The Altered State of RH+

RH+ is an alt rock band from Chile that just released its U.S. debut Quintana Roo (Nacional Records). They concoct a sound that's as expansive as their country's wildly diverse geography. Hopscotching through the sonic equivalents of their narrow topography of extremes, their ambient, aural landscapes are urban, glacial, and trippy - the last description ties in nicely with the Atacama desert, where the native hallucinogen known as San Pedro (Peyote in Mexico) grows abundantly. RH+'s mind-altering froth isn't as potent as San Pedro, but it's enough to get you fantasizing about being stranded in a desert where shamans once roamed. You can read my entire review of Quintana Roo in Spanish in El Nuevo Herald.
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/entretenimiento/musica/story/397284.html

The Sounds of Brazil at SXSW

As the number of Latin bands performing at SXSW continues to make impressive gains, this year marks a notable upsurge in Brazilian artists. Close to 30 bands have been confirmed to play at Austin's yearly indie music fest (March 18-22), bumping Brazil up among the top five foreign countries with the largest contingents to descend on Texas' coolest city. Many of them are going the route of Sao Paulo electro-pop darlings CSS, by singing in english. From the cute alterna-pop of Ceara's own Telerama to the irreverent alt-rock of Vinil Laranja, a band from Belem, this year's lineup reflects the diversity of a new generation of Brazilian artists who no longer feel pigeonholed by the sheer size of their country and its linguistic isolation within Latin America. I spoke to publicist Tracy Mann of MG Limited to get the lowdown on the Brazilian invasion. Mann, a SXSW consultant, is an authority on Brazilian music who has worked tirelessly to raise its profile in the U.S.

GGC: Why has there been such an increase in the number of Brazilian bands coming to SXSW?

TM: Because my partner, Mark and I, we’re independent consultants at SXSW and public relations and we have been on two trade missions to Brazil in 2007 and 2008, specifically to see bands and meet independent labels and in 2008 Brent Grulke, creative director for SXSW also went with us on one of these trips. So a lot of these bands that you’re seeing are prior bands that either we actually saw when we were in Brazil or we met with their representative and it generated a lot of interest at SXSW.

GGC: Now was Gilbert Gil’s appearance at SXSW a few years ago any indicator that there would be more representation of Brazilian music? Was it in any way a turning point that made you all realize ‘hey this could be something that could take off. We have all of these Latin acts from different countries in Latin America and there’s not as much Brazilian music. Why don’t we go out and find them?’

TM: I’ve lived in Brazil since the 70s and I’ve known Gilberto Gil since that time. And I’ve been working with Brazilian acts touring nationally in the U.S. or releasing records. I certainly wanted to bring that into the excitement I think and the fantastic commercial opportunity at SXSW. I’ve been going to Austin for 23 years so I knew that there was an audience for Brazilian music. I mean they have amazing things there Lissette. They have the biggest Brazilian library archives in the world at the University of Texas library. They have an escola de samba made up of all gringos, you know capoeira school all gringos and when we gave Gil the key to the city in 2007 I mean they had this huge display of capoeira and samba and there was one actual Brazilian in the crowd. So it seemed like a great, very hospitable place to have particularly younger bands come in and get their feet wet in the American market. I would say the real turning point was the year before Gil came when we brought Lenine. And Mark and I and a partner actually financed that cause there was no way to bring him and we were working with him and we were just dying to have him and he played a showcase and it was just you know an incredible thing. He got a booking agent, he got IMN it’s his booking agency, right away, and got all this kind of attention and it was really, really good.

GGC: So you were also directly involved in bringing Gil in 2007?

TM: Yes, yes, because I was working on that record at the time, Gil Luminoso. You know I suggested it and he was coming, it was right when he was starting that tour. I brought it to his attention and I asked him if he would come.

GGC: Let’s talk about some of the bands you’ve listed, there’s too many to obviously name them all. Are there any there that you recognize that you could talk about, or that you’re familiar with?

