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// Think of One
© D.R.
Tráfico
T.O.O.’s sixth album is an uneven affair : it veers from wildly intoxicating songs like “Maracatu Misterioso” to flat instrumentals like “Samba Belga”, that is better suited for a James Bond remake. Yet, the marriage between the band’s Belgian roots and the rhythms they picked up in Northeast Brazil are, in the main, skilfully distilled by an impressive team of producers and sound engineers. The encounter between the big brass sound of the Roms, the rhythms of Flemish marching bands and the traditional coco, ciranda and forro music has indeed been a fruitful one.
The pièce de résistance in this collage is the irresistible voice of Dona Cila. Her entry on the third track “Tirar Onda” suddenly sends the album into a new stratosphere. This is a voice that combines an older version of Betty Boop with the grain of Billie Holiday and the range of Sarah Vaughan. The 66-year-old confirms these first impressions with “Feira de Mangaio”, “Tirar Onda” and “Coraçao de Papel”, and T.O.O. re-inforces her magical quality by wisely using her sparingly. “When I saw her on stage my eyes popped,” admits Bovée, “The impact she has, this energy, for me it was ‘Wow!’ immediately. Now she is the mother figure of the band.”
It would be a disservice to the band, however, to narrow the quality of this record down to Cila’s contribution. The 12 tracks reflect the diversity of styles T.O.O. artfully condenses into its music. It ranges from a gripping heavy metal incursion on “Tahina” to a harmonious blend of reggae, French folk and Brazilian rap in the title track. The musicians once again justify their 2004 BBC Radio 3 World Music award in the “boundary crossing” category with a thoughtful and respectful blend of styles that are aesthetically miles apart.
The six members of the band spent a considerable time in Recife absorbing the cultural cauldron of the Nordeste. Their fusion of European, Latin and Brazilian carnival music is a tightrope walking act that does not always work, particularly in the slower songs like “Aai” and “Maria Chegou”. Thankfully, the exuberance of the other tunes is there to remind listeners that this is a band that thrives on live exchanges and dynamic dialogues. And none are more refreshing than the songs featuring Dona Cila, a local star seen on the CD cover reclining at the centre of the group on a “Mamama” motorbike.
June 2006
Daniel Brown
// ALSO
- Cabruêra
- The Rough Guide to the music of Tanzania
- Wilson das Neves
- Rio's retro samba band Orquestra Imperial play KOKO 12 July
- New Awards for World Music
- Latin Music USA: the Barbican and BBC Four go Latin
- Recife Carnival 2009, DJ Dolores playlist
- Recife Carnival 2009, Recife Carnival 2009
- Tony Allen, Afrobeat ace
// ALL THINK OF ONE'S REVIEWS
Tráfico
28/06/2006
// DISCOGRAPHY
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Tráfico (Album)
Chuva Em Pô (Album)
Son du Monde/Sound of the World (Compilation) (Album)
Marrakech Emballages Ensemble (Album)// LINKS
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