Magazine Articles Daniella Thompson Cartola • Plain João: The Man Who Invented Bossa Nova He’s been called O Rei da Bossa, O Mito, Il Maestro Supremo, and O Zen-Baiano. He’s been widely gossiped about throughout his long career. Hailed as a genius, clucked over as a reclusive eccentric, and arguably the most enigmatic Brazilian alive, João Gilberto continues to confound his countrymen forty years after he burst upon the public scene and changed Brazilian music forever. Brazzil, May 1998 • Magic Marcos Marcos Sacramento is creating new samba hybrids. Marcos Sacramento is breathing new life into old sambas. He’s a voyager who gazes forward and backward at the same time. And the voice—that glorious voice! [article with interviews, disc reviews, discography, and song lyrics] Brazzil, February 1999 • Independent in Rio When record companies view good music as a liability, artists have no choice but to take matters into their own hands. [interview with songwriter/guitarist/singer Dil Fonseca] Brazzil, March 1999 • Independent in Rio, Pt. 2 More and more artists are taking control of their own recordings. Rita Peixoto and Carlos Fuchs have taken self-production several steps further. [article with interviews, discography, and song lyrics] Brazzil, April 1999 • Vocal Power Vocal groups are hot again, and Arranco is the hottest of them all. The good news about vocal arrangements is that what still works best is good old samba. Arranco de Varsóvia adds its own flavor to a long and distinguished line of samba ensembles. [article with interviews, discography, and song lyrics] Brazzil, May 1999 • Rio When It Drizzles Rio de Janeiro is a delightful place to visit in the fall—Brazilian fall, that is. Brazzil, June 1999 • Against the Tide They’re young. They’re white. They’re middle-class. Why are they playing traditional samba? What is this anomaly known as Família Roitman? [article with interviews, discography, and song lyrics] Brazzil, July 1999 • Let There Be Lumiar How a guitar teacher turned a fledgling publishing firm into the cultural powerhouse known as Lumiar Discos & Editora. [article with disc reviews] Brazzil, December 1999 • More of Lessa Instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and now singer Rodrigo Lessa has his fingers in many pies, all bursting with multiple flavors. [interview, disc reviews discography, and song lyrics] Brazzil, January 2000 • Stalking Stokowski Once upon a time, an American record company got its hands on some rare and wonderful Brazilian music and made it even rarer. This is the story of my hunt for Native Brazilian Music. Brazzil, February 2000 • Choro, Inc. The uniquely Brazilian musical genre known as choro is the big star of new label Acari Records. [article and interviews with Luciana Rabello, Mauricio Carrilho, and Alvaro Carrilho & disc reviews] Brazzil, April 2000 • Jazzing It An arbitrary look at that nebulous musical form known as Brazilian jazz. [article with nine disc reviews and song lyrics] Brazzil, September 2000 • Alvaro Carrilho [entrevista em português/interview in Portuguese with the choro flutist] Agenda do Samba & Choro, November 2000 • Mauricio Carrilho [entrevista em português/interview in Portuguese with the guitarist/composer/arranger] Agenda do Samba & Choro, November 2000 • Luciana Rabello [entrevista em português/interview in Portuguese with the cavaquinho virtuosa and composer] Agenda do Samba & Choro, November 2000 • Song of the South How a city with no indigenous cultural roots is creating a musical legacy. [new music in Curitiba—article with reviews of several artists’ discs, an interview with Carlos Careqa, and song lyrics] Brazzil, December 2000 • An American Malandro Rick Warm’s record label is the hardest-working malandro around. [article with interview and disc reviews] Brazzil, April 2001 • An American Malandro, Pt. 2 Richard Boukas talks about life, music, and the lure of the Brazilian. [interview with the guitarist/composer/vocalist] Brazzil, May 2001 • Filling the VVoid José Carlos Costa Netto’s independent label Dabliú Discos champions the less obvious in popular music. [article, interviews with J.C. Costa Netto and Eduardo Gudin, disc reviews, and song