TM: Well, first of all, I mean to me Patu Fu is just fabulous. They have a long career in Brazil already. They’re post-modern pop, they’re very cool, so definitely one of my picks. But what I wanted to say was that the diversity of music is what blows my mind. I would say a good half of these people sing in English, they deal in alternative rock that people could identify with any number of countries, it’s really not specifically Brazil, they sing less world music per se; people are doing a lot of interesting hybrids, a lot of punk rock in this line up. It’s very interesting.

GCC: During your two recent trade missions in 2007 and 2008, were you able to detect any trends? I know Brazil is such a huge country and to talk about it in monolithic terms is impossible, but are there any trends, specifically with the younger generation, of course the whole thing about the hybridity in music, there’s no such thing as purists in music any more, there is no such things as genres, but were there any trends that you were able to detect while you were there?

TM: Well I would say particularly traveling in the northeast the techno brega continues to be really big and there are a lot of sort of like garage gatherings late at night where people play it all night long.

GGC: And is that going to be reflected at all at SXSW?

TM: There’s no techno brega, there’s one brega, but it’s not techno and that would be La Pupuna, they’re from Belem.

GGC: It’s always been said that Brazilian music is so insular due to the sheer size of the country the market there can support its own vast industry. Has that changed in the last several years as we see more music being exported?

TM:You know I was just really very impressed by stories people told us, in fact from bands that aren’t being represented at SXSW. The people who are doing a great business via MySpace and they’re getting signed to U.S. and Canadian labels just on the basis of the music that they’re putting up on their MySpace. I think that, you know especially with Gil’s leadership on this, I think that Brazilian musicians are very far in thinking in terms of how to use the Internet as a method of communication and they sort of understand that they’re in a somewhat isolated spot, that this is their best tool to reach into the outside world and they’re really into that. I mean a number of these bands that are coming to SX, will be doing full tours of the United States that they booked fully through MySpace and Facebook. No agents, no nothing.

GGC: Yeah I guess that’s the nature of the music industry now, they’re cutting out the middleman.

TM: I will say, it’s quite impressive how music is still regionalized. I mean there are still local scenes, like I said the techno brega scene is happening in Belem, in the state of Pará. We were in Minas Gerais in the summer too, and there you see a very evolved style of music, I mean those people obviously have a really intense musical education, from classical background and it goes into making music that is instrumental in more of a western European tradition perhaps. I think if we mention the great Milton Nascimento, he too has kind of that Minas lineage because his music is so complex melodically and harmonically.

GGC: He was part of the Clube da Esquina scene.

TM: Yeah, yeah, then in Goiania they have a metal and hard rock scene. They’ll be some bands from Goiania.

GGC: Speaking of the Internet have you heard of this singer/songwriter who passed away very young, he killed himself, Yonlu? Luaka Bop is going to release an album.

TM: I did read about that.

GGC: It reflects the whole of idea of communicating through the Internet and making DIY music in your own bedroom…

TM: And getting it out to the world even if you’re in your bedroom, yeah I agree.

GGC: It’s fascinating.

TM: I mean the other thing too that I think is really interesting Lissette is that Brazilians, I mean I’ve been going to Brazil for over thirty years, the young Brazilian musicians are organizing, creating professional organizations for themselves at a rate that really astounds me. This one guy who’s coming with a couple of these bands, Eduardo Ramos, he’s the guy who was originally managing CSS, so you know he’s pretty smart about how to export music, but he also realized that they needed to have a better internal system because touring in Brazil is really difficult financially and organizationally and he set up a network just in the state of Sao Paulo that has 26 venues that bands can come and do around the state and he’s really working on that, not only for the Brazilian bands in Sao Paulo and other states, but also as an exchange with bands in the U.S. who want to come down and you know have a full itinerary in Brazil.

GGC: That’s amazing.

TM: So that’s happening too.

