Toca de Tatu - Afinidade

Grupo Toca de Tatu (photo by Alexandre Rezende)

A couple of years ago I was introduced to Toca de Tatu, a quartet of very talented young musicians from Belo Horizonte who plays instrumental Brazilian music incorporating choro as well as other influences in the ensemble's performances. Toca de Tatu consists of (- left to right on photo above) Lucas Ladeia (cavaquinho), Abel Borges (percussion), Luísa Mitre (piano) and Lucas Telles (violão 7 cordas). The debut CD of Toca de Tatu was released in 2013 containing the ensemble's arrangements and interpretation of instrumental music from the popular works of Radamés Gnattali and was titled Meu Amigo Radamés. I wrote a small review here  - You have the opportunity to listen to the thirteen tracks of the CD in full length at You Tube, here. Learn more about Toca de Tatu from the official website (- both in Portuguese and English), here. 

CD front: Toca de Tatu, Afinidade (2017)

Recently the second CD by Toca de Tatu entitled Afinidade was released in Brazil and contains tvelwe tracks of new compositions, some by members of the ensemble and some by others. The title of the CD means 'affinity' in English and points to the musical influences which inspire the group. The first track of the new album i.e. is titled Mozareth composed by Lucas Telles and points to both Mozart and Ernesto Nazareth as inspiration, a mixture of sources which reminds me of Radamés Gnattali's successfull attempt to bridge the gap between erudite and popular musical styles. Another track at the CD also points to Mozart as inspiration, Sarau pro Sr. Mozart, a composition by Thiago Delegado arranged by Tacu de Tatu. The title track of the CD, Afinidade, is composed by the cavaqhinista of Toca de Tatu Lucas Ladeia and incorporates a choro structure with modern harmony, the result is a marvellous listening experience which also applies to the remaining repertoire and tracks of the disc. This is music that needs your listening attention, but when performed by this very skilled group, repeated listening indeed pays off. Some tracks have extended personnel, all involved contribute to a succesfull result. You have the opportunity to listen to the CD in full lenght at You Tube, here 

Toca de Tatu at ease

Thanks to Oscar Barahona for supplying info on the above mentioned CD.

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Jo

choromusic.blogspot@gmail.com