FILOSOFIA

It is unquestionable that Noel Rosa's and Chico Buarque's works have a lot in common. In 1970, for instance, singer Isaurinha Garcia recorded an album filled with their songs. In 2000, the vocal group Garganta Profunda (Deep Throat) released Chico & Noel em Revista. Now, singer Zé Renato bets on the same composers in his latest album, Filosofia (a Noel song recorded by Chico in the 1974 album, Sinal Fechado). Filosofia opens this disc in a cool mode, with only cavaquinho (by Alessandro Valente), voice and match box (by Beto Cazes), the other instruments appearing only on the second part of the song. It is followed by Cotidiano, with a daring arrangement that explores and takes advantage of the song's own drama levels, with heavy chords and beautiful vocals. The classic regional accompaniment (cavaquinho, six and seven-string acoustic guitars, mandolin, percussion) is present in tracks like Pela Décima Vez and A Rita. Things get softer in Até Pensei, Último Desejo and Olhos nos Olhos, which could have been the highlight in this album, but whose arrangement becomes confusing, making the song's simplicity seem overpowered by too many things happening at once. The samba is irresistible in Samba do Grande Amor and Quem Ri Melhor - with Chico doing back up singing. Away from his former group, Boca Livre, Zé Renato has proved to be a workaholic. In the past few years, he has made albums reviewing the works of Zé Keti and Silvio Caldas, plus another one with Elton Medeiros and Mariana de Moraes, besides a solo album as a samba composer (Cabô) early in 2000. Zé also had a great performance during the presentation of Francis Hime's Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro in November, and starts a new show today. His voice remains crystal clear. Nonetheless, a kind of excessive earnest is noticeable in eminently humorous and informal songs, like Homenagem ao Malandro. Well produced, with a fantastic line up and competent arrangements by Zé Renato and Leandro Braga - who also played the piano -, the album is a nice tribute to the two composers who have best captured Rio de Janeiro's urban essence, its characters, loves and sins. (Nana Vaz de Castro)