Electronic, Afro-Peruvian crew Novalima has just released their third album Coba Coba on Cumbancha records. Their soulful blend of African roots music from Peru's coastal regions and global beats follow closely a worldwide fascination in urban youth culture to meld the ancestral and folkloric with the mechanization of the 21st century. Still, there's nothing hackneyed about Novalima. The band provides a fresh perspective, presented with an authentic sonic accent. My review of their album is now up on El Nuevo Herald's site.

http://www.elnuevoherald.com/143/story/365064.html

Mark Rapp Brings Fresh Ideas to Jazz With His New Album

Mark Rapp is a young, up and coming trumpeter who seems to have found his footing in a sound that can best be described as soul jazz. On his new album, Token Tales, Rapp displays his knack for producing crisp melodic lines with both flair and a down-to-earth sensibility that intuitively gets the listener grooving. He knows just when to build momentum and expand the boundaries of improvisation. His tone is street wise and hip, but elegant enough to get nods from both novice and experienced audiences. Rapp can just as easily turn up the heat and then turn inward to radiate an ember glow. He weaves in global influences through his skillful playing of the Australian didgeridoo, a reminder that the world is increasingly a smaller place where there is no room for purists in music. In composition and playing, Rapp is a revelation and one of many young innovators who hold a key to the future of jazz in the present tense. In one word, Token Tales is ALIVE.

La Novia del Filin Shows Gratitude and Cuban Music Begins to Resurface in the U.S.

Lots of news on the Cuban music front. Last month the infinitely sultry doyenne of filin, Omara Portuondo, released her latest album Gracias, in commemoration of sixty years as a recording artist. On this collection of Portuondo's personal favorites, the female star of the Buena Vista Social Club is accompanied by musicians she greatly admires. Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, the legendary Chucho Valdés, Brazilian singer/songwriter Chico Buarque and Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona are just some of the luminaries setting the mood. Now in her late seventies, Portuondo has much to be thankful for. She's lived a storied career, first as a dancer in Havana's premier Tropicana nightclub in the forties and then as a singer for the vocal group Quarteto Las D'Aida (the equivalent of the Supremes). Late in life, the success of the Buena Vista Social Club has brought her worldwide recognition, along with a new lease on her artistic life.

Just in time for the dawning of a new era in American politics, and in hopeful anticipation of a thawing of U.S.-Cuba relations, Juan de Marcos González's Afro-Cuban All-Stars launch a U.S. tour in February that will take the revolving collective to thirty plus cities across the nation. In reflecting the reality of a growing number of Cuban musicians who opt to live outside of the ever-restrictive island, the 2009 version of the Afro-Cuban All-Stars is comprised of A-list Cuban musicians who reside all over the world. From Minnesota to Amsterdam, González has assembled a group of expatriates who are at the top of their game. A combination CD/DVD titled Absolutely Live on Gonzalez's DM Ahora! Records (London) and GG & LL Records (Mexico) will be available exclusively during this tour at concerts and at select online retailers. The package includes DVD footage of a concert at Tokyo's Zepp, and CD audio and DVD of a previously unreleased concert at The Staaten Hall during The Hague's North Sea Jazz Festival. For a city near you visit www.rockpaperscissors.biz/go/cuba



Last but not least my friends at FUNDarte, in conjunction with the Miami Light Project, are putting on their most anticipated show of their performance season. Every year in February sand and sea become the backdrop for the Global Cuba Fest on the shores of Miami Beach. The series of concerts showcases the best contemporary live Cuban music that's accessible to Americans. This year non other than Cuban-Canadian rockero Alex Cuba makes his live Miami debut. I caught up with the afro-haired singer/songwriter over the summer in New York at the Latin Alternative Music Conference and he expressed some trepidation at the prospect of playing Miami for the first time. I assured him that times had changed and that for the most part music and art were no longer caught in the crosshairs of local Cuban-American politics as they had been in the past. Plus audiences in Miami, as in the rest of the U.S., are hungry for Cuban music in its many forms. Also on the bill are saxophonist Yosvany Terry, and Miami's own Grammy-winning Cuban diva, Albita. For details and dates visit http://www.fundarte.us/

Javier Ruibal At S.O.B.s Tonight!

