Magazine Articles
Cartola Plain João: The Man Who Invented Bossa Nova
Hes been called O Rei da Bossa, O Mito, Il Maestro Supremo, and O Zen-Baiano. Hes 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.
Hes a voyager who gazes forward and backward at the same time. And the voicethat 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 fallBrazilian fall, that is.
Brazzil, June 1999 Against the Tide
Theyre young. Theyre white. Theyre 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 Curitibaarticle with reviews of several artists discs,
an interview with Carlos Careqa, and song lyrics]
Brazzil, December 2000 An American Malandro
Rick Warms 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 Nettos 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 Lets Hear It for Jobim
On O Mestre Leo Peracchi and Francis Himes
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 Barrosos herbal bath
How a young composer found fame and fortune.
Brazzil, April 2003 More than Jobims alter ego
There have been speculations about Newton Mendonças songwriting abilities. Would he have measured up without Tom as his partner?
Brazzil, May 2003 Ary Barrosos 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 isnt so simple, as sponsorship has yet to be found, notwithstanding Ary Barrosos 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 Mirandas 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 songs 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 bands 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 Grossis 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. Its 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. Its 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? Its 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 Brazils Shiniest Star
Brazzil, 25 January 2006 Brazils Number 1 Songbook Reviser Loves His Thankless Job
Brazzil, 5 November 2006
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