Nothing is obvious in Alzira E's music. Hidden clues in the game of words and sounds always blosoms whenever you put on her records. For those who are listening to her songs carefully, the message is revelead and the missing pieces of a great puzzle gets completed. And that's the fun of the thing. It was always like that, when the "sul-mato-grossense" (a person who comes from the south of Mato Grosso, a brazilian state) singer/composer met the genious Itamar Assumpção. Or when, in 2005, she got together in a album, 15 years of songs with her partner Alice Ruiz. And, that's how she still does things, in this new period of her career, when she develops songs with her new partner Arruda. And from this partnership came two beautiful songs that Alzira sang specially for us, in a sunny day in a park.
SIDE A - CHEGA DISSO (enough of this) july 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on a square
"Chega disso" , our side A, was recorded and released this year in a DVD that registers Zélia Duncan' show "Pré Pós Tudo Bossa Band" (Pre Post Everything Bossa Band) and it was never heard in Alzira's voice, until now.
SIDE B - DIZ (tell me) july 2007 - são paulo (sp) - under a tree
"Diz", the side B, is one of the 11 tracks from the recently released "Alzira E", the new album of the singer, that all the songs was inspired by Arruda's poems.
We're from São Paulo, but, in pocket music, there wasn't any artist from SP... yet. Arnaldo Antunes is from SP, so surely, we did something in a place that was iconic: the old downtown.
He composes with a guitar, but he never plays it on stage, usually he dances and jumps a lot. But, here, he chose to take a chance and play two songs with his guitar to go along with his strong and deep voice.
Arnaldo has an extensive cv, it goes from his participation in a popular brazilian band called Titãs, going to an extensive solo project, which includes soundtracks and music for ballets, to his participation in other super popular brazilian trio called Tribalistas (with Marisa Monte & Carlinhos Brown). So, there was much to choose from.
But we wanted more, so we asked him a never-heard-before-song. And we've had it!
SIDE A - VÁ TRABALHAR (go to work) august/2007 - são paulo (sp) - in the vale
"Vá trabalhar" (Arnaldo Antunes) is our never-heard-before-side A-shot in the old downtown of São Paulo. He's in a place called "Vale do Anhangabaú", a wide kind of square. It's a song that, according to Arnaldo, was made years ago when he was part of Titãs, but they never recorded it. It talks about the hole that you can get into, when you start working and forget about your family.
SIDE B - VOLTE PARA O SEU LAR (go back to your home) august/2007 - são paulo (sp) - in a place under construction
And in our side B, Arnaldo gets into a hole to play a song that says to a leader to go back home, in its superficial essence, of course. It's a song that has been recorded by Marisa Monte in her album "Mais" (1991) and in Arnaldo's "Um som" (1998). He recovers, here, the first arrangement of the song when he presented to Marisa, 16 years ago.
China is from Recife and was part of a band called Sheik Tosado in the 90's. Since then, he left his own mark on the stage. You never know where he is, because he's always jumping, running, sliding and dancing, dancing, dancing.
Today, Sheik Tosado does not exist anymore, so, China divides his time between his solo career and the lead vocal for a band called Del Rey. Alone, he's preparing his sophomore album with his own songs. With Del Rey, a project with the boys from Mombojó, he's doing shows all over Brazil singing the amazing songs of Roberto Carlos. And, always, dancing, dancing, dancing.
So, Pocket music presents the opposite of this China. Just voice and guitar, one thing that he claims he never does in public. China sings two songs with a bossa nova style, sitting down and restrained like we've never seen him before.
SIDE A - CANÇÃO QUE NÃO MORRE NO AR (a song that doesn't die in the air) may/2007 - são paulo (sp) - in the bathroom
"Canção que não morre no ar" (China/ Bruno Ximarú) is our never heard before side A, but, soon it will be released in China's next album. It was made in a bathroom, because China said that's the place where he likes to compose his songs, because of the acoustic and the intimacy of the place. This song talks about being imortal in a song that could never die in the air, so, we had to recorded it in order to keep it surviving.
SIDE B - ANTI-HERÓI (anti-hero) may 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on the stage
"Anti-herói" (China) is our sweet side B. It is a sweet and personal lullaby that he talks a little about him and he dedicated it to his children, Matheus and Tom. He doesn't intend to record it, so this is a unique moment for him and for us, too, in a empty stage of Studio SP, between some instruments and a wide view of the night lights of São Paulo.
Pocket Music (Música de Bolso) is a brazilian website that cointains "videos to hear and music to see". Daniel, Rafael and Tati are filmakers who are capturing with a camera different kind of artists playing music in unusual places and with a lot of spontaneity, with a help from the cultural journalist Marcus Preto. It's a union of an acoustic pocket show in unexpected brazilian places and a one shot live video with a touch of documentary. Every week we post one volume of the project that is kind of a 7"(virtual)vynil with 2 videos (a side A and a side B). Unfortunatelly, the website is only available in portuguese. But you can always take a chance and check it out: www.musicadebolso.com.br This blog is a compilation of all the videos available in the website. Enjoy them! (The videos are produced by Ioiô Filmes, sound by Geraldo Ribeiro & Fernando Duca and design by Camisa 10)
