Fino ColetivoAtividades de Blog

by Bruno Maia

Three years after the launching of their first album, Fino Coletivo is back with a work which proves that, after some fright, the changes along this period have not affected the production of the (nowadays a) sextet. “Copacabana” is an album to be played at get-togethers, at big parties, on the radio, on the mp3, and to make the atmosphere tasty. Wanna join?

One of the certainties when listening to this new album is that the sonority of the band is consolidated as original and authorial. Those who got to know their first work (Fino Coletivo/2007), will easily recognize the group in “Copacabana”. Those who are now being introduced to them, will not find it difficult to figure what they are up to. The presence of vocals inspired by samba, the wah wah in the chords of the rocked guitar, the voices so many times registered in chorus (mainly in refrains), the well-cared-for lyrics making reference to the structure of “samba-canção” and “sambalanço”, the groove and the soul of the bass and the percussion, always an invitation to dance, are added in a definitely particular way. The awards the group got in their première were not for nothing, as the respected recognition as “Best Group” by APCA (Association of Art Reviewers from São Paulo) in 2007.

It is hard to deny that this album is a bit more “carioca” (typically from Rio de Janeiro) than the first and that one of the great merits of the band is to find an original sonority for the so-called “carioquice”. Yes, because along the years the expression “carioca sonority” has turned into promising ground for a series of clichés stimulated by the success, above all, of samba and bossa nova, commonly associated to trendy sounds. But not now. Fino Coletivo is able to develop that but not to let this “carioquice” be restrictive, nor to let it sound as a flag – after all, out of its three current composers, two are from Alagoas.  And their recipe is simple and potent: the (good) absence of purism, a lyrical perfectness linked to the structures of samba and its unfoldings, the arrangements made to bear effects, textures and programming with chorus voices and fine refrains. The name “Copacabana” is an efficient metaphor for a babel of sounds and references, that can be tuned to in any part of the world.

After almost two years travelling around the country, there is not much left to say about how much the band members get along and about their awareness of what they do musicwise. Although the road has gone far beyond regional boundaries, the path provided by the “carioca” stages has brought this certain accent, already mentioned.  And that is how the dragged singing of “samba-canção” finds the groove of the bass and of the brass in “Batida de trovão”. The sonorous result of this opening track delivers one of those great Saturday nights, right at the beginning of the album. “Espantando a solidão” is the verse that summarizes what those guys intend. Expectations and excitement. And then, wanna join? If yes, good choice.

In the compasses(paces) that follow, are  “A coisa mais linda do mundo” and “Ai de Mim”. In the latter, “Babulina da Tijuca”  had already been through “Beco das Garrafas”  and become Jorge Ben. It is possible to notice the power that Donatinho´s keyboards begin to have in this new moment, now as an effective member of the band and a determining element in the sonority of the album. Most of the textures that color the album come out of his hands, sometimes directly talking with the rhythm, sometimes with the harmony. When De Leve comes in to improvise on top of  “Abalando Geral”, the bridge crosses straight from Leme to Niterói, taken by the accent and that kind of seasoning.

In “Fidelidade” – another “samba-canção”, now warmed up by one of Marlon Sette´s arrangements for the album – Fino starts by singing that they will “fazer revolução no amor (...) levantar bandeira da fidelidade/pois é coisa da antiga/ ser malandro traidor/ hoje eu visto a camisa/ pelo bem do nosso amor” . Once again, the dialogue with this wandering betrayer is there, the old “carioca” mythical figure, but also a figure from the northeastern “forró” and “repente”. “Bravo mar” shows that this boundary of the group is really expansive, to the point of easily flirting with a kind of “xote”. Dragged, marked by triangles and rattles (played by Rita Albano). This electric rhythm goes on in “Menina bonita” and its precise percussion.

The re-recording of “Swing de Campo Grande”, by Novos Baianos, was responsible for the connection between Fino Coletivo and Oi Música label. The version was one of the winners of the contest held by Oi FM, in which there was a tribute to the group formed by Pepeu, Moraes, Paulinho, Baby, and Galvão.  Right after it, “Nhem Nhem Nhem” comes, a beautiful search into Totonho & Os Cabra´s repertoire. Its inspired lyrics got, through the hands of Daniel Medeiros and Alvinho Cabral´s production, a version with more interesting dynamics than the original, something rare. Besides such dynamics, the arrangements based on attacks help to give some spiritual strength to the refrain, already so melodically and lyrically beautiful.

For those who have followed Fino Coletivo´s story, to listen to “Se vacilar o Jacaré abraça” helps making the connection with the band´s previous phase. Celebrating the friendship that remains, they bring into scene their version for the song by Alvinho Cabral and Wado, now a former member of the band and who originally recorded it in his solo album. In the homestretch, “Velho dia” (a family composition by Alvinho Lancellotti, his brother Domenico, and his father, the renowned Ivor Lancellotti), and “Amor Meu”. Those who follow the song list printed on the cover will be amazed to listen to the surprise hidden some minutes after the last note. Indeed, there comes a circle dance song to close the album, composed by Jorge Cabral (Alvinho´s father) for his wife, Roselma, in tribute to her birthday on April 23, Saint George´s day (or Ogum´s day, as suggested by the lyrics), and, exactly for that, a “carioca” holiday. Having the music composed by Alvinho Lancellotti, it is a song of blessing, of “terreiro” , taken on the palm of the hand, half a prayer, half a samba. And so now we can call the works to an end. Amen, “saravá” .