Genre
MPB, samba, and art-pop. Described as heralding "a Brazilian popular music which conciliated MPB, rock, samba and Northeastern music without having one genre overcome the other," the album moves between lyrically inventive originals - co-written with Arnaldo Antunes and Nando Reis - and covers of Caetano Veloso, Pixinguinha, and Cartola, all unified by Monte's operatically-trained alto and Arto Lindsay's restrained, contemporary production aesthetic.
Release
Released in 1991 by EMI-Odeon Brasil, with the international edition on World Pacific/Blue Note. Recorded between September and November 1990.
Production
Produced by Arto Lindsay. Contributing musicians included Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bernie Worrell, Naná Vasconcelos, John Zorn, Marc Ribot, and Cyro Baptista. Engineers were Patrick Dillett and Roger Moutenot; executive production by Leonardo Netto and Lula Buarque de Hollanda; artistic direction by Jorge Davidson. Recorded at Skyline and Creative Audio studios, New York; Impressão Digital and Nas Nuvens studios, Rio de Janeiro.
Reception
The album sold close to one million copies in Brazil, prompted a national tour, and established Marisa Monte as one of the foremost voices in Brazilian popular music. O Estado de S. Paulo wrote that Monte had entered "the pantheon of the titans, in all senses." "Beija Eu" - co-written with Arnaldo Antunes - became a significant hit, as did "Ainda Lembro."
Marisa Monte
Marisa Monte (born July 1, 1967, Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer widely regarded as the greatest Brazilian female singer of her generation. The daughter of Carlos Monte, a director of the Portela samba school, she studied operatic singing at the Santa Marcelina Music Conservatory in São Paulo and in Rome, before redirecting her ambitions toward popular music on returning to Rio. Her career has been defined by creative partnerships with Arnaldo Antunes, Nando Reis, Carlinhos Brown, and Arto Lindsay - the collaborators who shaped her studio recordings from "Mais" onward. Her 2002 collaborative project Tribalistas sold over two million copies; she has accumulated four Latin Grammy Awards, beginning with Best Pop Album for "Memórias, Crônicas e Declarações de Amor" (2000). In 2000 she founded Phonomotor Records, her independent label, which has also championed artists from Brazil's samba heritage. She has also produced the Velha Guarda da Portela and collaborated with artists including Gilberto Gil, David Byrne, and Seu Jorge.
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