BBC Music Review
Hih as in 'grooving Hih': that's how Brazilian born singer Mônica Vasconcelos, who 15 years ago traded Sao Paulo for London, introduces her latest work. She has certainly grown since her 2004 release Gente with quartet, Nóis 4. Her ripe voice reaches more lyrical and dynamic depths than ever before.
Hih bridges cultures; an intellectual displacement familiar to most émigrés. A musical journey that is best made with friends: Vasconcelos opts for musicians with whom she goes back a long way: keyboardist Steve Lodder and bassist Dudley Phillips. They augment Vasconcelos' Brazilian vocabulary with a solid jazz frame and share with her an open approach to composition that rebuffs artificial boundaries of genre and style.
The result: 14 very different, equally strong tracks (mostly co-written originals); organically assembled on an album that never yields a boring moment. The mood is a sophisticated architecture of elusive passion, where the Brazilian zest for life travels quieter avenues: Vasconcelos' classy signature style.
Adding to the magic is the unmistakable voice of Robert Wyatt. With partner, Alfie Benge, he co-writes two of the album's tunes, including Out Of The Doldrums, where, with Phillips, they craft a Nascimento-like delicacy.
Additional guests include Laubrock (Nois 4, F-ire) on gutsy soprano, and Dudu Fonseca with some luminous drumming. Adriano Adewale’s percussion enriches the Brazilian soundscape; additional drive comes from drummer Ricardo Mosca (Arquitetura, hih). Meanwhile, the ijexa Salt Meets Fire or the ballad Lagrimas Negras allow the intensity of her voice to blossom in a more intimate setting.
This is Monica Vasconcelos' most mature album to date. She's a musician who embraces life in its entirety, and returns it to us with wings. Not one note in this album is meaningless or dispassionate. It's terrific artistry.
Lara Bellini - 24th January 2008
The Guardian
Every artist appreciates a good endorsement, and they don't come much better than this: "Celebrate the arrival of this beautiful vocalist to our shores... bringing us the dance and deep song of Brazil," writes Robert Wyatt on the cover of the album - and he himself appears on the album as a "special guest".
Mônica Vasconcelos is not exactly a newcomer - she has been living in the UK for 15 years - but she is certainly worth celebrating. Along with the more experimental Cibelle, she is among the most successful Brazilian musicians based here and her sixth album is predictably classy and varied. Best known for her work with Nóis 4, she is now backed by a trio led by the pianist Steve Lodder, who helped write the songs: a mixture of finely sung, jazz-edged ballads with upbeat tracks that show off her cool, easygoing style and the rasping edge to her voice. Then there is a song by the veteran sambista Martinho da Vila, and - best of all - two duets with Wyatt. Out of the Doldrums and Still in the Dark (You Are Not My Sunshine) are gently thoughful fusions of Brazilian and British influences that are as intriguing as they are original.
By Robin Denselow - 25th January 2008
The Vortex Jazz Club Website
Seventy-two minutes of softly wafting yet propulsive Brazilian music from its leading UK-based practitioner, including two tracks involving Robert Wyatt and Alfie Benge; all this adds up to Mônica Vasconcelos's most attractive offering yet.
Her voice is pure, strong and flexible, her band -¬ centred on the versatile keyboards of Steve Lodder, the muscular but sensitive bass playing of Dudley Phillips and the intelligently judged percussion of Adriano Adewale, but augmented as necessary by soloists such as saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and violinist Felipe de Souza, plus backing vocalists and additional percussionists -¬ is discreet and sensitive but vigorous and exuberant where appropriate, and the songs, mostly in Portuguese with the odd dash of English, constitute Vasconcelos's strongest recorded set to date.
The two Wyatt/Benge songs are particularly memorable, both for the poignancy of their lyrics and for their pleasantly insinuating melodies, and overall this album should not only delight existing admirers but attract new ones to Vasconcelos's winsome, airy, wholly accessible music.
By Chris Parker
Songlines
From the first few notes of her sixth album Vasconcelos leaves us in no doubt that she is one of the most sophisticated Brazilian artists to have made the UK's shores her home. During her 15 years there she has carved out a highly rewarding niche with her jazz-orientated take on MPB (popular music of Brazil), her understanding of Brazilian music perhaps even sharpened by the geographic distance she has put between herself and her homeland. Her voice remains as charming as ever whilst displaying further nuances that come with maturity. The opening track, "Nega Deleite" is a fantastic example - a lovely 'sambossa' groove is overlaid by her playful vocals, and you just know she is having a great time singing this music.