Cádiz born singer/songwriter and guitar virtuoso Javier Ruibal performs tonight at NYC's S.O.B.s. I got late notice on this, but if you happen to be around, definitely check it out. Ruibal is a poetic singer whose lyrics are directly influenced by the visceral vibrancy expressed by many of the poets from what is known as Spain's Generation of 1927. A mix of Federico García Lorca's blood lust and Rafael Alberti's wit set to the artful strumming and sun-drenched vocals of an artist who hasn't strayed far from his Spanish tavern roots. Tickets are $12, for more info you can also visit http://www.fundarte.us/

North Meets Northeast Meets Rio

Rio de Janeiro has traditionally moved to the rhythmic intensity of samba and the cool sway of bossa nova. But the city’s urban youth also has a strong predilection for homegrown hip-hop – a genre A Filial deftly melds with the city’s musical legacy on their U.S. debut, $1,99, out in December on NYC label Verge Records. When the five-member crew first banded together they recorded tracks using a PlayStation, a karaoke machine, a $10 mic, and a musical toy, all dubbed down on a secondhand cassette. On their latest ouput A Filial remained committed to their rudimentary roots. They laid down beats on hacked software in two of the members’ non-sound proof apartment overlooking Rio, surrounded by forests in the bohemian neighborhood of Santa Teresa. GGC corresponded via email with A Filial trumpeter and MC Ben Lamar, a former teacher who grew up in Chicago's southside listening to his father's Brazilian music collection. The story of his friendship with A Filial founder Edu Lopes transcends cultural, geographical and language barriers through a common love of music that's universal.

GGC: What does A Filial mean? What's the story behind the name?

BL: A Filial has its magical origins from the Portuguese word “filho” which means “son”. A Filial is the child of the relationship between music and the people who are involved in its creation. Its the awareness that the project is simply the result of the web of relationships that keep it alive and healthy with the love of a child.

GGC: You guys were skateboarders before you became musicians or before you decided to band together as such, right? How has that particular sub-culture influenced your sound and the band's perspective?

BL: The first members of the group met on the street while skating. In Brazil, skateboard is an important element of the Hip Hop culture. In the U.S. there are basically 3 elements of Hip Hop: Rapping, Breaking, and Graffiti. In Brazil there is a fourth element added and that’s Skating. The skateboard culture when viewed in its earliest and rawest form has a strong connection to the earliest and rawest forms music or any art form for that matter. It’s done on the streets, close to the people, and represents a sense of expressive rebellion.

GGC: What are some of your influences from American hip-hop, past and present and Brazil's rich musical landscape?

BL: Hard question. The list is infinite. Edu and I have had many hip hop listening sessions in our old apartment and on the playlist included artist like the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run-Dmc, NWA, Krs One, Jungle Brothers, ATCQ, De La Soul,Wu Tang, Gang Starr, Mf Doom, Mc Lyte, just to name a few. Of course the Brazilian musical landscape is vast...We’ve been influenced by many from Cartola to Pixinguinha...Jobim to Baden Powell…Hermeto Pascoal to Luis Gonzaga..The groups of Tropicalismo, Jorge Ben, Chico Buarque..once again just to name a few.

GGC: In $1,99 you explore a lot of rhythms and styles from the Northeast - like maracatú, forro, frevo -- both in lyrical context and in the arrangements. Is there something about music from the Northeast that lends itself to be easily transplanted within the context of hip-hop music?

BL: Well I think the music and rhythms of the Northeast need to be heard more. Most people outside of Brazil are not really hip to the sounds and culture of that region. The Brazilian music that is mostly exported or accepted by the rest of the globe is the music and style that came out of the Bossa Nova movement, which is amazingly beautiful, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg of Brazilian music culture. I know many great Brazilian musicians, legends, masters who suffer from this. On this album we tried to be slick and pay homage to the different rhythms/styles rarely heard, especially in Hip-Hop. But we tried to do it our way with total respect of the ancestors. Everything that is beautiful lends itself for integration so the music of the Northeast, or from wherever, lends itself to the context of Hip-Hop.

GGC: I noticed that the first part of the album is very bass heavy and then it becomes more organic, with more of a focus on Brazilian roots music and I think there are even a few instrumental tracks. There's a lot of variety and different contours. Can you go into the structure of the album a little and what you guys had set out to accomplish?

BL:There was no pre-planned structure of the album. We try to keep the music as honest as possible.The main goal is to touch on every human emotion. Sometimes as swe need different vehicles to express different emotions. The vehicle can be bass heavy, electro, or acoustic. As along as we are able to express issues that are present in our lives at the moment then the music is honest.

