BAHIÃO COM H

The record stores are getting filled with forró albums - turned fashionalble by the industry which was eager to inject anything into the market that could susbtitute the pagode and Brazilian country. The machine cannot stop making money. Still, it would be thoughtless to say that Moraes Moreira's new album is opportunist. After all, the Bahia-born, veteran singer and songwriter has been doing forró and other northeastern folk rhythms since the late 70s, when he was the mind behind the group Novos Baianos. Besides, differently from many performers who have been re-reading Luiz Gonzaga classics, 95% of the tracks in this disc have been written by Moreira himself. É de Ipanema, Forró Universitário and Baião com H are smart cuts, the latter featuring Armandinho's electric guitar. Moraes has also updated three old songs from his repertoire: Sintonia, Preta Pretinha and Festa do Interior for this CD that comes out in perfect timing. (Carlos Calado)