Martinho’s hope in “Guitars and Cavaquinhos”

Martin of the Village He has joked more than once that he was tired of singing that life would get better, in reference to the chorus of the classic “Sing, sing, my people”.

“I say I’m tired, but I never stopped singing these verses”notes the composer, with a wide smile, to leave no doubt that, jokes aside, his nature is that of someone who sings loudly, sings loudly about hope.

In “Guitars and Cavaquinhos” (Sony Music), his new album, Martinho goes further in defending his faith in life, in what will come. At the end of “Canta canta, minha gente”, which opens the album in a duet with the rapper L7NNONthe samba singer from Vila says: “Hope is not the last to die. It does not die”.

“Violões e cavaquinhos” is, in its 12 tracks, the insistent reaffirmation of this motto Martinho. The hope that lives in him echoes in the lizards that refer to his origin in Duas Barras; in the tributes to Pixinguinha, Donga It is John of Baiana that point to the ancestry of samba, an even more remote origin; in the samba-enredo that reflect the history of those who carry a school in their name; in the hits revisited with freshness; in the unreleased songs of those who, at 86 years old, continue to compose; in the dialogues between generations that he promotes in the duets with his daughters Alegria Ferreira It is Mart’nalia and with Black Gilin addition to what has already been mentioned L7NNON. Everything on the album points to a sunny, optimistic perspective.

“There are a lot of people who criticize optimists”says Martinho. “But they were the ones who changed the world, because the pessimist does nothing.”

On the album, the enormous soul of the songs of Martinho is exposed in minute subtlety, fingertips. The arrangements are basically limited to the two instruments in the title, an old idea of ​​the artist. Raphael of the Angels, Carlinhos 7 Strings, Gabriel Aquinas, Ana Costa, Claudio Jorge It is Wellington Monteiro alternate on the guitars. On the cavaquinhos they are Little black boy from Serrinha, Fernando Brandao, Alan Monteiro, Nilza Carvalho, Alceu Maia It is Wanderson Martins. The percussion, which appears lightly, is done by the artist himself. Martinho.

“Sing, sing, my people” gains syncopated swing marked on the guitar by Raphael of the Angels and on the cavaquinho of Little black boy from Serrinha. L7NNON — or L7as he is also known — shows himself to be a party-goer, creating verses that converse with the originals of the song, as in “I like to rhyme on the beat/ And if there is something I don’t like, it’s other people’s things”. Inspired by the company, the samba singer, in turn, launches into a sing-talk flow, making his rapper’s jokes.

Next comes the unreleased “Coisa de preto”, a partnership between Martinho with Chico Cesar. The man from Paraíba gave the cue and the samba singer got on board, listing the “black things”: “Eating beans with cornmeal/ Drinking cachaça with cashew nuts”, “Fucking stingray tail in capoeira”. Carlinhos Seven Strings It is Fernando Brandao they make the bed of samba with a rural accent for the parade of the inventory of Brazilian blackness.

“Only good things”resume Martinho.

“Sempre bela” is another of the crop of unreleased songs, performed with a poignant cadence by Gabriel Aquinas It is Alan Monteiro. The first verse draws from the source of Portuguese poetry from Portugal: “I like you immensely”. The last verses evoke our Tupi heritage: “Cunhatã/ Forever young cunhã”. His Luso-indigenous muse in the song, Martinho explains, is the dawn:

“I like to sleep after dawn”says the composer. “I like to see the day lighten up a little, it’s beautiful. I wrote this song talking about dawn, about this habit of mine.” (“I wait to venerate you/ With my way of being/ Of looking, of feeling, of loving”says an excerpt).

In “Woman smile”, Gabriel Aquinas It is Alan Monteiro they play at varying the rhythms between samba, marcha-rancho, inspirations from Bach. The song was born from a lyric by Arnaldo Niskierwhat Martinho adapted and set to music. Once again, the album points to the light — the metaphor of the day being renewed every morning does not reappear by chance.

