The beautiful young lady staring enigmatically from the cover of this colourful CD is Cibelle Cavalli. She is probably Brazil's most exciting new musical talent. Seriously. It might be a good idea to take a good look at the picture. Check the face. Memorise the eyes. Do this, because the next time you see Cibelle, there is a good chance she'll look different. A natural-born chameleon, she changes her appearance constantly, applying the same restless creative spirit to her physical appearance that she applies to her art.
Although only 25 years old, Cibelle has already garnered many valuable years of experience in recording studios, on live stages and at the bars, clubs and restaurants that make up São Paulo's vibrant live scene. It is often said that music is the life-blood of Brazilians: Cibelle is living proof. At the age of six she was immersed in a São Paulo conservatory studying classical music (as well as acting). Until she decided, a couple of years later, that she wanted to play music intuitively - i.e. by ear, rather than by a stuffy rule book.
"I suppose it was a bit pretentious", she laughs. "Needless to say, it didn't work out at the time, so I started playing volleyball instead. But even then I carried on making music. I was everyone's radio in the locker room". Cibelle continued to study acting but found herself continually choosing roles that allowed her to sing. Her acting skills, vocal prowess and good looks helped her quickly carve a career in television as well as making her a natural choice for radio advertisements. At the tender age of seventeen, she was composing her own songs in her head, writing poetry like crazy and began to discover the alluring charms of São Paulo's burgeoning 'jam' scene.
"I was kind of helped into it" recalls Cibelle with a wistful smile. "One helper was an ex-boyfriend whose family were musicians and used to have jam sessions at the house each week. I would join in with them and they would often ask me why I didn't do something professionally. Another friend was an Australian girl living in São Paulo. She was also a singer and introduced me to the local spots where we could watch jam sessions and hang out with the musicians. One day I went to a gig with her, and she told me there was going to be a special guest. When it was time to introduce the guest, she stepped up to the microphone, pointed at me and said "Ela Canta"...
And sing she did - nightly. For the next couple of years, Cibelle continued acting, modelling and writing poetry in the day, but threw herself wholeheartedly into music in the evenings, putting in guest appearances at any bar that would give her the chance to perform. "I would just roam around all the bars, from about 10pm until 4am" she remembers. "If the bands had no space for vocalists or were only playing instrumentals, I would ask to play some kind of instrument. If I couldn't sing, I wanted to shake! Anything just to be involved".
One night, Cibelle ended up on stage with a tall, mysterious Serbian-born producer known as Suba. They didn't know each other but after just one performance together, knew they had something special. They arranged to meet the next day. Suba played Cibelle the music he had been working on for an album and a musical marriage was born. "It was this crazy samba stuff with all these cool synths" recalls Cibelle. "It was exactly what I had been looking for. I knew I wanted that sound
The resultant album, 'São Paulo Confessions', was released on Ziriguiboom (Crammed Discs' Brazilian imprint) in 1999 and is one of most seminal and revered albums to come from the Brazilian electronic scene. Its erudite blend of traditional sounds and technological prowess was years ahead of its time, predating the Brazilian 'digital explosion' by a good year or two. Cibelle was the main vocalist on the album, enhancing tracks like the wonderful 'Sereia', 'Tantos Desejos' and 'Felicidade', the latter of which placed the lyrics to Tom Jobim's classic bossa nova tune to a truly unique soundscape.
Tragically, Suba passed away in a fire in 1999, but his ever-adventurous musical spirit lives on through Cibelle, who has dedicated her debut album to him. The eponymous LP was conceived and co-produced by Cibelle, who wrote the majority of the songs and lyrics (which she performs in both English and Portuguese). The album is organic and chameleonic, as only a Cibelle album can be, moving mellifluously through a variety of music styles (this is a lady, remember, who takes inspiration from Nina Simone, Tom Jobim, Björk, Jackson do Pandeiro, 4hero, Ella Fitzgerald and Matmos), and taking the listener on a colourful and graceful ride through her personal experiences.
While 'Cibelle', is undoubtedly a 'Brazilian' album, it is just as much a jazz album. And an electronic album. And a spiritual album. Oh, and a humorous album in places too. Above all though, it's a natural album. The key sound-sculptor on the project is São Paulo switch-doctor Apollo, but Cibelle has also peppered the project with a host of venerable musicians and guest vocalists, from percussionist João Parahyba (Trio Mocotó), Cuban pianist Pepe Cisneros, guitarist and composer Ari Moraes, Ross Godfrey (Morcheeba), trombone player Bocato, percussionist Eder Rocha (Mestre Ambosio), bossa nova veteran Johnny Alf, rapper Xis, guitarist/bassist Richard Harrison, French electronic producer David Walters (Zimpala) and bass players Serginho Carvalho and Robinho. The album was mixed in London by Morcheeba's Chris Harrison and Pete Norris.
"One thing I learned whilst being with Suba is that making music should be fun, not a factory" concludes Cibelle. "I cannot work in any other way than completely organically. I just do what I feel and if it works, so be it. If not, then I delete and start again. There is no massive gameplan at any point. I just meet musicians I click with, and try and make beautiful music with them. The album is just a collection of my own feelings, thoughts and sounds over the last few years. In a way, it sums up everything I've been through".