Throughout the album she weaves an intricate lyrical tapestry - the title-track being a fine example - whilst her Anglo-Brazilian band drive her music forward with no danger of becoming over-sentimental. Later in the album she is joined by Robert Wyatt, a musician who utterly transformed the late 60s psychedelic scene, for two mixed-language collaborations, "Out of the Doldrums' and 'Still in the Dark'. Vasconcelos' latest album is her most self assured and accomplished to date.
By D J Cliffy - March 2008
The Times
With her sixth album, the London-based native of São Paulo continues expanding the pallette of bossa nova into jazzier territory than most contemporary Brazilian albums that make it to this side of the Atlantic.
Last heard singing on Robert Wyatt's Comicopera, she returns the favour here, with the Englishman adding vocals to Still in the Dark and Out of the Doldrums. More upbeat, Nega Deleite powers along on scat singing, while Arquitetura is jazzily underpinned by the pianist Steve Lodder. But just as you think you have the measure of the album, Coisa De Fome appears, with a poppy melody that sticks in your head. A fair attempt at being all things to all people.
By David Hutcheon - January 26 2008
Mojo
UK-resident Brazilian songstress's sixth.
Vasconcelos sang the long suffering wife's lament, Just As You Are, on Robert Wyatt's Comicopera, her vocal tones free of mannerism, almost boyish - it took a few plays to realise it wasn't Wyatt himself singing.
On her own turf, the Brazilian opens up her staggering range. Nega Deleite overtures on a sultry bossa nova tip, before Arquitetura shoots off into dissonant jazz, pianist Steve Lodder challenging both her, and listener, with some fearsome phrasing. Later on, she tackles Tropicalist pop (Fogo e Sal) with summery ease, and late-night piano balladry (Lágrimas Negras) with torrid emotion.
Recorded between London and São Paulo, and lyrically bilingual to boot, Hih boasts two co-writes with Wyatt and his wife, Alfie Benge. Still In The Dark finds Vasconcelos and Wyatt harmonising ambitiously about the loss of a life partner, while Out Of The Doldrums exquisitely celebrates music's healing power. The whole album's soaked in it.
By Andrew Perry - June 2008
The Guardian
Despite the name, the music of Mônica Vasconcelos's quartet Nois 4 doesn't grab you with vocal histrionics or thundering riffs. But their album Gente (Candid, 13.99) does things that few other World albums attempt. Each track is distinctive, exploring different aspects of Brazilian rhythm, timbre and melody and wordplay. And Vasconcelos's voice is charming and tuneful, but with an element of reticence and taste you don't expect from a Latin-jazz-fusion frontperson. Vasconcelos has class, but she doesn't make a big deal about being classy.
In some respects she is like a curator of Brazilian music, rediscovering her compatriots' sound and reinterpreting it
in a coolly individual way. Influencia do Jackson, the wordy, high-energy opener is one of two tracks written by Aldir Blanc and special guest Guinga. Vasconcelos's rapid delivery is intense, almost rap-like. The intricate words deal with schools, sexism, football and corruption. Relampiano (by Lenine and Paulo Moska) is about childhood poverty, the story of a child selling chewing gum by urban traffic-lights in the rain, given extra emotional power by Ben Davis's Basquiat Strings and some clever mixing from drummer/producer Chris Wells. Com A Perna No Mundo (by Luiz Gonzaga Jr) has an engaging, rough-hewn choir; Jobim's Cancao Em Modo Menor features Ingrid Laubrock's lovely tenor sax against Davis's poised strings. (Davis plays cello in Laubrock's own band.)
Nois 4's line-up comprises Vasconcelos, Laubrock, Wells and Brazilian guitarist Ife Tolentino. (The original Nois was a nine-piece.) They are based in the UK, but recorded Gente in Brazil, where they recruited musicians such as Guinga (who is returning to tour with them next year) and accordionist Toninho Ferragutti. The album includes folky, Foro-inflected pieces such as Cha de Panela (also by Guinga and Blanc), gentle ballads, sweet waltzes and chilled, spacey grooves such as Leve, with Laubrock on Wayne Shorter-ish soprano sax. (It is not so much that she sounds like Shorter, more that, like him, she avoids playing the bleeding obvious). Nois 4 have made a clever, multi-layered album that grows on you with each listen.
John L Walters - 19/11/2004 - The Guardian
Time Out
When non-Brazilians try to play 'Brazilian music', it's usually jobbing jazz musicians stumbling through the bossa nova, a strain of music that's at least 45years old. It's a bit like a Brazilian band playing the music of, say, Billy Fury and convincing the gig-goers of Rio that it's authentically 'British'.
