Brazil

As Carnival approaches, the fact that the festivities will be canceled again is somewhat compensated by the fact that, in a country on the verge of collapse, Brazilian artists have never produced as much music as in the past year. Records, EPs, singles, remixes, projects, participations of all kinds, with an avalanche of rhythms, always more crossed and diversified, whose quality contrasts with the standardization and impoverishment that plagues the social networks.

Many of the 2021 projects stand out for their richness and complexity. For example, Letieris Leite, leading the Orkestra Rumpilezz, respectfully reharmonizes Coisa, the masterpiece of Moacir Santos. The brilliant Bahian arranger, who passed away in October, had just distinguished himself by producing singer Marcia Castro's Afro-pop album with Lucas Santtana in a superb manner. With Sankofa, the Afro piano touch of Pernambucano Amaro Freitas is both vibrant and subtle, oscillating between percussion and melancholy, a memory of a time when the artist collaborated with Lenine, Milton Nascimento or Criolo. The latter has joined the highly respected duo Tropkillaz and returns to the roots of rap have Cleane, a raging track that suits him perfectly. From the new opus of Juliana Linhares, the ex-vocalist of the group Pietá, who is considered by many as the greatest voice of MPB today, Bombinha is also a futuristic nostalgia, whose strength recalls the great battles of the North American nation.

On the samba side, his most gifted representative today is Thiago Amud. The album of this 41-year-old Carioca is a collection of sophisticated melodies strongly influenced by the poetry of Aldir Blanc. Pedro Miranda's songs are lighter but just as effective, evoking the southern neighborhoods of Rio and the ever-renewed creativity of the Brazilian middle class. The one capable of reviving the charanga in the streets of São Paulo, to the sound of the fanfare of another Thiago, França, the brassy soul of Metá Metá. For Juçara Marçal, who is also part of this trio, the quest for Afro songs goes back to the very origins of the blues. Slavery and the question of racism intrinsic to Brazilian society are also the themes addressed by the composer Luca Argel in his samba opera concocted from the University of Porto where he officiates as a professor of literature since 2012.

Finally, let's welcome the return of Caetano Veloso after a ten-year absence from the recordings, with an ultra-modern, aesthetic and abundant manifesto, which marries enlightened pop, suave bossa and committed samba; as well as that of Seu Luiz Paixão, great master of the rabeca violin, and the extraordinary vitality of two virtuosos of self-mockery, João Donato and Jards Macalé, reunited for the first time in underpants and socks, at 87 and 78 years old respectively.