Tuca – S/T
This Brasilian album from 1968 is suprisingly unknown and probably pretty rare. You wonder for what reason since it’s such an excellent bossa nova record. Tuca displays a nice feel for understatement in her voice and although a portion of the material is in a breezy mood, the blackness of the cover can be felt in between the notes at all times.
Tuca gives plenty of room to the arrangements, that are pretty moody and experimental. She co-wrote some 5 songs on the album, of which Abstrato no 1 (descrição de um quadro da bienal) is perhaps the most interesting, since it starts out with an instrumental mini-suite that’s very dark and turbulent (please to explain what the subtitle means…) All tracks are good, but another one called Verde is especially interesting, having a beautiful melody that’s sung over an accompaniment of whispered oral percussion and accoustic guitar, as the rest of the record, seemingly recorded in a spacious and darkened studio.
Listen to: Tuca – Verde
6 Comments
Hey Milan
I don’t know this record, nor that song you wanna know what its name means.
Abstrato no 1 (descrição de um quadro da bienal) means Abstract number 1 (description of a painting in the Bienal).
Bienal is an art exhibition that occurs here in Sao Paulo each two years, hence the name (Biennial).
I’d like to listen to the record; maybe you could post it.
Peace
MM
Thanks Moogman. I guessed that was the translation. Either that or “description of a tear drop from a two year old” which would have been nice too (ha ha). I’ve got a stand alone player here for the moment but will try to record it somehow at some point (recorded the track in the review a long time ago).
Tuca is a mysterious figure and died at an ealy age, having made three albums I believe. You can find some of her albums on the Loronix Brazilian music blog. She also contributed heavily to two wonderful albums recorded in France in the early 70s: Nara Leao’s “Dez Anos Depois” and Francoise Hardy’s “La Question.”
Thanks for the info and the link. The story of her death I read there is rather sad… I’ll check out her other albums.
I had the Portuguese lyrics translated to English by a friend.
Original Portuguese: Verde
Posso prever-te de manhã. O teu corpo ficou. Posso, porque descansou. De uma noite cheia de amor, E eu fiquei p’ra te olhar, Sem te amar, P’ra te ver, Despertar, P’ra sentir o amanhecer. Que chegou Tão vazio E p’ra ficar. Posso prever-te de manhã O teu corpo acordou.
English Translation: Verde (Green)
I can (fore) see you in the morning. You (your body) stayed. I can because it is resting from a night of full love and I stayed to watch you, without loving you to see you wake up. To feel the coming dawn that has arrived so empty and to stay. I can (fore) see you in the morning. Your body (as) awake(n).
Thank you for all the additional information dug up and posted here.
Meu Eu is another very nice album from Tuca, it is her first one, from 1966, very understated and definitely worth seeking out. She did her last album in 74, “Dracula I love you”.
Her best work is still the 1970 collaboration with Françoise Hardy for La Question, one of the most beautiful french albums ever recorded, as Ambassador noted above.