Search - Tania Maria :: The Real Tania Maria: Wild!

Close encounter of the wild kind

MusicFreak | FL | 12/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I went to the 2001 PR Heineken Jazzfest, mainly to see Ron Carter perform. I had heard maybe part of a TM song on a Jazz radio program, nothing more. When she took the stage, she really took it! I was floored. She was playing both electric keys and acoustic piano, the chords on one hand, the melodies on the other, and she was doubling those melodies with her voice! Each note perfect! The band was cooking, the rythm was nothing short of infectious. My then girlfriend and I exchanged several looks of bewilderment, no words were said, except maybe "Wow!" A couple of weeks later she came home with this cd as a gift. A different (Maria is an artist that apparently doesn't like to repeat herself), yet equally invigorating performance. Obviously different musicians, but no less masterful. Maria's music is not straight, traditional brazilian. Her music is more like an ultra-hip Funk/Jazz/Brazilian mixture. And her voice is simply wonderfully and intoxicatingly joyous. I also think her lyric-less doubling of the piano melodies with her voice is very original and fresh. Even though I don't have extensive knowledge of Brazilian artists, I am very impressed with Tania Maria, and she is now one of my favorite artists."