Balakumbala Viviane de Farias & Mauro Martins

• 1Na Baixa do Sapateiro05:34
• 2Eu Preciso Dizer Que Eu Te Amo03:48
• 3É Luxo Só03:28
• 4Sodade Meu Bem, Sodade / Sempre Sim / Ginga Carioca11:05
• 5Futuros Amantes04:46
• 6Canto das Três Raças05:07
• 7Clichet / Brigas Nunca Mais03:38
• 8Lady Multimelancólica04:56
• 9Bala Com Bala02:56
• 10Feliz por um Triz04:00
• 11Vô Alfredo01:49
• 12Sonho Lindo03:46
• Total Runtime54:53

Info for Balakumbala

The daring combination of voice and bass has rarely been undertaken in Brazilian music. Although there are so many excellent singers and also a host of highly skilled bass players, this unusual teaming up is rarely to be found. Viviane de Farias and Mauro Martins have not only accepted the challenge - they have come up with an innovative duo performance. “Balakumbala” is a vivid, tongue-in-cheek play on words so signi cant in Brazilian culture. The word comes from a well-known song by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, where the speaker tells of visiting the cinema and enjoying himself while the heroes on the screen get into a duel. They start to ght bullet for bullet (bala com bala), then knife for knife, st for st and then eventually they measure their strength with words. The duel becomes a duo – just as it is with Viviane and Mauro who, in their conversations on this album, present a surprising plethora of musical options, well rooted in their biographies. Singer Viviane de Farias has roots in the Indio culture of the Northern state of Ceará but also in Rio’s famous barrio Ipanema. She grew up in Brazil and Los Angeles, developed her acting and singing talents in Rio and Chicago, and dedicated herself to chanson, jazz and - at an early phase of her career – particularly to opera. But soon her Brazilian roots gained more importance in her artistic life as she immersed herself in samba, chôro and bossa nova and the huge repertoire of the Música Popular, with renowned composers such as Ivan Lins, Chico Buarque, Tom Jobim and Guinga. On her last In & Out album “Moment Of Passion” (IOR CD 77088-2) she already proved that she can put together a programme of bossa, jazz and songwriting in a most flexible, delicate and energy-driven way. Brazil’s most important newspaper, O Globo, heralded her as “one of the big hopes for innovation” in the country’s music. Bassist and drummer Mauro Martins comes from the southern city of Curitiba and took up guitar and percussion at the early age of six. A European resident for many years, like Viviane, he has participated in many different musical worlds. He is a highly sought-after session man, arranger and composer, and he has collaborated with first class pop and jazz musicians, such as Phil Collins, Tania Maria, Richard Galliano und Chico César. From Montreux to New York’s Blue Note and Birdland, he has played at festivals and clubs all over the world. His speciality is a funk- and jazz-driven playing on the six-string electric bass, uniting incredible virtuosity with an intriguing melodic quality. Viviane and Mauro have now united their multi-faceted acoustic experiences, gathered together the whole universe of Brazilian cultures and beyond – and eventually evolved a combination of new sounds to create an intimate and very personal language. Listen to the sheer volcanic power of the title track, an explosive jazzified frevo and bossa nova evergreen turned into a funky samba with bluesy interludes. Let yourself be taken away by the power of slaps and scats in astonishing unison, by Viviane’s rich panoply of timbres, sometimes gentle and melancholic, then coy and sultry or swift and volatile, by Mauro’s sensitive growling, his soulful melodic inventiveness and his rapid clusters of notes. Witness how the duo turns classics of the Música Popular by Chico Buarque and Clara Nunes into moving jewels, talking of Brazil’s history and true love’s future. Note how they revisit treasures of north-eastern folklore and forge them into a new, shining piece of contemporary art. And last but not least, discover rarities and new compositions especially created for this programme. All clichés aside, this is a revelation of the true “alma brasileira” – the soul of Brazil.

“Balakumbala“ is a breathtaking tête-à-tête, which adds to contemporary Brazilian music a thoroughly new and captivating perspective, stripped down to the extraordinary talent and ingenuity of two people.

Viviane de Farias, vocals
Mauro Martins, electric bass & additional percussion (on tracks 3, 5, 7, 11, 12)
Special guests:
Armando Marçal, percussion (on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6)
Jovino Santos Neto, melodica (on track 4)

Viviane de Farias
Born in Ipanema, Viviane de Farias grew up in Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles. Her solid classical background, her 'warm and caressing voice', of an 'extremely wide register and deep lyrical emotionality', her 'bewitching refinement' and 'impeccable vocal technique' earned her the reputation of 'one of the top brazilian singers' abroad. As a lyric soprano, she lent her voice to more than many projects in both ancient and contemporary classical music with heavy weights such as Placido Domingo, Kurt Masur and Zubin Mehta. She dedicated herself to folklore, jazz and chanson with the same passion and enthusiasm as to the so-called serious music. Viviane de Farias' interpretations are a mixture of such diverse styles. Her 'dynamic exuberance and elegant phrasing', her 'love and respect for melody' make her an 'interpreter of uncommon expressivity'. A remarkable debut at the State Opera in Rio de Janeiro when she was only twenty years old vaulted her to the forefront of her generation of vocalists in Brazil.

After thirteen years of an impressive career on classical vocal music and interdisciplinary performance, she finally turned to her passion, the vast musical heritage from Brazil. She has been working since then basically with jazz musicians, exploring a repertoire that combines brazilian rhythms and jazzy improvisations. Her first solo album 'Moment of passion' - (A hora da paixão, original song from brazilian legend Johnny Alf) was received with great critical acclaim and was a German critic's award nominee.

As a well respected and highly sought-after guest vocalist, Viviane has worked on various genre-bending collaborations. Her musical activities have taken her all over her native Brazil and to festivals and venues in Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, the USA, South Korea, Africa and Madagascar. Viviane de Farias currently lives in Germany.

Mauro Martins
is a brazilian bassplayer and drummer from Curitiba. He grew up in a musical family playing percussion and guitar with his older brothers. He switched to the electric bass at the age of sixteen and would soon be playing with several bands in his home town. On December 1989 he was invited to play in Switzerland. He decided to settle down in Europe where he has been working ever since not only as a bass player but also as a drummer and composer on several live music projects and as an arranger as well in countless studio productions. Mauro Martins appeared in major festivals and music clubs in Europe, Asia, South Africa, Madagascar and Brazil such as the Free Jazz São Paulo, Montreux Jazz Festival, Olympia, New Morning and JVC Jazz Festival in Paris, Umbria Jazz, Capetown Jazz, Pataya Jazz, Blue Note NY, Birdland only to name a few. He collaborated with outstanding artists such as, Airto Moreira & Larry Coryell, Luis Eça, Toninho Horta, Phill Collins, Tania Maria, Sebastiao Tapajos, Raul de Souza, Chico Cesar, Richard Galliano, Gregoire Maret & Gene Lake, Marcia Maria, Rosinha de Valença, Jovino Santos Neto and Itibere Zwarg from Hermeto Paschoals band and many others.

This album contains no booklet.