The debut partnership of Carol Maia and Jeremy Gustin has delivered an album of rare alchemy. With thousands of miles between Carol’s home studio in Rio de Janeiro and Jeremy’s in Brooklyn, and with the help of a few friends from their respective cities, they have created a record that is intimate, softly experimental and transcendental in its poetic beauty. Read / Listen.
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Dorea ‘O Que Mais Você Quer Saber De Mim?' (AJABU!) - a review
It’s taken hitting his forties for the Salvador de Bahia singer-songwriter Dorea to release his second album but who’s in a rush? Indebted in many ways to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges’ 1972 masterpiece ‘Clube da Esquina’, his introverted songs of love, the sea and of life’s contradictions are beautifully recorded. Breathy, hushed vocals, Baroque clarinets and finely played acoustic guitar accompany his words of longing but he can also make it bite with a subtle rock edge when he wants to. Read / Listen.
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Wolfgang Pérez 'Só Ouço' (Hive Mind Records) - a review
He may not actually be Brazilian by heritage but the German-Spanish songwriter, arranger, guitarist and sound artist Wolfgang Pérez has delivered one of my favourite records to come out of Rio de Janeiro this year. His ‘outsider’s’ viewpoint and with a brilliant crew of Carioca musicians and the recording environment of the acclaimed Wolf Estúdio to create in, has enabled Wolfgang to stretch his already stunning compositional and arranging talents to new heights. Read / Listen.
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