Yet another busy week here, fortunately with no water-spilling accidents, but this time I was in Munich to attend a workshop organized by the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy. Among other things, in Munich I had the pleasure of meeting logician Jeff Horty, who, as it turns out, is a regular reader of this column! (I’m always surprised to find out that I have readers at all for Brazilian music on Fridays…) So again, this will be a bit of a short post, about a singer I was listening to a lot this week, sort of out of the blue.
Cássia Eller was the most ‘sex, drugs and rock & roll’ singer we’ve had in Brazil in a long time. Her music is a fusion of rock, blues and Brazilian folk music (MPB), propelled by her husky, powerful voice. She was also the most overtly lesbian singer we’ve ever had (which reminds me of a recent post by Mark on Ani DiFranco, to whom she is sometimes compared). Sadly, I’m forced to use the past tense here, as Cássia died under puzzling circumstances in December 2001, almost 10 years ago; I remember it very well, it was just before New Year’s Eve, and by chance I was in Rio (where she lived). It was a big blow, in particular as she was scheduled to perform at one of the many open air beach concerts taking place at New Year’s Eve (incidentally, let me add that New Year’s Eve in Rio is the coolest thing in the world).
At first, it looked like an overdose, as she indeed had a long history of drug-related problems, but the autopsy later established that she had had a series of heart attacks; she was only 39, but apparently she had an until-then concealed heart condition. Another memorable aspect of Cássia’s life in fact occurred after her death: she had a young son from a brief relationship with a man, and in an unprecedented turn of events in Brazil, the custody of the kid was given to her female partner of 14 years (the father had died a few years before, and for all intents and purposes the kid's real parents were Cássia and her partner).
Ok, now about her music. Cássia did not compose, but she had a versatile repertoire with songs by some of the best Brazilian composers. Rock and blues were strong influences, but she also recorded sambas and other traditional Brazilian styles. Interestingly, she has an amazing version of the great flamenco song ‘Soy Gitano’, best known in the voice of the legendary Camarón de la Isla (unfortunately, I couldn’t find Cássia’s version anywhere on the internet). I’m posting here two of her best known songs: ‘Por Enquanto’, which was her first hit, and is a song by Legião Urbana leader, Renato Russo (also dead); and ‘Por que a gente é assim’, composed by Cazuza (also dead), who I plan to write a post on very soon (she recorded many great songs by Cazuza, btw).
The premature death of Cássia Eller was a great loss for Brazilian music; it’s been almost 10 years, but she retains a significant number of fans. From time to time I go through weeks of listening to her music a lot, and this week was one of them. Maybe I’ll convince some of you to join the ranks? :)
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