Cravo e canela - Fiorella Mannoia

Ok, So who doesn't love Brazilian everything? The people are all beautiful, the music is rhythmic and sensual and even the flag is brightly coloured.

Brazil gave us mojitos and cane toads and also really got into the whole idea of having giant parades i bad taste with feathers - just fantastic.

This song is a cover of an old song by the Brazilian songwriter Milton Nascimento and it is one of my favourite of all the Brazilian songs I have encountered. Unusually for Brazilian music this song is in 3/2 - reminiscent of the Qeuebecois 'brandy' dance-tune type. The cover by Italian singer Fiorella Mannoia is really quite a good cover. Fiorella, who had a wonderfully colourful upbringing as the child of a stuntman, has added just a touch of tasteful pop to this song, but also retained some of the elements of Brazilian street music that made the original so good.

Pay Attention to:

-The simple bassline which occasionally breaks out into a crazy african-funk style solo

-The awesome Brazilian percussion. The 3/2 groove really rocks along and the samba style percussion works really well in the framework of 3/2 - 1 and 2 and wooo |1 and 2 and wooo |

-The auto-tuned but still interesting vocal harmonies

-The sexy chords in the chorus. Such a samba thing to move into the relative minor and then move in parallel chords so we end up in a very arcane place in what feels like a quite natural movement.

Why should you listen to this?

This woman is no Ella Fitzgerald, no Celia Cruz, but as she is pushing 70 (a tad younger in the video I attached) she is really going for it. Her voice is quite interesting sounding and there is a bit of Milton being used in the newer version as well. I think that we should not be afraid to like the new poppy versions of old classics, (sometimes). This song while still a poppy cover retains a lot of the elements that make classic Brazilian music unique and appealing.

This goes well with:

Some modern poppy Brazilian music. Something by Rosalina De Souza (see in my links) or even the poppier Ze Ramalho tunes or Edu Lobo tunes such as ponteio (see in the links) will really get your Samba bum going.

As always here is a youtube video to watch, and as this is a cover I have included a Milton Nascimento video as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1i1Lrf2SHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVnfXLlrhPo

Cheerio

Owen