarkable depth and quality.

Silvana Malta
Silvana Malta was born in 1960 in the town of Marília, in the Brazilian state of Sâo Paulo. In style, Silvana Malta is lyrical and relaxed, singing mainly in the softer end of the classic bossa nova and samba genres. She describes herself as a Brazilian jazz singer, and her trademark is a sensual and melancholic expression, recognisable from the very first notes.

Simone
Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira has recorded more than 31 albums, increasingly abandoning her repertory of compositions by João Bosco/ldir Blanc, Geraldo Vandré, Chico Buarque, and Milton Nascimento in favor of mainstream romantic songs, with which she has enjoyed international success. She recorded her first LP, Simone, in 1973. She has performed before audiences of 15,000 or more at the Morumbi stadium. Her voice is distinctively low in tone. She also sings in Spanish and English.

Sylvia Patricia
Sylvia Patricia Cesar Pires Valença was born in Salvador Bahia, 21 March. Her parents are Gutembergue de Araújo Valença y Maria Aldinar César Pires Valença. She has released six CDs, most recently No Rádio da Minha Cabeça in 2006. One of most important composers and singers from Bahia-Brazil, Sylvia mixes Bossa Nova and Brazilian Rhythms with Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll.

Tania Maria
Tania Maria (b. May 9, 1948 in Sao Luis) is a singer, composer, bandleader and piano player, singing mostly in Portuguese or English. Her music is mostly vocal, sometimes pop, often jazzy, and unmistakably Brazilian. Whether playing fiery samba, tranquil bossa, Afro-Latin, Pop and Jazz Fusion, or any other style, she maintains a style that is uniquely her own. Her vibrant voice, brilliant piano work and outstanding performances have made her an artist of international popularity.

Vania Abreu
Vania Abreu was born on May 30, 1967 as Vania Mercury de Almeida. She is the younger sister of Daniela Mercury. Abreu began her professional performances in 1986 as a back up singer for the band, Gerônimo, in Salvador. The next year she released her self-titled album, “Vania Abreu”. Her most critically-acclaimed album to date is “Seio da Bahia,” where Vania sings classic songs from Bahia.

Wanda Sá
Wanda started her professional career at 19 with Wanda Vagamente (1964), featuring the earliest compositions by Edú Lobo, Francis Hime, and Marcos Valle. By the end of the same year she joined Sérgio Mendes’ Brasil ’65 (with Rosinha de Valença and Jorge Ben Jor). Married to Edú Lobo from 1969 to 1982, a period in which she left the scene, Sá returned in the late ’80s, performing shows with Roberto Menescal and Mièle, recording Brasileiras in 1994 with Célia Vaz.

Zelia Duncan
Zélia Cristina Duncan, simply known as Zélia Duncan (Niterói, October 28 1964) is a Brazilian pop singer. In 2006, she replaced Rita Lee as the vocalist in the reunion of the band Os Mutantes.

Zizi Possi
Zizi recorded her first album (Flor do Mal) in Rio in 1978. Her first hit was the title track of her second album, Pedaço de Mim (Chico Buarque). The LP Estrebucha Baby (1989) represented a different, almost experimental phase. She recorded the album Sobre Todas As Coisas in 1991. Valsa Brasileira (1993) had two hits, “Bom Dia” (Swami Jr./ Paulo Freire) and “Lamento” (Pixinguinha).

©2009 Original material copyright Phillip Kay. Images and other material courtesy Creative Commons. Please inform post author of any violation.