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World Music Album ReviewsNo balanço do mar : Catarina Dos Santos
Catarina comes from Barreiro, Portugal, and since a young child was exposed to all genres of music, particularly jazz and funk, gospel, and also traditional music from Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, and Brazil. Growing up in a neighbourhood where Portuguese, Angolans and Cape Verdeans lived alongside each other, she couldn't help but be influenced by the various style and cultures around her. No balanço do mar is Catarina's debut album, but you would never know - it's very well produced and her voice is mature and sweet - quite possibly because she first starting writing songs as a teenager - she has had plenty of time to develop her skills. Stylistically the music is a mix of Latin Americans sounds with strong Jazz overtones - some of the melodies are distinctly jazzy and float over a smooth percussive beat. The album's title translates literally as "In the balanced sea" and indeed, man of the tracks make reference to the sea. For instance the lyrics of, O Teu Jeito (Your Way) say:
Backed up by a large variety of instruments such as Saxophone, Percussion, Accoustic Bass, Mandolin and even Seven String Guitar, this album is at once very smooth and lush, with a lilt that keeps you drawn in. Each track has a subtle change of instrumentation, such as the opening passage of Osobó which has a nice Mbira (thumb piano) riff. I really like the subtlety throughout No balanço do mar as it works well to create the perfect accompaniment to Catarina's voice. For a first album, this is excellent and I look forward to hearing more of her music. This video below is her singing Tambor de Tres live with 2 friends > Find out more about Catarina's debut album and hear some sample at her MySpace site |
It
must be the season for Summery-sounding albums - there seem to be a lot
of quality recordings being produced at the moment - and Catarina Dos
Santos' album, No balanço do mar is no expection.