Mestre
Cupijo – Siria (Analog Africa)
LP/CD/DL
31 March
2014
A posthumous
collection of the best of Brazilian artist, Mestre Cupijo is released. Louder Than War’s Paul Scott-Bates reviews.
You’ll know
of Mestre Cupijo, not necessarily by his name, but by his sound that you have
heard in the songs of Madness, The Specials and The Selector. ‘Master’ was born in 1936 into a family of
musicians. As a child he played the
clarinet, piano, mandolin and guitar, but he was to become known for his
playing of the alto sax.
Early influences
were mambo and bolero, later finding that the biggest of them all would be the
music from the state of Para – Carimbo and Siria. The latter is a mix of music from the Brazilian
settlement of Guilombos started by escapee African slaves, and the inhabitants
of the Amazon. It’s an interesting
fusion of all those styles with the addition of carnival and ska sounds. Ventinho Do Norte should be right up at the
top with all those classic ska instrumentals.
Pure entertainment and urging you to get up and shake some part of your
body!
Siria represents a collection of Cupijo’s best tracks from
1975 to 1982 which became a soundtrack to the Cameta Carnival preceding
appearances at other festivals. Over his
career he released six albums to an incredible success becoming a huge star in
his homeland with opener, Mingau De Acai becoming a massive hit and one of his
most popular tracks.
In later life he initiated a competition for carnival music
composers, created the Musicolor soundsystem and even had a term in politics
before his death in 2012 whereupon he was instantly included into the history
books.
A true icon, Cupijo left us music that fills your every
sinew with life and conjures up images of brightly coloured processions and
deliriously happy onlookers. Immerse
yourself in the sound of Mestre Cupijo and forever be grateful that you did.
8.5/10
Links
Analog Africa Blogspot
https://soundcloud.com/analog-africa
Published on Louder Than War 30/03/14 - here
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