GGC: You actually grew up in Chicago. What is your connection with Brazil and Brazilian music and how did you end up becoming a part of a Brazilian hip-hop crew?

BL: I’m from the Southside of Chicago. My connection with Brazil began with my father and his late night music listening sessions that he allowed me and my older brother to be apart of. His record collection included everything from Soul, Jazz, Musicals, Rock, John Williams’s movie soundtracks, whatever. But the thing that set him apart from the rest of the people he knew was his Brazilian collection. So I grew up listening to the music of Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim. That sound introduced me, like many other people of the world, to Brazil. So I decided to move to Brazil on the fly without knowing anyone, without speaking Portuguese, nor having much money.. always. I just travel with my instrument and the memories of the listening sessions with my father. The hunger to learn more about that sound and culture gave me courage to do what I did. To make a long crazy adventure short, I felt that there was part of me in Brazil so I took the risk to actually meet this side of Ben Lamar. The other Ben Lamar changed my life but he owes me some money..always. As for A Filial.. I actually jammed with them at one of the early A Filial shows in 2003. Edu and I somehow found a way to communicate with my non existent Portuguese and his terrible English. We taught one another each other’s language just from him picking me up from my over-priced “gringo” rate Copacabana apartment and hanging out discussing music. Actually Edu and I became friends through our similar childhood love for the music Jobim. Edu would sing the lyrics and I would hum the melody.

GGC: Where do you live now?

BL: Good question. Once again to make a crazy adventure short…I’m back in Chicago at the moment, but still living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I’m split between two worlds…maybe three at the moment.

GGC: Edu Lopes has said that A Filial's first tape was made using a Playstation, a karaoke set, a $10 mic, a toy that made music, and a used cassette. What recording techniques does the band use these days? Anything innovative or a little off-kilter?

BL: Well in Brazil things can always become little off-kilter. The people there have the skill to make do with many things that other people would have no idea how to utilize. From this I learned a lot. I wouldn’t say for this recording that we used anything “innovative”. I think the innovativeness lived in our endurance. I guess this is common for most independent artist like ourselves. Of course, we used the normal “Cracked” computer software, terrible mics, non-sound proof room, bounced back from being robbed multiple times of instruments at gunpoint..but hey…that’s the life of an independent artist. The other “off-kilter” recording techniques are secret…OOHH!!!

GGC: How does A Filial stand out from other Brazilian hip-hop crews?

BL: First I’d like to say there is great underground Hip-Hop in Brazil. I feel A Filial does a good job at mixing the musical traditions of Brazil with the modern sounds of today without watering down the traditional richness of the music genres we include in our sound. We also bring the hardcore Carioca swing to Hip-Hop. There can be a lot of “dark/negative” Hip Hop in Brazil as well as in the rest of the world . Sure this is just a result of the environment, but every member of A Filial has first hand experience in dealing with these same hostile environments. We try to deal with this reality in different way…different sounds, colors, and light.

GGC: What's the hip-hop scene like in Rio and how is it different from Sao Paulo?

BL: The Sao Paulo music scene is a more open-minded than Rio. It also has more venues for experimental bands in all genres of music. There’s more work in S.P. of course because it’s bigger and it’s the financial center of Brazil. Rio can be closed-minded at times for musicians who desire to do something other than traditional samba. But Rio has a flavor, culture and intimacy that Sao Paulo can never have. The music traditions that live in Rio give the scene a different type of edge and different type of swing.

What's the concept behind $1,99?

BL: $1,99 refers to the $1,99 stores in Brazil which are the equivalent to the 99-cent stores in the U.S. These stores are filled with a variety of affordable items for everybody. It’s a price for the every day folk. A millionaire can shop there alongside a person who only has $1,99 to their name. The title kind of represents accessibility. But in the end it's just good music.

GGC: Tell me about Rio's Santa Teresa neighborhood, where many of the band members live if I'm not mistaken. How has it influenced the concept and sound behind $1,99?

