Photo By Haroldo AbrantesFresh off her batería driven trio elétrico in Salvador da Bahia's bacchanalia like no other, Brazilian singer Daniela Mercury will share some of the energy left over from carnaval with South Florida fans during a free concert in Hollywood Beach this Saturday (March 21st). Part of Brazil on the Beach -- a three day event featuring other artists such as Cris Delanno from Bossacucanova, a film screening of Samba on Your Feet, a pro footvolley tournament, capoeira, a percussion parade along the boardwalk, and much more -- Mercury will perform three songs from her new project, Canibália, a CD/DVD multi-media experience which she whimsically calls a disco voador (flying disc), set to land in Brazil around June followed by a worldwide release. The queen of bahian carnaval will also sing songs from her last album, Balé Mulato, as well as some of her greatest hits. Mercury, a Latin Grammy winner, has attracted international attention throughout her career, first as one of the most prominent singers of the axé music craze in Brazil in the 90s (also known as samba-reggae) and then as an innovator who incorporated electronic music in her already pungent mix. Recently Mercury has gotten accolades from none other than cultural commentator and Salon.com writer Camille Paglia, who was invited aboard the performance platform of Mercury's trio elétrico in February as the charismatic diva performed for six hours straight before throngs of revelers following her bloco Crocodilo. In her Salon.com column the author credits Mercury with having restored her faith in pop culture as she explores the reasons behind Madonna's decline in comparing the aging queen of pop to Mercury's goddess-like appeal. Madonna, she writes, has become a "poster girl of android metamorphosis," a displaced person who lost her Detroit, Italian-American roots somewhere along the way. Mercury, on the other hand, remains rooted to Bahia's all-encompassing black culture. She compares the Brazilian songstress's warmth, humor, and relaxed sensuality to Madonna's "laminated posturing" and even gets down to the flesh juxtaposing Mercury's "fluid body language" and "sleek, golden silhouette" to Madonna's "grotesquely sinewy arms and sallow, claw-like hands." It gets better! For a complete read, I've posted the links to the articles below.
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