Jazz star Herbie Hancock goes global with album

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jazz icon Herbie Hancock has rounded up another all-star cast for the multimedia follow-up to his Grammy-winning tribute to Joni Mitchell.

"The Imagine Project" aims to unite "a myriad of cultures through song and positive creative expression," according to a statement. Collaborators include pop singer Pink, guitarist Jeff Beck, sitarist Anoushka Shankar, Irish folk group the Chieftains and Colombian rocker Juanes.

The self-financed album will be released on June 22 through the pianist's own Hancock Records label, and will be promoted with what a spokeswoman called an "extensive" world tour. Dates are already set for New York's Carnegie Hall on June 24 and the Hollywood Bowl on September 1.

Hancock racked up some serious frequent-flier mileage in an attempt to record each song in the home country of his collaborator. Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney ("Taxi To The Dark Side") came along for the ride, shooting footage for potential online and feature exhibition.

He traveled to Mumbai for the Shankar track "The Song Goes On," which also features R&B singer Chaka Khan, jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter and a group of Indian musicians.

Hancock and Shorter reunited in London to record a cover of Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" with Beck, Pink and Seal. Other stops included Paris for sessions with Beck and African musicians Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Lionel Louke and Kinono No. 1; Dublin with the Chieftains; Miami with Juanes; and Sao Paulo with Brazilian singer Ceu.

Rocker Dave Matthews, and married blues guitarists Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi were also recruited.

Hancock, who turns 70 in April, was the surprise winner of the album of the year Grammy in 2008 for "River: The Joni Letters," a relatively unheralded release whose roster included Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, and Shankar's half-sister Norah Jones.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

**APRIL**

12/13
Tripple Door
Seattle, WA
USA

14
Alladin Theatre
Portland, OR
USA

16
Coachella Music Festival
Indio, CA
USA

18
The Independent
San Francisco, CA
USA

21/22
Dakota Jazz Club
Minneapolis, MN

23
Green Dolphin
Chicago, IL
USA

25
Highline Ballroom
New York, NYC
USA

Source: The Times

CéU: Vagarosa

Brazilian music doesn’t come cooler than this. Bossa nova and trip-hop rhythms shimmer as the Sao Paulo singer purrs.

Por Peter Margasak

1. Otto, Certa Manhã Acordei de Sonhos Intranquilos (Nublu)
2. Buika & Chucho, El Ultima Trago (Warner Music Latino)
3. A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Délivrance (Leaf)
4. Tinariwen, Imidiwan: Companions (World Village)
5. Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics, Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)
6. Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara, Tell No Lies (Real World)
7. Warsaw Village Band, Infinity (Barbés)
8. Nils Økland, Monograph (ECM)
9. Staff Benda Bilili, Très Très Fort (Crammed Discs)
10. Lucas Santtana, Sem Nostalgia (YB Music)
11. Group Bombino, Guitars From Agadez, Vol. 2 (Sublime Frequencies)
12. Hassan Haffar, The Aleppo Suites (Institut du Monde Arabe)
13. Céu, Vagarosa (Six Degrees)
14. Amadou & Mariam, Welcome to Mali (Because/Nonesuch)
15. Rokia Traore, Tchamantche (Nonesuch)
16. Caetano Veloso, Zii e Zie (Universal, Brasil)
17. Culture Musical Club, Shime! (World Village)
18. Oumou Sangare, Seya (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
19. Mamane Barka, Introducing Mamane Barka (Introducing)
20. Bomba Estereo, Blow Up (Nacional)

Céu's "Vagarosa" was picked by the BBC as one of the best albums of 2009 in World Music.
See here: BBC Music's Best Albums of 2009

Here: Best of ‘09: Indie Heart & Electro Beat

Featuring Nereu from Trio Mocotó (Backing Vocals/Pandeiro), Anelis Assumpção and Iara Reno (Backing Vocals), Regis Damasceno (Bass) and Loco Sosa (MPC Samplers) and...Jorge Ben.

