Put a Little Marisa Monte in Your Life

Marisa Monte is a Brazilian popular singer, and one the biggest stars of contemporary Brazilian Popular Music. She was born on July 1, 1967 in Rio de Janeiro.

While classically trained in opera singing, she grew up surrounded by the sounds of the Portela samba school, and combines diverse influences into her music. While most of her music is in the style of modern MPB (Brazilian Popular Music), she has also recorded traditional sambas and folklore tunes, and songs by Marvin Gaye,and Lou Reed.

Much of her work has been in collaboration with musicians/songwriters Carlinhos Brown, Arnaldo Antunes, and Nando Reis, and producer Arto Lindsay. She has also worked with foreign artists such as Laurie Anderson and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

After 5 years in silence, Marisa Monte has just released two new albums: 'Infinito Particular' (Private Infinite) and 'Universo ao meu redor' (The Universe Around Me).

In 'Infinito Particular', as the name reveals, Marisa dives into her own production: old tape recorded material, incomplete songs, and interrupted ideas. Along with Arnaldo Antunes, Carlinhos Brown, Seu Jorge, Marcelo Yuka, Nando Reis and Adriana Calcanhoto (all contemporary Brazilian musicians) her new album is created. Ale Siqueira is the producer. He also produced the album Tribalista of Marisa Monte, Arnaldo Antunes and Carlinhos Brown.

In 'Universo ao meu Redor', Marisa gathers sambas, some new, while others more traditional along with sambistas, such as Dona Ivone Lara, Argemiro Patrocínio, Jayme Silva, Paulinho da Viola , and Adriana Calcanhotto. In this album, Marisa re-intertprets the samba genre with the help of producer Mario Caldato. With a perfect beat, and without shocking the traditionalists, Marisa expresses her views of what samba is. Her way is revolutionary, as well as subtle, just like Paulinho da Viola (a respected sambista from Rio de Janeiro), who, by the way, plays the guitar in the song that receives the name of the album: Universo ao Meu Redor.

For those who are already familiar with Marisa Monte's work, these albums are pearls, and must not be missed. For those new to this Brazilian musical universe, there couldn't be a better way to get initiated.

GreenerPaths.com has teamed up with Amazon.com to offer the best of Brazilian contemporary popular music. You can pre-order your Marisa Monte's CDs now. They will be shipping around April 14^th.