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]