The Breakfast Show | mokeyanju
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This set features female voices from Brazilian music, interspersed with information about the artists.
Grooviana aka Laura Mello. Composer/Performer, Sound Artist, Musician and Dj. Studied music in Brazil where I was born, and in Vienna, before I came to Berlin, where I am speaking from. First of all I want to thank the network female:pressure, for whom I am taking over during this hour, and of course, refuge for the amazing initiative and for having me.
I am super glad to present you a DJ set of Brazilian women voices, amazing musicians who accompanied me during my coming of age years and later on influenced my own way of making music. This set includes Brazilian Electronic, House, Jazz and Drum´n´bass tracks, all of them in the female voices of Brazilian singers who, in my opinion, took the so-called MPB, música popular brasileira, to new horizons.
Actually I am a believer of the interconnectedness, I mean, that everything is interconnected, and in this sense I think it’s not wrong to say that Brazilian music wouldn’t be what it is without its direct connections to the African music and culture. In the everyday life of Brazilians, music, as part of spiritual rituals, is strongly present. The tunes you are about to hear contain some pretty known chants, like Canto da Libertação, recorded for the first time in 1966 by the sexagenarian black singer Clementina de Jesus. This song condenses the whole Brazil in a few lines. It evokes, for instance, the presence of the enslaved people who were taken to work in the coffee plantations in the 19th century, In the first verse, the word for „sleeping“ is spoken as a variation that witnesses the dialog between the African Bantu language and the Portuguese language of the oppressors. The singer herself had learned the song from her mother, so from generation to generation, this song is given the appropriate contemporary outfit. Let’s listen to this version sung by Alicia Mess, a singer, composer, producer and tap dancer from São Paulo, who since the 1990s has mixed the rhythms of black world music with Afro-Brazilian rhythms.
The next one is by myself, Laura Mello, and it’s a love declaration, followed by one of my idols Fernanda Abreu, whose first single „A noite“ was given a Platinum in the 1990s and she is Brazil’s first funk lady.
If you just entered the train, this is Grooviana aka Laura Mello for female:pressure. We are about to listen to Ana Mazzotti, a singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Brazil, who unfortunately has left our world for a better one at the early age of 37. Her life inspired two documentaries and the relaunch of her work by the label Far Out Recordings was considered best of the year by the NPR.
That was Ana Mazzotti singing Canto da Libertação. Now, before we dive into the next song, let me tell you a little story about the group we're about to hear: Da Lata, featuring renown Brazilian vocalist Liliana Chachian. Da Lata means "from the tin" in Portuguese. It was a 90s slang for something good or high-quality. This phrase caught on after an incident off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, where tins filled with marijuana washed ashore. There's even a YouTube documentary about the unforgettable “Summer of the Tin." Back to the band Da Late—they made waves with their version of Edu Lobo's classic "Ponteio," blending house and jazz-dance.
We’ve just heard the voice of another idol of mine Rita Lee. The record entitled Babylonia, which includes the last track, was released in the year 1978, so this song is part of my musical childhood memories. Rita Lee Jones was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, presenter, actress, writer and activist. Known as the „Queen of Brazilian Rock“, for many Brazilians, she is a goddess. She built a career that started with rock but over the years flirted with various genres, such as psychedelia during the tropicalia era, pop rock, disco, new wave, pop, bossa nova, and electronic, creating a pioneering hybrid between international and national genres
In the background we already hear the introduction to Andei, by Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, a prominent couple in the jazz-fusion world. Flora Purim´s career started in the early 60´s in Brazil, already with big names of MPB, Brazilian Popular Music such as Hermeto Pascoal. The couple moved to the US in 1967, escaping the military dictatorship and censorship. Arriving in New York, Purim and Moreira immersed in the emerging electric jazz. Here is Flora Purim, from the album „Open Your Eyes You Can Fly“, Andei (I Walked).
The last two tracks you’ve heard the voices of two other legends of Brazilian music: Claudya and Elis Regina. Deixa Eu Dizer, by Ivan List and Ronaldo Monteiro, was first recorded in 1973. Lately, a new version by Marcelo D2 brought this 70´s song back to the charts, and the version you’ve just heard is by DJ Guss. Both Claudya and Elis Regina appeared in the TV show „O Fino da Bossa“, an important showcase for artists in the 60´s Brazilian TV Channel Record. The text of the last song, Meio de Campo, middle field, by Gilberto Gil, in the voice of the wonderful Elis Regina, is a homage to Afonsinho, a middle-field football player and activist.
The next songs feature two women from the famous Gilberto family: Astrud and Bebel Gilberto. Astrud Gilberto was a Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova singer and songwriter who, unfortunately, passed away last year. She immigrated to the United States in 1963 and settled there permanently, where she collaborated among others with the producer Stan Getz. She gained international attention in the mid 60s with her recording of the single „Garota de Ipanema“. Astrud´s husband João Gilberto had a relationship with another woman, the singer Miúcha. The Bossa Nova and Electronica singer Bebel Gilberto is the daughter of this relationship. She was born in the US and moved to Brazil in 1970. We will hear Aganjú with Bebel and then Astrud singing Aruanda.
The next one is Rosália de Souza, a singer from Rio de Janeiro who studied music in Italy. The song Maria Moita was originally composed in 1964 by Carlos Lyra, who also passed away in 2023. This version has the signature of the producers ZerodB
We are approaching the end of this set. One more last samba/drum´n´bass by Brazilian musician Fernanda Porto, remixed by DJ Patife. It was a pleasure for me to take over this hour on refuge worldwide. Big thanks to Inverno and female:pressure. This is Grooviana aka Laura Mello saying goodbye.
TRACKLIST
Canto da Libertação (Song of Freedom) - Arícia Mess
Too Small, Robyn - Laura Mello
A Noite - Fernanda Abreu
Eu Sou Mais Eu - Ana Mazzotti
Ponteio (Da Lata / Liliana Chachian) - Liliana Chachian
Agora é Moda - Rita Lee
Andei (I Walked) - Flora Purim
Deixa Eu Dizer (DJ Guss) - Cláudya
Meio de Campo - Elis Regina
Aganju (Six Feet Under OST) - Bebel Gilberto
Aruanda - Astrud Gilberto
Sambassim (DJ Patife Remix) - Fernanda Porto
Maria Motta (Moraes/Lyra) - Rosália de Souza