PAULA MORELENBAUM
Paula Morelenbaum was born in Rio de Janeiro at a time when Bossa Nova was already at its peak in Brazil.
Her childhood and adolescence took place during one of the darkest periods in her country’s history, that of the Brazilian dictatorship.
One might have thought that, lulled by music more in harmony with her time, as was the Tropicalism of the mid-sixties, she turned instead to this musical style.
She could have been influenced by the tropicalism, the more pop musical styles in vogue at that terrible time in the history of her country, but it was without counting on a family environment, very close to the generation that had just created the Bossa Nova.
Her father, an architect, was in fact very close to Jobim, Menescal and other talented musicians who had all attended the Faculty of Architecture in Rio de Janeiro, before they captivate the world with their new music.
This is how Paula finally found herself embarked by the Bossa Nova wave, first in a choir of 60 people, then in a small vocal group “Céu da Boca”, before being identified by the legendary composer Antonio Carlos Jobim who proposed her to join the magnificent female choir “Banda Nova” which accompanied him on records and concert during the last 10 years of his life.
After the death of Brazil’s greatest composer, Paula continued to explore the repertoire of Jobim and Bossa Nova, which was reflected in a few essential works and eloquent reviews from an international press.
In 2001, her career received a particularly important recognition with the release of the album “Casa” recorded with her husband, instrumentalist and arranger JaquesMorelenbaum and pianist-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. This opus was followed by two other albums unanimously applauded by the critics, “Live in Tokyo” and “A day in New York”.
From 2004 to 2016, she recorded several records, including “Berimbaum”, a tribute to the poet and diplomat Vinicius de Moraes, followed by “Telecoteco”, which covers Brazilian standards from the 40s and 50s, and later “Agua” with the famous pianist Carioca João Donato, also present on Henri Salvador’s latest recordings.
In 2019 Paula Morelenbaum launched the album “Atlantico” with the pianist Ralf Schmid and the trumpet player Joo Kraus with whom she has been forming the group Bossarenova since 2010. She performs pieces by Edo Lobo, Ivan Lins, Marcos Valle … as well as a delicate version of “Que reste- t-il de nosamours” by Charles Trenet.
One element that makes Paula’s presence irreplaceable in this project, is that in the 2000’s Paula and Jaques Morelenbaum became friends with Henri during their various meetings in Paris and Rio. As a sign of friendship, Henri offered Paula a music and lyrics that were never recorderd before, and that Paula will perform during this concert.
DIDIER SUSTRAC
No doubt, Didier is today the most Brazilian Frenchman in France if we want to paraphrase his friend Pierre Barouh with whom he sings Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes Samba “SARAVAH”.
Author-composer-performer, his music has always been “white in form and rhyme, but black in heart” which makes him today a child of Provence with a Brazilian heart,
As a teenager he searched for a path somewhere between the cool jazz of Chet Baker and the Californian jazz of Michael Franks, not forgetting Pierre Barouh, author with Francis Lai of the theme of the film “One man and one woman,” which considerably gave him the irresistible desire to travel.
At the age of 20 Didier Sustrac went to Brazil for the first time, guided by a João Gilberto and Stan Getz album. Arriving in Rio, he immediately understood that he had finally found what he was looking for: the smooth harmonies, the African rhythms of the Afro-sambas and João’s bossa jazz.
He finally stayed there for three years, the time to switch his folk guitar for a “violão”, an acoustic guitar, to take his first classical guitar lessons, but also to learn Portuguese, which allowed him to fully understand the heart of the Brazilian.
Author and composer of his own songs, French will nevertheless is still remaining his favorite language of writing,
His first album “Zanzibar” came out in 1993 and pushed him to the top of the charts with “Tout seul” who became a hit that summer.
In 1995, “Blues indigo” was released, with another big hit “Comme des animaux”, but above all with a song “Ça sert à quoi”, a duet with legendary Brazilian singer and writer Chico Buarque.
In 2000 the album “Chanteur d’ascenseur”, produced by a major record company, came out, without the same public interest, without any doubt because Didier’s soul had been discounted in favor of purely commercial considerations
The pure essence of Didier Sustrac’s came back in 2003 with the album “Matière première” and in 2006 with “Je chante un air” including one his composition “Cogne” in duet with French poet and jazz singer Claude Nougaro.
In 2009, the cd was released in “Bossa au pays des papas” (In the land of the fathers), a discographic parenthesis during thefew years he devoted to his young children.
In 2018 Didier published the opus “Ostende Bossa” in which his writings and music mixing Brazilian and French perfdumes, were inspired by the delicate atmosphere he found in the Belgian seaside resort of Ostend.
Next album is planned for 2021, including a duet with Paula Morelenbaum, recently recorder in Brussels.
BossaMag.com 