Not all sounds from South America are sambas, tangos, rumbas and pan pipes. Here are some contemporary musings from today’s artists.
The team Fronteiras Imaginarias consists of Antonio Arnedo/ss, Benjamin Taubkin/b, Joao Taubkin/p and Sergio Reese/dr. The mix of artists from Brazil and Colombia produces dreamy and impressionistic moods on these six originals. Debussyesque piano flows under Arnedo’s sweet soprano on “Mantendo A Fe’” while lilting grooves rumble underneath on pastoral and tender “Benjamin” and “Festa.” The team gets spacious on the more abstract “Hanna” while creating a soft hovering mist of atmosphere’s during “Mariana” with Arnedo sighing in long and delicate tones. Gentle panoramas.
At the keyboards, synthesizers and various other pieces of electronica, Pedro Martins keeps it highly rhythmic with Shai Maestro/p, Frederico Heliodoro/b, Gregoire Maret/harp, Ricardo Braga/perc, Rafael Vernet/key and a trio of drummers in Thiago Rabello, Antonion Loureiro and Renato Galvao. Hip hoping drums and synth framework mixes with voice and bass lines on “Caminhada” while lots of 70s and 80s Muzaky sounds pop up on the Enya-inspired “Mudanca” and the upbeat techno pop of “Union” and “Na Beira.” Less is more as rich piano and bass ooze together on “Valentina.” Perky and percussive.