"The Afro-Brazilian Project" by RAVI

REVIEWS

Straight No Chaser: The kora brings more of the rising and falling of the sea to the already sea-like samba. It fits in with guitars like it was always a natural part of Brazilian music. Ravi's compositions are delicate and downbeat, a groove is built on "Berimbao' with an angelic wordless vocal chorus. There are excellent contributions from Paulo Moura (the jazz clarinetist and musical arranger) and Marlui Miranda. The meditative "Amazonian Journey one" shows the beauty of Marlui's voice in a very pure and pristine moment, particularly because of the grace and poise of her tune

Sing Out: At first glance, combining kora with Brazilian musicseems a bit of a high concept. But monymic British kora player Ravi has pulled off the unlikely with this smart and engaging project.Working exclusively with local musicians, Ravi subtly integrates his kora into grab-bag of Brazilian polyrhythms on 12 original tracks. highlights include "21 stringed samba", Berimba, and the gorgeous "Amazon Journey"

Wave magazine: With Brazilian influenced club music currently en vogue its nice to catch up with someone specialising in more Amazonian sounds. This collection is the result of multi-instumentalist Ravi's time in Rio de
Janeiro recording with local musicians. His dedication to authenticity is apparent in both the honest reflective music and the fascinating travelogue contained in the sleeve notes. Its slightly melancholy edge
marks it out as a welcome change from the usual drums fests masquerading as Brazilian music at your local megastore.

Jahworks Enticing rhythms and the rich variety of other instrumental sounds complement, surround, or dance upon a fertile bedrock of beat. The very pleasant tunes, also help a lot. As do the vocals, which add variety, interest and sometimes beauty. The title of the lead-off track, 21-String Samba, provides a couple of clues as to what is going on here. The 21 strings refer to the African kora that Ravi plays with great technical and artistic skill. The samba part reflects what he does with all that mastery: he plays his own rich version of Brazilian music, its authenticity reflected in the company he keeps. The overall result is a seamless interweaving of the African texture of the lead instrument within a dynamic Brazilian milieu. There are several quiet, contemplative moments, particularly in the four-part suite Amazon Journey, but most of the rest involves complex rhythms that range from gently lilting to furiously driving. Whatever their position along that continuum, the percussion arrangements remain compelling. A comprehensive booklet is included with text in several languages about the music and the musicians. In this case, the primary liner notes are by Ravi himself and convey a sense of immediacy. There are also lyrics for one of the songs, brief notes about each track, and short bios of the artists involved. So I cannot complain much about the package. And I canÕt really complain about the music either. Entertaining stuff

Midwest Record Recap Any one who got a taste of Ravi's last worldfusion mind blower will be sure to want to hear how he picks it up, moves it to the other side of the world and gets some of hottest Brazilian stalwarts to lock into the fold.  Genre splicing everything that can fit in comfortably, open eared world beat fans will simply be floored by the scope and depth on sonic display here.  A grand time from start to finish is assured.

About the "The Afro-Brazilian Project"

This CD is the culmination of many years absorbing music from Brazil. The kora is not of Brazilian origin, but usually it is possible to adapt instruments to unfamiliar genres and my own style is not exclusive to any one culture

Some of the music was written years ago when the first stirings of a love affair with Brazil started with music by musicians such as Baden Powell; this progressed to samba, moving round the orchestra of percussion. Finally, full circle and a chance meeting in The Cape Verde Islands led to recording with Brazilian musicians in Brazil where more compositions were written, inspired by the electric atmosphere of Rio and bountiful nature experiences.

A major part of the pleasure in making this CD was playing with musicians such as Paolo Moura, Armando Marcal, Robertino Silva and particularly, Marlui Miranda.

Recorded in and around Rio de Janeiro in studios: EG (Bata Fogo), Zaga (Ipanema), 45 (Copacabana)

One of the special features of this CD is Amazon Journey with special guest Marlui Miranda, a world expert on The Brazilian Indians. On this series of improvised duets RAVI brought in sounds unfamiliar to Brazil such as kora, singing bowl, kaval and overtone/throat singing. Marlui brought a range of sounds such as Indian flutes, rattles and her wonderful voice

The Brazilian Indians
Today in Brazil they are 217 peoples speaking more than 180 different languages and adding up to approximately 350,000 individuals. The majority of this population is distributed among thousands of villages located within 595 demarcated lands - spread throughout the national territory.

The Suruí tribe was first contacted in 1969 by FUNAI, the federal government bureau for indigenous affairs. Until that time 1500 Suruí lived in long houses in the forest: hunting, fishing, and harvesting small gardens. After years of fighting smallpox, influenza, and small farmers who invaded their
land, the Suruí finally got their land demarcated by the Brazilian government. Today, 765 Suruí people are struggling against extinction. More recently, they have become involved in community-based ecotourism, building their traditional long houses for tourists to visit

About some of the musicians on 'The Afro-Brazilian Project'

MARLUI MIRANDA

Marlui Miranda is the most acclaimed and recognized performer and researcher on music from the Brazilian Indians. She spent 17 years researching the indigenous music on Ihu Todos os Sons. This music brings the beauty and peace hidden in the Amazon Forest. It shows the deepness of the innocence of the Brazilian Native Indians that survive in the Amazon Rain Forest. Marlui Miranda with her beautiful voice and tremendous talent has saved some jewels for us. Her album, 'Ihu Todos os Sons' presents songs and chants of several Brazilian Indian nations (Tukano, Sorul, Pakaa, Novas, Nhambikwara, Yanomami, Suyá, Jaboti, Kaiapó, Juruna, Tupari). They are presented exactly and then woven into a tapestry involving occasional colours from another world with modern instrumentation.

Armando Marcal

Armando Marcal is one of the most talented percussionists in Brazil today. A native of Rio, he has been surrounded by Brazilian music his whole life. His father, known in Brazil as -Mestre (Master) Marcal-, was the most noted percussionist of Brazil, and during his life played a significant role in the percussion segment of Carnaval. As well as being a member of The Pat Methney Group for some of their most classic albums, both Armando and Gil Goldstein were an important part of Pat Metheny's Secret Story

Paulo Moura

Son of a band leader and brother of other musicians, Paulo Moura started playing the piano and the clarinet in his native town, Sao Jose do Rio Preto (SP). Later on, Moura moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he played at balls, parties and casinos, as a member of Zacharias e Sua Orquestra. In Rio de Janeiro, Moura attended lessons at the National School of Music, where he studied music theory, harmony, conducting, arrangement and orchestration. Moura has always been extremely interested in jazz, and was the founder of one of the first jazz bands in Brazil, playing the sax and clarinet. In 1957, he recorded the album -Paulo Moura e sua Orquestra para Bailes-. Alternating between classical and popular music, Moura used to hang out with bossa nova musicians at the nightclub Beco das Garrafas, and wrote arrangements for Elis Regina, Fagner and Milton Nascimento. In the 80's, he released one of his most famous albums, Mistura e Manda. In 1992 Moura recorded the album Dois Irmaos, winning the Sharp Music Award for best popular music performer.

Paulo Moura and Guta Menzes(right)