Mônica Vasconcelos is a São Paulo born Brazilian singer who has been living in the UK for over a decade. WHAT IS THE SÃO PAULO TAPES ALBUM ABOUT? Robert helped Mônica put together an album of Brazilian resistance songs. Resistance as in cultural resistance. Mônica also calls them resilience songs, or revolution songs. They are songs written by some of the giants of Brazilian Popular Music in response to 21 years of military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985). So, the response that came from our much loved Brazilian song poets - among them, Chico Buarque, João Bosco, Aldir Blanc, Ivan Lins, Taiguara and Caetano Veloso - was a collection of masterpieces which will stand forever as monuments to universal values. The São Paulo Tapes songs are beautiful and incredibly current. For Monica, doing this album with Robert was an opportunity to blend unique ingredients: deep Brazil and Robert Wyatt. Robert hasn't, unlike Mônica, grown up with these songs. So he was able to listen to them with fresh ears... informed by his own and incredibly rich musical experience.
The Sao Paulo Tapes
MOVAS005
11/3/2017