A symbolic landmark for the historical relationship between Brazil and The Netherlands is the Maur cio de Nassau Bridge in Recife, which is a perfect replica of a bridge crossing the Amstel river in Amsterdam. This landmark has been the source of inspiration to create ‘The Bridge,’ put together the Brazilian singer-songwriter Lenine and the orchestra of the Dutch maestro Martin Fondse. After successful tours in countries such as Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal and various cities in Brazil, and after being elected as one of the best concerts in the history of renowned European festival, the Music Meeting, ‘The Bridge’ arrives in New York at SummerStage, Central Park.
Singer-songwriter, record producer and arranger Oswaldo Lenine Macedo Pimentel, is considered a “Brazilian of the world,” bringing influences from cultural manifestations of his country in his compositions as well as numerous musical genres, disregarding labels or classifications. In addition to being a performer of note, Lenine is an accomplished composer for other artists, with a catalog of over 500 songs. Over his 30 year career he’s released ten albums, earned five Latin Grammy Awards, nine Brazilian Music Awards, and worked with everyone from Living Color to Maria Rita, and according to Lenine himself, this is just the beginning.
Martin Fondse is one of European most cherished composers. He continually breaks new ground, and combines different styles in his work, establishing a remarkable balance between composition, improvisation, dialogue and personal expression. He has been awarded several international prizes (including Edison Award 2012). Martin worked with musicians like Basement Jaxx, Terry Bozzio, Peter Erskine, Doudou N´Diaye Rose e Pat Metheny, Vernon Reid and George Duke. The modern Martin Fondse Orchestra combines the instrumental settings of both classical orchestra – oboe and strings – and pop band – drums, piano and saxophones. It has its roots in jazz, merged with elements from pop, film and classical music.
Critically acclaimed, singer and pianist Maíra Freitas can’t remember not playing the piano. Daughter of legendary samba and MPB star Martinho da Vila, Maíra received her first instrument at age 6 – pink and adorned with Hello Kitty stickers the little piano was the first step towards a solid education as an instrumentalist and composer. After her classical training, Maira developed a strong taste for Brazilian popular music – MPB. She loves the music of Chico Buarque, Gonzaguinha, Nana Caymmi, Paulinho da Viola and, of course, her father Martinho da Vila, among many. Maira refined her popular piano skills with well-known masters such as Cristovão Bastos, Leandro Braga, Marcos Nimrichter and Sheila Zagury. For her self-titled maiden project, produced by her sister Mart’nália (famed singer/songwriter on her own), the young singer from Rio has surrounded herself with top-notch musicians building a personal and well thought-out repertoire of songs that reflect her personality. Ma ra arrives with a veteran’s security, immediately imprinting her own personal Brazilian style which is both classic and popular, and experimenting new technologies on stage like samplers, loops, electronic effects. www.mairafreitas.com.br
Tutu Moraes, DJ and music producer, started taking Brazilian music to dance floors in the late 90’s. His unusual music-sets have a grouping of different genres that combine ”pontos“ de umbanda and candomblé (Afro-Brazilian religions), ”carimbó”, “frevo”, “maxixe”, “gafieira”, the “tropicália” musical movement and even “marchinhas” (classic Carnaval songs). Besides this remarkable mix, Tutu’s composition embodies all the various samba segments and the independent Brazilian music, thus creating an atmosphere of wide and diverse repertoire. Nowadays all of this blends at the very popular Santo Forte party, created by Tutu Moraes eight years ago, that brings a general gathering of Brazilian music from all times and that takes more than a thousand people every month to the Grand Metrople in Sao Paulo to dance to the sound of his repertoire and the different rhythms that it proposes. His DJ set, affectionately nicknamed “Brasucália” is in constant transformation though it never abandons popular Brazilian music classics and its revered artists. http://stoforte.com.br/tutu-moraes/