BL: Santa Teresa is a mountain top neighborhood near the center of Rio. It has a strong bohemian vibe . Art is very alive there. Unlike in some U.S. and European trendy neighborhoods where it looks cool and artsy but the price to live is ridiculous. A Parisian friend of mine calls these neighborhoods “Bo-Bour” ( pronounced “Bo-Bo”) which means :Bohemian/Bourgeois. Santa Teresa is very authentic. You can have a mansion next to a favela but everyone uses the same bakery and same bar. I think the violence or reality that surrounds it will keep it from turning into a complete “Bo-Bour” hood…hopefully. Three of the members lived in Santa Teresa during the recording of $1,99. The rest in live in Zona Norte (northside) of Rio. This is a place where most tourist never get see. I love it up there. It has some of the warmest people in Zona Norte and some of the best musicians live there. But of course in Zona Norte lives a lot of reality.. a lot. The type of reality that makes the inner-city problems of the States look like child’s play. Santa Teresa is almost a natural barrier between The south and north zone of Rio. The south zone has its famed richer neighborhoods like Ipanema , Leblon, and so on. In Santa you are in the middle of two different worlds. Edu and I had an apartment in Equitativa, which is an old apartment complex higher in the forest of Santa Teresa right next to the favela Morro dos Prazeres, which has great Baile Funk parties by the way. We have some of the best views of the city as well. We recorded the album in our apartment along with the sounds of the complex and the forest..monkeys, tucans,cicadas, & etc. So of course, the neighborhood of Santa along with other neighborhoods of Rio has influenced the sound of the album. In the beginning of the instrumental song “Maluisa” ( which is the first song Edu & I composed together..5years ago) you can hear sounds of insects and birds. Those are the sounds we heard everyday. If you just put a mic outside the window you can capture “REAL MUSIC”…the music of nature.

GGC: Does A Filial believe that music has a role in shaping social consciousness and promoting global awareness of important issues?

BL: Yes..without a doubt. I remember watching a documentary about the great Panamanian singer Ruben Blades and him mentioning the reason why he went into music and acting. There is a great illiteracy rate growing in the world today..Latin America…Africa and with my experience teaching in the U.S. its presence is strong there as well. Some people can’t read about the issues of today. An artist of the people should always create something to move the people. Now in which direction? I don’t know…depends on the artist. Music has always been a communication tool. It can be used for awareness, education, or whatever. One thing I did learn is that you can’t be preaching when sharing info. That will turn a lot of heads away. I got dissed by a lot of 4th and 3rd graders in my short time teaching. The 7th & 8th graders loved me though. I think the same applies to everyone. So our music isn’t preachy but we have our slick way of promoting global awareness for sure.

GGC: How did Verge Records get involved with A Filial?

BL: I’m not sure of the exact details of the story. I know Emmanuel Zunz of Verge got in contact with Edu Lopes of A Filial through an artist friend of ours by then name of Felipe Motta.

GGC: Can you describe what unique ingredient each member brings to the band, including yourself?

BL: Edu Lopes is a great writer/lyricist. He has a unique way of playing with the Portuguese language. He is also the leader, the guy hustling to keep the project and sound of A Filial alive. He brings his knowledge of the Rio underground music/skate scene. He was also an integral part of the Hemp Family ( Marcelo D2, Bnegao,etc). Flavio 52 is the grandson of a Brazilian renaissance man and samba legend, Heitor dos Prazeres. Spending time with his family is the greatest lesson of soul, samba, and art I’ve ever received. He brings the raw samba tradition into the mix. DJ Castro is a very musical DJ, which is very hard to find. His endless will to learn brings a fresh energy to the table. He is also a big dub DJ in Brazil performing with talented artist such as Black Alien & Bnegao. Rodrigo Pacatu is very important because he brings the rich tradition of Brazilian rhythm to the mix and knows how to translate it in a modern context. His experience of playing percussion ranges from Samba, Forro, MPB, and Cuban music to Baile Funk. And last but not least the Southside boy. Well it's hard to say what I bring exactly without feeling weird. I bring another flavor of Las Americas via Alabama and the Southside of Chicago. I hope my first hand experience in searching for different sounds in various genres of music without compromise helps the sound of A Filial or any other project that I’m involved in.