January 25th is Bossa Nova Day

January 25 is Tom Jobim's birthday. Tom is considered the father of Bossa Nova. Nothing more fair than celebrating the day of this music style TODAY!
Enjoy Elis Regina and Tom Jobim singing "Waters of March".

Luiz Melodia

Gafieira Samba is a rhythm originally from Rio de Janeiro and is the partner version of the world-renowned Brazilian samba.

Inspired by the gafieira samba of the 30s, 40s and 50s context, Luiz Melodia released a new album entitled "Estação Melodia" ( "Melody Station").

Mr. Melodia worked on this samba project for about six years. In mid 2006, he was commissioned to create a samba concert to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Teatro Rival, a concert hall in Rio; and the album was conceived.

Five years after his last album was released, Mr. Melodia comes back with an impeccable work, interpreting songs of various composers in such an involved way that the listener may think that he co-authored them. In "Estação", Mr. Melodia not only explores the samba of the 30s, 40s and 50s, but also rearranges other songs to sound as if they were composed during that time.

"Estação Melodia"opens up with a classic song of Cartola, "Tive Sim", followed by a song composed by his own father, Oswaldo Melodia. My very favorite is 'Dama Ideal' (The Ideal Lady) composed by Alcebíades Nogueira and Arnaldo Passos. "Estação" is filled with great sambas, but it also gets a bonus chorinho: 'Choro de Passarinho (Renato Piau/ Euclides Amaral/ Rubens Cardoso), a duet with Jane Reis, his wife and promoter. To complete the repertoire, Mr. Melodia added two samba classics: 'Contrastes' (Ismael Silva) and 'O Neguinho e a Senhorita' (Noel Rosa de Oliveira/Abelardo Silva).

In this album, Mr. Melodia shows his vision of the samba universe through its most common elements: birds, the ideal woman, the backyard, sadness and redemption. If you enjoy Brazilian music, and especially samba, this album is a must in your music library.

Listen to 'Dama Ideal' right here:



[Credits: Photo by Sergio Fonseca]

Dora Vergueiro

She's Carlinhos Vergueiro's (a Brazilian composer and singer) daughter. From an early age Dora has spent time with masters of the Brazilian music, such as Adoniran Barbosa, Nelson Cavaquinho, Chico Buarque, Toquinho and João Nogueira.

Dora Vergueiro has taken part in concerts of different renown artists like Ron Carter, Robertinho Silva, Raul de Souza, Vittor Santos, Guilherme Vergueiro, Chico César, Paulinho Moska, among others.

She is also a presenter for the "Rolé" TV show about extreme sports on Sportv channel, besides being a 'sport extremer' herself, check her website, in Portuguese, for photos.

Dora's 2001 album entitled "Pé Na Estrada" filled with 11 songs: "Oh Chuva" (Luís Carlinhos), "Mar Aberto" (Carlinhos Vergueiro), "Estação da Luz" (Alceu Valença), "Eu Vou Cantar"(Pepê Barcellos), "Se Toque" (Zé Natálio/Totonho Villeroy), "Funk Baby" (Seu Jorge) with Seu Jorge, "Pé Na Estrada" (Dora Vergueiro), "Champagne" (Mú Chebabi/ Márcio Lomiranda) and "Arpex"(Rogê/ Phoênix). The album also has a Gilberto Gil song "Vamos Fugir" (Gilberto Gil/Liminha) with a new arrangement.

The album has a dancing "pop-reggae" character, where similarities with surf, sun and sea are not a mere coincidence, they are inspirations she's got from her worldly adventures.

My favorite Dora Vergueiro's song "Daquele Jeito" ("That Way") has just been released and is part of a new album still being produced. To me the songs is pure Rio, the rhythm, the beat, the lyrics...

Check it out here:

Liked the song? You can download the mp3 here.

[MP3 file from legally provided from link on Dora Vergueiro's website]

Five Jorges and one Saint George

The Bens did it here in the US- they recorded an album together. In the Southern hemisphere, the Jorges, Jorge Aragão, Jorge Benjor, Jorge Mautner and Jorge Vercilo, also got together recording a song about Saint George, entitled 'Líder dos Templários'. The clip protrays well the faith Brazilian people have in the venerable saint.