Giovani Cidreira celebrates Ederaldo Gentil in his 1st album as a performer

The Bahian singer and composer Giovani Cidreira last month released the album Carnival I’ll get there (2024), the first in his discography that does not feature his compositions, but features over 11 tracks, songs by a fellow countryman, the samba singer Ederaldo Gentildied in 2012

The first contact of Giovani with the music of Kind It happened as a teenager through a friend and writing partner. “A great friend of mine from Salvador called Paulo Dinizthe Paulinho,” he recalls in conversation with Rolling Stone Brazil. “His father was also a composer, Paulo Dinizfrom Bahia. He brought me some tapes, some CDs, with things that his father had recorded and composed for some artists, like Jair Rodrigues, Gal Costa, Wilson Simonal. And then I heard a version of Ederaldo Gentil of music’The King‘.”

The track impressed the young man due to its samba characteristics. “It’s not the chula samba of Santo Amaro da Purificação, in Recôncavo da Bahia, but it brings this Candomblé thing to the samba very strongly,” he explains. The track was the gateway for the artist to delve into the samba artist’s work. At the same time, accompanied by friends, Giovani He frequented samba dances in the city of Salvador.

We went to all the sambas, because Paulo’s father was part of that group, the samba players already knew him and started to tell the story of Ederaldo and I discovered this universe of samba from Bahia as a teenager.

Time passed, Giovani releases its first album — Japanese food (2017) — with other references and the relationship with Ederaldo’s art becomes one of “back and forth.” The most frequent contact returns when the musician, researcher and nephew of Ederaldo, Luisão Pereiralaunches a collection of the samba artist’s work.

“I discovered another style of Ederaldo that I didn’t know existed, because it had several facets too,” he explains. The push to work around the work of Kind came from a suggestion from the artistic director Renata Gatha. “At a time when I was in a bit of a crisis with my composition, she said to me ‘Giowe’re going to record an album about Ederaldo Gentil.’ I said ‘F***, why didn’t I ever think of that?'”

The musician adds that, in addition to the album, they are also working on a documentary about the artist. “We recently went to Salvador, interviewed some friends, family members and it was very beautiful, very powerful. The person who will direct this film is Safira Moreira.”

Despite having already covered some songs by Ederaldo like “Provincial” and “Identity,” the repertoire selection process had other layers. “My big thing with reinterpretation is that I internalize the music in such a way that it no longer belongs to anyone. It’s my music. I have to feel it. And I remember the first song I felt like that was ‘Samba and You‘, I was at home, I started singing at a different tempo and said ‘Okay, we have the first song on the album.'”

From that, Giovani He set out on a more personal path, choosing the songs he liked most and counting on the help of Filipe Castro — his cousin, who worked as a music producer alongside Mahal Pita. The two also signed the musical direction of the project with the singer. “He started to direct the genres of the songs. For example, ‘Rose,’ which is much happier and danceable in the original version, he said to me ‘Giolet’s do a Roberto Carlos on this song.’ If you listen to Roberto’s song ‘If I leave’, you’ll see that it sounds like a lot.”

“Provincial” it was also a case that received a reinterpretation with a new look. In Giovani’s version, the track takes on the sound of the zabumba and the triangle. Another song, “Rolo Fair,” gained a new perspective with Mahal. “He made me understand that we had to talk about deep things, but we are telling the story of a guy who looks like a lot of people we know today in the artistic world. A person from the outskirts, black, going through several problems. And we also wanted to tell the our laurels.”

Do it in such a way that we can tell the story with strength and affirmation. Because it’s really nice for people to hear me sing a song saying that I’m a little one, the last of the commoners. Mahal He proposed that we do more solar things.

Giovani he says that the album saved him from depression and during the process he started working out, eating better and undergoing analysis. “I started listening to a lot of samba and other things that take us to places of more uplifting energy. That’s what happened with the repertoire.”

Guests

You can’t do Carnival alone and Giovani knows that very well. In addition to the team that worked with him on production, the artist brought in big names to collaborate on the tracks. He classifies guests as essential.

It is the case that Vandal. He says that he and Gatha They listened to the rapper’s work a lot while working on the project, it became clear to them that the rapper needed to be on the album. “There is a geographic coincidence in their lives. Vandal grew up in Cidade Nova — me too — and today he lives in Vila Laura. Ederaldoin turn, lived and sang in Cidade Nova and the places he visited are places that Vandal transit too. There is a uniqueness about their posture too. These are works that are very committed to the truth. It doesn’t seem like artists make certain concessions that some people make to be in certain places. I don’t either.”

Josyarathe singer’s longtime partner, joins the project to make a new arrangement for “The King” Giovaniwho considers the original version “impeccable,” knew she was the right artist to bring a new look to the album.

The São Paulo native Sky also participates in the album. The singer is a fan of her work and that’s exactly why he thought she wouldn’t accept the invitation. “We kept delaying until the end of the recording and then, listening to the song at home, I heard her voice, that hoarse thing. Then I thought ‘that’s not the case. Sky same?’ and I sent her a message. She responded quickly. She was in São Paulo and I was in Salvador, we couldn’t meet at the recording, but everything went well. I was very happy.”

There are people who record with us and leave. Never seen again, never spoken to again. That’s not what music is for. Sky didn’t do that. She still keeps in touch with me today, asking me ‘how’s the album?’ How are you?’ and now we’re definitely together, man.

When the idea for the album came up, the singer lived with Philip, Gatha and Alice Caymmi. “Naturally, listening to the songs, she wanted to sing ‘Rose‘ and her father, the Danilohe always went to his house,” he recalls. “They were nights of conversation and revolution and I identify a lot with him. And I think he likes me too, because I asked him to sing and he was very excited.” They also participated in the album Leo Mendesplaying the guitar, Antonio Neto and Marcelo Cabral.

To Giovani“celebrate a name like Ederaldo is understanding that we are telling our story” and perpetuating this work is also about justice. Carrying forward the name of an artist like him is reminding us of the most precious value in our music. We agree.