After presenting a batch of the new crop, Martinho brings to the table two of his greatest hits united in the same track: “Disritmia” and “Ex-amor”. Ana Costa It is Nilze Carvalho treat the songs with the vivacity they retain, despite having been made decades ago. The guest Black Gil adapts verses to the feminine, opening up other perspectives: “Come quickly, come and cure your black girl/ Who arrived drunk/ From the nightlife”.

“Mulheres” is another famous song in the voice of Martinho — the composition is of Toninho Geraes. In his new reading, accompanied only by Alceu Maia’s cavaquinho, Martinho recites the lyrics and even proposes a subtle change in two verses: “Inocentes danzelas, sensual prostitutes”.

Another song featuring the duo Ana Costa and Nilze Carvalho on guitar and cavaquinho, “Amante fiel” is another new song on the album. In fact, it was originally the samba-enredo composed by Martinho to compete in the Vila Isabel competition for the 2023 carnival, when the theme was “Nessa festa eu levo fé” (I carry faith in this party). It bears the melodic and poetic marks of the composer’s samba-enredo, enhanced by the lean style.

In the medley that brings together “Calango vascaíno”, “Calango longo” and “Calango da lua”, Cláudio Jorge and Wanderson Martins take us to the interior of Brazil with their rhythms. “Rural sound, but not too much”, says Martinho in the recording. The track, which, due to its sound, points to the place where the artist came from, has a guest who points in the opposite direction, to the future: Alegria Ferreira, his daughter. To reaffirm his hopeful outlook, Martinho draws attention to the verses that mention his favorite team, Vasco da Gama, which has not been going through its best moments in recent years (“My joy is to see my Vasco play/ I’m tired of defeat/ But I won’t give up”).

Right at the beginning of the track that combines “Batuque na cozinha”, “Patrão, prenda seu gado” and “Pelo telefone”, Martinho salutes Donga, Pixinguinha and João da Baiana, whom he calls the “Holy Trinity of Brazilian Popular Music”. Mart’nália, his daughter, shares the vocals with him, in another corner of past and future that is shown on the album. In “Pelo telefone”, she highlights the crossroads of times by updating the counterpoint, a playful one: “pelo celular”. Ancestry and the contemporary also materialize in Wellington Monteiro’s guitar and Wanderson Martins’ cavaquinho.

In addition to Alegria and Mart’nália, the Ferreira family has other representatives on “Guitars and Cavaquinhos”. Analimar, Martinho’s daughter, is the choir director. And Martinho Filho is one of the album’s producers, alongside Celso Filho and Gabriel Lucchini.

“Gbala — Viagem ao Templo da Criação” is a samba-enredo by Martinho that Vila originally took to the Avenue in 1993. At the beginning, with a slower cadence, with arpeggiated strings, its beauty becomes even more pronounced. Gabriel de Aquino, who accompanies the composer on the track, also leads the stronger rhythm in the second part of the recording. “The child is the hope of Oxalá”, states the lyrics, in tune with the spirit of the album.

The parties “O pequeno burguês” and “Pra que dinheiro” are remembered together, with the company of Wellington Monteiro and Wanderson Martins. Two songs from the composer’s first album that, he points out, are less simple than they seem:

“Sometimes, when I go somewhere, a restaurant, and there’s a pianist there who sees me, he starts playing one of my songs, like ‘The Little Bourgeois’… It seems like the song has only one note,” Martinho laughs. “It doesn’t sound good.”

“Roda ciranda” and “Madalena”, classics from Martinho’s repertoire, close the album together, conducted by Cláudio Jorge and Wanderson Martins. With a flavor of popular wisdom, old and new, they reflect the essence of the album. And the essence of the composer, who says that his first profession, at the age of eight, was “playing” (as the children who kept the younger ones company were called). A profession that, at 86, he has not yet abandoned — playing with verses, with melodies, with his singing. And in which he continues and will continue, maintaining his rhythm:

“I like to do everything slowly. It’s a philosophy of life. Because the world is in such a hurry. This device (pointing to the cell phone), the Internet has accelerated everything. So I do everything to slow down. Those who do things slowly do more. And they always reach their goal. With one advantage: they arrive rested.”.