MACALÉ CANTA MOREIRA

The legitimate heir to Kid Morengueira's (a.k.a. Moreira da Silva) street wisdom and trademark hat, Jards Macalé admits: it is quite hard to sing the samba de breque. In spite of the difficulty, the result achieved with this Macalé Canta Moreira is no less than great, and makes it clear that nobody could have done homage to Moreira da Silva more suitably. Besides Macalé, arrangers Vittor Santos, Jayme Vignoli and Moacyr Luz deserve part of the credit. That's because the arrangements basically turn the album, with 13 songs and 12 tracks, into a kind of 2 in 1 disc. Explanation: along his career, Moreira da Silva recorded with two types of accompaniment: gafieira orchestra ensembles and choro/samba ensembles. Vittor Santos, trombone player, orchestra leader and fine arranger, was in charge of the first atmosphere on Piston de Gafieira, Amigo Urso/A Resposta do Amigo Urso, Olha o Padilha, O Rei do Gatilho, Tira o Óculos e Recolhe o Homem and Moreira na Ópera. Luz (samba expert) and Vignoli (choro expert), were in charge of the small regional group on Margarida, Na Subida do Morro, Samba Aristocrático and O Último dos Moicanos. Macalé wrote the arrangements of the classic Acertei no Milhar and the rare Choro Esdrúxulo.

As expected, humor is the main dish on all of the tracks. Zeca Baleiro appears on Na Subida do Morro. Chico Caruso and Tim Rescala appear on O Rei do Gatilho and O Último dos Moicanos. Another highlight is the only collaboration between Macalé and Moreira, Tira os Óculos e Recolhe o Homem.


(Nana Vaz de Castro)