Conrado Paulino: A Canção Brasileira

Like a Sunrise…

— Conrado Paulino is closing the year on a high note. He has just released another solo album. As the title indicates, A Canção Brasileira is Paulino’s dedication to the greatest Brazilian songbook. It was no easy task coming up with only a dozen songs, but Paulino did a great job in his selection. It’s a very elegant repertoire and skillfully performed.

To give you an idea of the music you’ll hear in A Canção Brasileira, let’s go back in time to the classic 1959 movie Black Orpheus. That movie was responsible for giving some people their first exposure to Brazilian music. You may well remember the sunrise scene with the lead actor singing “Manhã de Carnaval” (“A Day in the Life of a Fool”). The acoustic guitar was forever tied to Brazilian music.

A Canção Brasileira is Paulino’s second solo guitar work (you can see Paulino’s complete discography here). He plays the acoustic guitar in all tracks and is also responsible for the impressive and touching arrangements. There is only one special guest in the album: Douglas Alonso, who plays percussion on two tracks. As with any Brazilian album focusing on our great songs, you will find compositions by Chico Buarque, Edu Lobo, Tom Jobim, Ivan Lins, Djavan, and others.

Paulino has the ingenuity to transform simple arrangements in powerful statements. When you start listening to “Todo o Sentimento,” for example, the introductory chords repeat themselves and delve softly into the melody, giving listeners the calming set-up needed to explore this beautiful tune. For him, it is as if he is warming up and giving us a preamble of what’s to come. More beautiful music is presented almost effortlessly track after track. He includes the title track from Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo‘s musical O Grande Circo Místico as well as Tom Jobim‘s theme from the movie Gabriela. He also shows off how good a pop repertoire such as “Dinorah, Dinorah” and “Sim ou Não” sound on acoustic guitar. Incidentally, the introduction for the former is captivating, as is the gentle percussion Douglas Alonso adds to the track. Alonso also comes back for another performance in the classic “Garota de Ipanema.” That track is always a hard one to include in any album, as it has been recorded countless times. However, Paulino does a very fine job with a solid arrangement and rendition here. A Canção Brasileira is full of surprises. “Falando de Amor” has a flamenco introduction that will definitely please you as it did for me, and in a similar way, “As Razões do Coração” follows a similar arrangement.

I really enjoyed hearing these tracks in this new instrumentation. Although you may have heard them as vocals or even in full orchestral versions, Paulino’s proposition to highlight the beauty of these songs on an acoustic guitar pays off very well. Like a sunrise, the music slowly captures your senses and envelopes you in the warmth of Paulino’s acoustic guitar performances. I’ll leave you with Paulino’s rendition of “O Circo Místico.” Let the music speak for itself!