**DECEMBER**

12/03/2009
CÉU
Teatro Amazonas, Manaus, AM, Brazil, 22h
R. Tapajós, 5 - Centro
Tel: 92 3622-2420

12/04/2009
CURUMIN
John Bull Music Hall, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, 22h
R. Engenheiro Rebouças, 1645
Tel: 41 3026 5050

12/05/2009
CÉU
Teatro Gasômetro, Belém, PA, Brazil, 21h
Av. Gov Magalhães Barata, s/n
Tel: 91 4009-8715

12/09/2009
CÉU
Teatro das Artes - Shopping Eldorado, São Paulo, SP, Brazil, 21h
Av. Rebouças, 3.970 – Pinheiros
Tel: (11) 4003-2330

12/18/2009
TV Live - Tribute to Jorge Ben
CURUMIN
SOM BRASIL JORGE BEN
Globo TV, 22h

Click to see the full size picture

ByDavid Honigmann
***

“Don’t take yourself too seriously, pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-papa used to tell me … ” The Brazilian tropilectro singer Céu clearly took the advice to heart.
Familiar Brazilian tropes, from languid samba to wild whirling horns to sleazy organ flirtations, are distorted and made strange. The opener, “Sobre O Amor E Seu Trabalho Silencioso”, starts as a duet for voice and cavaquinho, but ends submerged in the crackle of old vinyl; dub textures slip and slide; blitches and gleeps bubble up under the most fragile of melodies.

"Céu's Vagarosa is wonderfully classy music - at once other-worldly and knowing. "
Rating: * * * * *

By Mark Hudson

"An album of immense subtlety and constantly surprising contrasts."

Colin Irwin

It’s impossible to talk about Céu without invoking the names of Astrud and Bebel Gilberto.

Yet, while she may be Brazilian and is clearly in thrall to the samba and bossa nova heritage indelibly associated with those artists, Céu – Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças to give her the full name – draws her inspiration as much from the modern urban vibrancy of São Paulo’s thriving independent scene as Brazil’s sensuous musical history.

This second album is far more ambitious and challenging than its 2005 predecessor, distancing itself boldly from coffee table ambience to incorporate some seriously edgy instrumentation and production techniques courtesy of producers Beto Villares and Gui Amabis and engineer Gustavo Lenza, who keep the album crackling along with an inventive undercurrent of atmospheric soundscapes and technical trickery.

She’s a sublime singer – that’s almost a given – but her eagerness to go beyond her comfort zone and embrace visionary production ideas, as well as some exciting instrumentalists and particularly vivacious rhythms (notably by Pupillo and Dengue of acclaimed Brazilian band Nação Zumbi) is what helps to decimate genre boundaries and give the album real crossover appeal.

The title is translated from Portuguese as “easygoing”, but while Céu herself sounds blissfully chilled throughout, the sparks fly around her. A wonderfully evocative organ growls menacingly among the choppy rhythms of the slightly spooky Cangote, while wah wah guitars add further intrigue to the funky mix of Comadi and drum loops, samples, multi-tracked vocals and scattered snatches of electronica suddenly appear among horns and intoxicating percussion to keep you guessing where it will all go next.

It’s an album of immense subtlety and constantly surprising contrasts. Circus organ duels with electric guitar on Ponteiro, she celebrates the birth of her own daughter with an almost spiritual cover of the Jorge Ben classic Rosa Menina Rosa and uses guest artists to memorable effect, notably Luiz Melodia, who almost steals the album duetting with Céu on the melancholy slow samba Vira Lata.

It oozes class and is Brazilian to the core yet, surreptitiously and almost imperceptibly, guides it to a whole new place.

By Robin Denselow

"Ever since the glory days of Bossa Nova, Brazilian music has been something of a battleground. On one side, there have been pleasantly easy-going samba stars such as the massively successful Maria Rita; on the other the experimental tradition of Tropicalia, the Mangue Bit movement, or the electronica of São Paulo's Suba. Céu is remarkable for the way she has brought all the strands of her country's music together in a glorious new fusion. Her songs are often breathy, laid-back and sensual, but her breezy vocals are matched by often startlingly brave and adventurous arrangements. She starts with a simple, charming song backed by minimalist cavaquinho, then eases into tracks that involve funky and inventive use of electronica or elaborate brass arrangements. So the charming Ponteiro matches a sturdy melody against quirky organ work, the witty Papa (her one song in English) is cleverly dressed up in a jazzy setting, and the cool, drifting Comadi matches her fine vocals against a slinky bass line and cool keyboards. This is the finest Brazilian album of the year."

Click the picture for larger size.

Clockwise: Gustavo Lenza, Guilherme Ribeiro, Lucas Martins, DJ Marco, Céu e Bruno Buarque