lyrics] Brazzil, July 2001 • Discografia essenziale dello choro [essential choro discography] Musibrasil.net, October 2001 • Guinga Rising Thirty-four years into his career, the composer finally looms larger than his interpreters. [article with interviews, disc reviews, discography, and song lyrics] Brazzil, November 2001 • Curitiba, quel suono dal Sud, Pt. 1 [Italian version of Song of the South] Musibrasil.net, November 2001 • Curitiba, quel suono dal Sud, Pt. 2 [Italian version of Song of the South] Musibrasil.net, December 2001 • Let’s Hear It for Jobim On O Mestre Leo Peracchi and Francis Hime’s Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro de São Sebastião. Brazzil, June/July 2002 • Jazzing It, Pt. 1 Sguardo arbitrario a quella nebulosa chiamata “Jazz brasiliano”. Musibrasil.net, July/August 2002 • Jazzing It, Pt. 2 Sguardo arbitrario alla galassia musicale conosciuta come “Jazz brasiliano”. Musibrasil.net, September 2002 • From Cabaret to Syllables Singer Suzana Salles conquers on two parallel fronts. [article, interview, and song lyrics] Brazzil, December 2002 • Ary Barroso’s herbal bath How a young composer found fame and fortune. Brazzil, April 2003 • More than Jobim’s alter ego There have been speculations about Newton Mendonça’s songwriting abilities. Would he have measured up without Tom as his partner? Brazzil, May 2003 • Ary Barroso’s unknown album Researcher Omar Jubran has been working on the Ary Barroso project for about ten years now. However, securing a release for the projected 20-CD collection isn’t so simple, as sponsorship has yet to be found, notwithstanding Ary Barroso’s centennial, which occurs this year. Brazzil, July 2003 • Minimalist Luciana Luciana Souza has miraculously managed to elude the trap thatbesets so many of her fellow culture-crossing artists. Singingin English she manages a neutral accent that allows the songs to shine unmolested. A key ingredient in the formula is the singer's absolute restraint at all times. Brazzil, July 2003 • Carmen Miranda’s Embolada Riddle No one thought anything of it when Chico Alves’ disc came out, nor six years later, when Almirante recorded the same tune. Thewhole matter would never have erupted into controversy had it not been for Carmen Miranda. It was the song’s inclusion in a Hollywood film and the hoped-for rich royalties that caused the ruckus. Brazzil, August 2003 • When Europe Discovered the Sounds of Brazil The Romeu Silva band’s success in Europe led to further international tours. In 1932, Romeu Silva left for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles with the Brazilian Olympic Band. In 1935 he returned to Brazil, bringing along several American band members, including Booker Pitman and the crooner Louis Cole. Brazzil, December 2003 • Gabriel Grossi: Brazilian Harmonica Wunderkind Brazilian Gabriel Grossi’s debut disc offers a mixture of the classic and the avant-garde laced with jazzy improvisations and demonstrating a high level of virtuosity and versatility. Grossi offers a bit of the old, a lot of the new, tossed together with a dash of the unexpected. It’s an auspicious debut and then some. Brazzil, December 2003 • Assorted Brazilian Biscuits Given the brushoff by BMG, singer Maria Bethânia signed withBiscoito Fino and began releasing the kind of music she likes to do.Her double CD Maricotinha Ao Vivo did so well that she followed it up with a religious album that few in the industry would havethought commercial. It’s excellent. Brazzil, February 2004 • Is Elis & Tom, Special Edition, Worth the Trouble? How many people will want to pay for a DVD-CD combo when their equipment is capable of playing only the CD? It’s wonderful to know that a superior version is available. But until the rest of us are sufficiently equipped, Philips and Trama would be well advised to bring out a stand-alone CD with the bonus track. Brazzil, September 2004 • Eighteen assorted reviews & articles Brazzil, Sept.–Nov. 2004 • Carmen: The Unhappy Hollywood Life of Brazil’s Shiniest Star Brazzil, 25 January 2006 • Brazil’s Number 1 Songbook Reviser Loves His Thankless Job Brazzil, 5 November 2006   Copyright © 1998–2020 Daniella Thompson. All rights reserved.