Bixiga 70 - Quebra-Cabeça
Met albumtitel Quebra-Cabeça (Portugees voor "puzzel" of "breinbreker", zie ook de hoesafbeelding van het album), hun tweede langspeler op het Glitterbeat Records label, gaat het Braziliaanse afrobeatgezelschap Bixiga 70 dieper in op de gelaagdheid van hun muziek, die als het ware een puzzel is van uiteenlopende invloeden. Saxofonist en fluitist Cuca Ferreira legt uit: "From the very beginning, what we have always had in common is African-Brazilian music. Some of us come from candomblé (the African-Caribbean religion), others from jazz, reggae, dub, everything. The whole idea of the band has been to take all these different elements that form us, from Africa and Brazil, and create a hybrid from them.". De composities op Quebra-Cabeça klinken ook complexer en soms psychedelischer (Primeiramente, Camelo) dan in het verleden het geval was: "We worked harder on the compositions than in the past, spent more time on them. Each song has a lot of different parts, they can seem like a journey, more complex. We knew we wanted this record to be different. Our other three albums were all recorded live in the studio, because we're more of a live band, the stage is our habitat. This time we decided to use the studio to experiment with arrangements and voicings. We began composing in early 2017. It took us a year to write everything, then we began recording in May (of) this year. And for the first time we used a co-producer, Gustavo Lenza (Céu, Marisa Monte). He was a friend even before we formed the band, but it recent years he's become a very big producer in Brazil.".
De afgelopen jaren had de tienkoppige band uit São Paulo bovendien het voorrecht om met groten als het Ghanese highlife icoon Pat Thomas, de Nigeriaanse saxofoonveteraan Orlando Julius en de levende Braziliaanse muzieklegende João Donato het podium te mogen delen: "We've learned from them all, they've made us think about what we can do with our music. Those new ideas have found their way into this album.". Maar voor alles blijft hun thuishaven São Paulo natuurlijk hun voornaamste bron van inspiratie: "This city has been a huge influence on us. It has that sense of urgency, always running to catch up. It's expensive, and services are awful, with so much pollution and violence. But it's our home and it was developed through immigration. Bixiga is where people come first of all. It's always had that influx; it's the story of São Paulo in miniature.". Over het feit of dit nog afrobeat is kan je discussiëren, maar toch is dit alweer een uitstekende en nog steeds volledig instrumentale release van dit Braziliaanse gezelschap dat muzikaal blijft groeien en evolueren!
Bixiga 70 komt Quebra-Cabeça live voorstellen in 4AD in Diksmuide op 19 oktober en in de Ancienne Belgique in Brussel op 22 oktober!
www.bixiga70.com.br | www.glitterbeat.com | www.xmd.nl