Welcome to Balakumbala Voice & Bass  

You may ask what the title of this CD means - “Balakumbala“ – a vivid, tongue-in-cheek play of words so significant for Brazilian culture. Even without being set to music through its very sound this word lets you think of a delicate rhythm and it is already poetry. “The word comes from a well-known song by the team João Bosco / Aldir Blanc”, says Viviane. “The speaker tells of visiting the cinema and enjoying himself while the heroes on the screen get into a duel. They start to fight bullet for bullet (bala com bala!), then knife for knife, fist for fist and then eventually they measure their strength with words.” The duel becomes a duo – just like it is the case with Viviane and Mauro who in their conversations on this disc fathom a surprising plethora of musical options. Taking a look at their biographies it is no wonder that they have so much possibilities at their disposal.

 
Singer Viviane de Farias has roots in the Indio culture of the Northern state of Ceará but as well in Rio`s famous barrio Ipanema. She grew up in Brazil and Los Angeles, was formed in Rio and Chicago in acting and singing, dedicated herself to chanson, jazz and  - at an early phase of her career – particularly to opera. But soon her Brazilian roots gained more importance in her artistic life as she immersed into samba, chôro and bossa nova and the huge repertoire of the Música Popular with genuine writers like Ivan Lins, Chico Buarque, Tom Jobim and Guinga. On her last album „In A Moment Of Passion“ she already proved in what a flexible, delicate and energy-driven way she can put up a programme of bossa, jazz and songwriting. Brazil’s most important newspapers O Globo praised her “one of the big hopes for innovation” in the country’s music.
 
Bassist and drummer Mauro Martins stems from the Southern city of Curitiba and took up guitar and percussion at the early age of six. Living in Europe now for many years like Viviane he has developed teamworks in many musical worlds. He is a highly sought-after session man, arranger and composer, and he collaborated with first class pop and jazz musicians like Phil Collins, Tania Maria, Richard Galliano und Chico César. From Montreux to New York’s Blue Note and Birdland he played festivals and clubs all over the world. His speciality is a funk and jazz driven play on the six-stringed electric bass uniting incredible virtuosity with an intriguing songful quality.
 
Viviane and Mauro have now united their multi-faceted acoustic experiences, gathered the whole universe of Brazilian cultures and beyond in a huge radioscope – and eventually filtered out an essence of new sounds to come up with an intimate and very personal language. Listen to the sheer volcanic power of the title track, an explosive jazzified frevo and bossa nova evergreens turned into funky samba with bluesy interludes. Let yourself be taken away by the power of slaps and scats in astonishing unison. By Viviane’s rich panoply of timbres, sometimes gentle and melancholic, then coy and sultry or  wift and volatile. By Mauro’s sensitive growling, his soulful melodic inventiveness and his rapid chaplets of notes. Witness how the duo turns classics of the Música Popular by Chico Buarque and Clara Nunes into moving jewels talking of Brazil’s history and true love’s future. Be a testimony how they revisit treasures of Northeastern folklore and forge them into a new shining piece of contemporary art. And last but not least discover rarities and new compositions especially created for this programme. All postcard clichés aside – this is a revelation of the true “alma brasileira” – the soul of Brazil.
 
“Balakumbala“ is a breathtaking tête-à-tête, which adds to contemporary Brazilian music a thoroughly new and captivating perspective, stripped down to the extraordinary talent and ingenuity of two people.