João Bosco launches today, July 31st, an EP with six of the 17 tracks from the album 'Amigos novo e old' Victor Correa / Disclosure ? ALBUM REVIEW Title: João Bosco Artist: Amigos new and old – Part I Rating: ? ? ? ? ? ? Two factors value the revisionist album of duets with which João Bosco celebrates his 80th birthday in July 13th. The first is that the singer, composer and guitarist from Minas Gerais had never recorded an album based on feats – and the team of guests on the 17 tracks includes names like Anitta, Bruna Black, Caetano Veloso, Cesar Camargo Mariano, Chico Buarque, Hamilton de Holanda, Ivete Sangalo, Jota.Pê, Mart'nália, Mestrinho, Tiago Iorc and Zeca Pagodinho. The second factor is that, when reformatting the work under the artistic direction of his daughter Julia Bosco, creator of the project in partnership with her father, João called on trombonist Rafael Rocha to share the musical production and arrangements of the album entitled “Amigos novo e old”. The string arrangements and especially the brass arrangements created by Rafael Rocha – himself one of our recent friends as he is an exponent of the new generation of musicians and arrangers of Brazilian music – gave a breath of newness to the songs, removing the danger of déjà vu. At least that's what can be concluded after listening to the first sample of the album, an EP with six of the 17 tracks, presented today, Friday, July 31st (the full album is scheduled for release on September 25th). Ideally, the title of the album “New and Old Friends” reproduces the name of the composition by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc (1946 – 2020) released in 1974 by Maria Alcina and re-recorded the following year by Vanusa (1947 – 2020) as the title song of the album in which the singer tried to get closer to the universe of MPB. And speaking of Maria Alcina, the singer from Minas Gerais was the original interpreter of “Kid Cavaquinho” (João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, 1974), a samba that sometimes glides smoothly in a gafeira hall, led by the winds of Rafael Rocha, in a recording that brings together Bosco with Mart'nália, a smart, sagacious singer, suited for this samba that demands cunning from the performers. João Bosco schedules the release of the full album for September 25th Leo Aversa / Disclosure “Kid Cavaquinho” opens the EP “Amigos novo e Virgínias – Parte I”, followed by another samba, “Nação” (João Bosco, Aldir Blanc and Paulo Emílio, 1982), exuberant in Brazil's anti-exaltation of the hunger of the trash mouth. In “New and old friends – Part I”, Hamilton de Holanda gives this Brazil the agile and expressive contour of the musician's 10-string mandolin. Only after the second of almost six minutes of recording does Bosco begin to sing “Nação”, redesigning samba as the only interpreter capable of facing the anthological original recording by singer Clara Nunes (1942 – 1983). The only track on the EP without guests, “Boca de sapo” (João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, 1979) is reopened with the gagabirô of Bosco’s singing, evoking the Africa contained in the voice of Clementina de Jesus (1901 – 1987), the singer with whom Bosco recorded the samba in 1979. With the Rio swagger learned by the Minas Gerais native from his experience in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), João Bosco also puts “Siri stuffed and the cacete” (João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, 1980) back in the pan with the seasoning of Zeca Pagodinho, a shrewd choice because Aldir's chronicle in this samba dialogues with the universe, also chronicler of the Rio pagode of the Fundo de Quintal generation of the 1980s in which Zeca emerged in 1983 as a partisan of high wit. The puffs are the pepper of the delicacy. “Perfeição” (João Bosco and Francisco Bosco, 2009) – a big surprise in the selection of this first part – is accompanied by strings consistent with the mild atmosphere of this composition in which Bosco also shows himself to be heir to the bossa of another João, the Bahian genius João Gilberto (1931 – 2019). Guest on the track, Tiago Iorc naturally immerses himself in the seaside atmosphere of “Perfeição” in the most surprising moment of “Friends new and old – Part I”. Rounding off the EP, João Bosco reconstructs “Casa de marimbondo” (João Bosco and Aldir Blanc, 1975) with the keyboards of Cesar Camargo Mariano. As in the track with Hamilton de Holanda, Bosco's voice is only heard around the second minute of the recording, whose arrangement is naturally based on Mariano's virtuoso keys. Anyway, judging by this first part, the album “Amigos novo e Virgínias” is exuberant, with sounds and tuned songs running through the memory of the skin and timeless music of octogenarian João Bosco. Cover of the album 'New and old friends – Part I', by João Bosco Victor Correa / Disclosure