Giramundo

CIM7021 2006-05-09

Track List

Giramundo - 4:01
Roda Viva - 3:32
De Graça - 3:32
Bola - 3:40
Bicho Do Mato - 4:55
Outra Margem Do Rio - 4:20
Assalto - 3:14
Pensamento 4 - 4:26
Mundo Cane - 4:26
Sólida Pedra - 4:50
Estrela Pop - 3:45
Ninguém Manda - 2:58
O Tempo Pifa - 3:40
Seu Lugar - 2:40

Musicians

Fernanda Porto - voacal, saxophone & all other instruments
Will Calhoun - drums
Doug Wimbish - bass
Ulisses Rocha - guitar
Cesar Camargo Mariano - keyboards
Fernando Moraes - percussions
Marcio Forte - percussions

This is Fernanda Porto's second solo release. After the 105,000 copies selling drum'n'bass influenced Fernanda Porto, the talented multi-instrumentalist is taking her music a giant step forward. The renowned rhythm tandem from the band Living Colour, Will Calhoun (drums) and Doug Wimbish (bass), was invited after Fernanda met them while they were touring through Brazil. They saw the challenge and seized the opportunity without diffidence. Their participation maybe makes the disc sound less Brazilian, but the compositions and the performance definitely link the album to Brazil. Guitarist Ulisses Rocha (Rio, 1960) does a terrific job with that. Brazil's musical icon Cesar Camargo Mariano adds keyboards, often a playful organ. Fernando Moraes and Marcio Forte are the perfect percussionists for this music.

On the opening track "Giramundo," Moraes accompanies Fernanda very accurately. Fernanda Porto plays all other instruments, like she did on her first album. The next track surprisingly features Chico Buarque, a less obvious name to encounter on an album like this. He's a guest in his own composition "Roda Viva," which gets a pleasant drum'n'bass arrangement. Unfortunately the song gets bogged down into a too much repeated theme line. Then the album really starts. A catchy reggae "Da Graça" followed by the up-tempo smash "Bola," about Fernanda's passion for soccer, the game she used to play during her childhood with the boys on the streets. Two beautiful ballads follow. "Outra Margem do Rio" sounds very delicate, especially when Fernanda plays the soprano saxophone, clearly referring to the great Wayne Shorter. The music is written around a poem by Martha Medeiros (a poet from Porto Alegre). The ballads are followed by two pure rock tunes, among which "Pensamento 4," which Fernanda wrote on a poem by Arnaldo Antunes. "Mundo Cane" is the highlight of this album. The composition, again written in function of a poem (by Chacal, from Rio), is built to a climax that features Ulisses Rocha, solidly supported by Japanese percussion (taiko drums) and Fernanda's acoustic piano . It is followed by the most beautiful track on the album, "Sólida Pedra." This song about the delicacy of love is performed with the most possible sensitivity, underlined by the brushes from Calhoun. A touching piano solo (Mariano) and the soprano sax again reminds of the sound of Wayne Shorter, who clearly influenced Fernanda Porto in her talent on the soprano sax. The next set of compositions is made to dance. The organ on "Estrela Pop" is delightful and invites to dance, along with the funky rhythm. "Ninguém Manda" is a pleasant up-tempo contemporary samba. The song is followed by a rock'n'roll influenced "Tempo Pifa," where Fernanda's alto sax refers to that era of music. The album closes with a ballad on which Fernanda accompanies herself on the acoustic piano. A beautiful and intimate love song. Well chosen to close the album with, because it leaves the listener with the feeling to listen to those beautiful ballads on the album all over again.