Cariocas rocking London
Singer and bassist win over the English audiences with their Brazilian music band, whose recipe does not include batucada: only folk softness inherited from Joni Mitchell and Clube da Esquina
Silvio Essinger
08/01/2001
Singer Gabriela Geluda and bassist Mauro Berman have left Rio de Janeiro five years ago and headed to London, where they used to play BPM in bars and clubs. Two years ago, they initiated the project Auwê, with Brazilian musician Luiz de Almeida (electric and acoustic guitars) and English keyboard player, Mark Hinton Stewart. As opposed to what one might think, the quartet does not have anything to do with batucada (Brazilian drumming), electronica or DJs. Bossa nova appears in just one version of João Gilberto's hit Estate. Auwê's business is folk music, with acoustic guitars and sweet vocals, lyrics in Portuguese and a touch of baião, here and there. "It is the type of music we would listen to 15 years ago, when we started to play music", reveals Mauro, in Rio with his band for the first time (but without Luiz) for shows at the festival Humaitá Pra Peixe and at the Ballroom.
In their luggage, copies of the demo CD
, with nine tracks produced by Will Mowat. "As a 40-something English man, he listened to the same things that we did", states Mauro, who recently introduced Will to the music of Milton Nascimento and the Clube da Esquina (Club on the Corner). The two met when the bassist was playing with Marcos Valle at the Jazz Cafe, in London. Will heard the music of Auwê and encouraged the members to let go of the BPM covers and invest in their sound.
As a married couple, Mauro and Gabriela decided to move to London together. Having played with rock bands like Coma and Planet Hemp, the bassist became a musician for hire for Brazilian stars touring Europe, such as Marcos Valle, Azymuth and Dom Um Romão. Gabriela finished her music studies while singing in bars with her husband. One day, Mauro ran into Mark Stewart, with whom he had played before, and the both began sketching out a project. "We started out more electronic, we didn't know what we were pursuing", he says. Soon, the couple's songwriting indicated the sound that Auwê makes now.
Gabriela returned very inspired from a trip to India, two years ago: she wrote the baião De Bobeira, which Mauro defines as "Luiz Gonzaga in Bombaim". Will Mowat heard it and reportedly said: "this is a different sort of pop, people can sing this"
In fact, the songs in Auwê's CD reveal radio-friendly tunes: Chorus Song, Eu Fui, Quiet, Crise and Felicidade. Dylan Howe and Chris Well (drums), David Munday (harp) and Sirishkumar Manji (tabla) appear as guest musicians. In London, Auwê have been the opening act for Marisa Monte and Caetano Veloso, having also played along with Bebel Gilberto in the festival Braziliance. Their shows have a hippie atmosphere, complete with incense and candles. To see some pictures of Auwê in London, visit their web site: www.auwe.net
In their luggage, copies of the demo CD
, with nine tracks produced by Will Mowat. "As a 40-something English man, he listened to the same things that we did", states Mauro, who recently introduced Will to the music of Milton Nascimento and the Clube da Esquina (Club on the Corner). The two met when the bassist was playing with Marcos Valle at the Jazz Cafe, in London. Will heard the music of Auwê and encouraged the members to let go of the BPM covers and invest in their sound.
As a married couple, Mauro and Gabriela decided to move to London together. Having played with rock bands like Coma and Planet Hemp, the bassist became a musician for hire for Brazilian stars touring Europe, such as Marcos Valle, Azymuth and Dom Um Romão. Gabriela finished her music studies while singing in bars with her husband. One day, Mauro ran into Mark Stewart, with whom he had played before, and the both began sketching out a project. "We started out more electronic, we didn't know what we were pursuing", he says. Soon, the couple's songwriting indicated the sound that Auwê makes now.
Gabriela returned very inspired from a trip to India, two years ago: she wrote the baião De Bobeira, which Mauro defines as "Luiz Gonzaga in Bombaim". Will Mowat heard it and reportedly said: "this is a different sort of pop, people can sing this"
In fact, the songs in Auwê's CD reveal radio-friendly tunes: Chorus Song, Eu Fui, Quiet, Crise and Felicidade. Dylan Howe and Chris Well (drums), David Munday (harp) and Sirishkumar Manji (tabla) appear as guest musicians. In London, Auwê have been the opening act for Marisa Monte and Caetano Veloso, having also played along with Bebel Gilberto in the festival Braziliance. Their shows have a hippie atmosphere, complete with incense and candles. To see some pictures of Auwê in London, visit their web site: www.auwe.net