It’s going to be a bit of a short BMoF this week, as I was away for most of the week on a visit to Konstanz (hence the slight blogging silence), and today I seem to be falling prey to a bunch of mean viruses. But there’s one singer I’ve been meaning to post on for a while, after a request from Chris Hitchcock if I’m not mistaken: Virgínia Rodrigues. She started singing in church choirs in Bahia, and by a twist of fate ended up being discovered by Caetano Veloso – who does know how to promote his protégés! But her talent as a singer and an amazing velvet-like voice are the real reasons for Virgínia’s somewhat discreet but steady success since; she is not a singer for the big masses, but is highly regarded in the international circles of world music and jazz, and of course in Brazil as well.
The Afro-Brazilian influence on her music is strongly felt, and Virgínia is herself an active member of the candomblé religion, which developed over the centuries by African priests brought to Brazil as slaves. In particular, in 2004 she released the album Mares Profundos, containing 11 of the Afro-sambas by Vinícius de Moraes and Baden Powell (see here and here for previous posts on Baden Powell and the Afro-sambas). From this album, I’m posting the beautiful ‘Canto de Ossanha’. I’m also posting ‘Mimar você’ from her second album Nós (2000), a carnival song by Afro-band Timbalada (also recorded by Caetano Veloso), which is completely transformed by her and which makes the awesomeness of her voice particularly evident.
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