Marisa Monte is an indispensable phenomenon in Brazilian pop music in recent years. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1967, she grew up in the post-swinging bossa nova era, when the more pop-oriented genre Musica Popular Brasileira emerged. In addition to Western styles such as rock, R&B and funk, she also developed an interest in opera music. While in Italy to study classical singing, Monte discovered
… the richness of the popular music culture of her homeland. Her future would be there. Monte threw himself fully into the live circuit. Her bold debut album, a live record from 1989, was a huge success. The music on all her albums shows a unique mix of bossa nova, samba, tropicàlia, funk, rock, jazz and pop. She applies subtle phrasing in her honeyed voice. On the album Memories, Chronicles And Declarations Of Love (co-) Monte writes most of the music. She sings and plays the guitar and her nine-piece ensemble is complemented by guest musicians. This album has a relatively romantic atmosphere, with fairly calm melodic songs. Nice detail: in the CD booklet the chords are mentioned with the Portuguese text. (SvdP) _more