Sao Paulo's Monica Vasconcelos has sung a fair bit of bossa nova since she relocated to London, but she's also tried to bring UK audiences up to speed withfour decades of Brazilian music from samba jazz to Tropicalia, from maracatu to frevo, from choro to baico. For the past few years she's fronted two bands: Nsis (which translates as 'Us') is her expanded nine-piece; As Meninas ('The Girls') is her pared-down quartet. (She's had to change the name of the latter after learning of a teenie all-girl sextet in Brazil of the same name, hence thenew moniker, Nsis 4. ) A recent extended return to Brazil seems to have worked wonders. The new album, 'Gente' (Candid), sees her largely European band playingnew and classic Brazilian music with a fitting langour and a rare rhythmic
understanding.
German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock is on hand to provide elegant obbligatos (like a Brazilian Paul Desmond), but the quartet are significantly augmented by the remarkable Brazilian guitarist and singer Guinga (also playing this splendidvenue tonight), who should lend this concert a degree of authenticity that Brazilian music often requires.
John Lewis - 06/10/2004 - Time Out
BBC News Online
...brims with a deep love and understanding of Brazilian music...
With their second album NOIS 4 ('Us Four') recount their own poetic tales of Brazil and pay homage to the country's most enduring heritage, the people themselves ('Gente'): Brazilian Music as a popular, collective experience. They've even recorded it in Sao Paulo, to make it as close to the real thing as possible. Brazil comes across in all its warmth, delivered with the lightness of touch that is typical of Nois 4.
Carnivalesque grooves alternate with melancholic songs; original tunes with absolute classics (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes; Chico Buarque). One can dive into "Com a Perna no Mundo", and imagine what it is to be part of a Beija Flor parade (one of Rio's most prominent schools of samba).
With "Chá De Panela", Nois 4 pay homage to Brazilian jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal (listen out for the trademark accordion and triangle; the circular pulse; and a lyrical nod to the very core of the Pascoal philosophy: 'All things are musical'). Their collective journey takes on a more personal hue with "Canto pra Cira". Monica Vasconcelos' voice blossoms with a sweet melancholy in this poignant tribute to her mother.
But it is the presence of guitarist Guinga, a legendary figure of the MPB scene (Brazilian Popular Music) that adds a hefty weight to the ensemble. His love and knowledge of both classic and popular Brazilian musical traditions is a precious gift to NOIS 4's sound. On the other hand, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock's wonderfully subtle soprano tone is worth a mention, as well as her sensitive alto modulations that sweetly interweave with Monica's vocals.
This is an enjoyable album that brims with a love and understanding of Brazilian music.
Lara Bellini - 11/2004 - BBC News Online
Sunday Tribune
Vocalist Monica Vasconcelos is the driving force behind 'Us Four', but the real star on their second album is Guinga, the great Brazilian guitarist and composer, who contributes tunes and his impeccable groove to this celebration of Brazilian music and people. Though Nois 4 are London-based, this was recorded in Sao Paulo and also features saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and accordionist Toninho Ferragutti. The tunes are a combination of originals, including a tribute to the great composer Hermeto Pascoal. The aural equivalent of the sun on your face, and an antidote to SAD.
Cormac Larkin - 02/01/2005 - Sunday Tribune
The Times
Every week, a star gets to fly the flag for an obscure masterpiece. Come in, Robert Wyatt, on Nóis 4\'s Gente:
"It\'s from this century, and I know they\'re based in London. Nóis 4\'s singer is called Monica Vasconcelos and she\'s very good-looking, which I honestly didn\'t know when I bought it -the cover is a pair of peasant\'s feet. That\'s very Brazilian. They continued the hippy idealism in a left-leaning, innocent way that didn\'t happen anywhere else."
"If you don\'t like Astrud Gilberto, you won\'t like this. That was the pop music I listened to before I got into black American music. I was just hitting puberty when Girl from Ipanema came out so, well...blimey. But I prefer Nóis 4. It\'s more traditional, terrific percussion and a splendid string quartet. Also it doesn\'t have that Stan Getz heavy breathing, sleazy sax sound which reminds one of tourists going around a red-light district. Ingrid Laubrock plays the soprano sax very well. She just chooses the good notes, like Wayne Shorter, really fresh."
"I love music in other languages, especially Portuguese because it\'s an archaic, slightly awkward language."
Robert Wyatt - 9/9/2005 - The Times
