Maria Rita - Maria Rita 2003

Distant from the mass-market mentality of the United States pop music industry in more ways than one, the MPB field has been and continues to be ripe with beautiful and lively music, with Maria Rita's debut album standing tall as an exemplary document of the sort of music blossoming in America's other hemisphere. This beautiful and beautiful-sounding young lady is the daughter of one of Brazil's most (if not the most) legendary vocalists, the late Elis Regina, and if that alone weren't enough to make her a star-in-waiting, her father is César Camargo Mariano, one of the country's top arrangers, producers, and pianists, and her namesake is Rita Lee, yet another MPB legend. Add to that a close musical partnership with Milton Nascimento, who pens "A Festa," the ear-grabbing opening track of her album, and you can see why the MPB world was eagerly awaiting her recording debut. And what an album it is, from beginning to end a joyful listening experience with no low points whatsoever and a pair of absolutely astonishing high points, the aforementioned "A Festa" and the mid-album standout "Cara Valente." These two party-starters highlight what is otherwise a collection of delicate songs of varying tempo, all of them distinct in numerous ways. What each song shares, however, is a purely acoustic, slightly jazzy musical backing and also a lyrical performance by Rita, who possesses a tender voice not unlike that of her mother as well as an emotive delivery that accentuates her vocals with a rich sense of humanity. Moreover, Rita's voice benefits from pristine production courtesy of Tom Capone, one of Brazil's finest. Like Bebel Gilberto's Tanto Tempo solo debut from a few years prior, Maria Rita is the sort of masterpiece that has all the makings of a crossover success, the sort of album that is likely to be a great many listeners' first experience with popular Brazilian music, and deservedly so. [Originally released by Warner Music Brasil in late 2003, Maria Rita was repackaged for stateside release in 2004. The U.S. edition includes international-minded back-cover blurbs from critics touting the album: "To understand what Maria Rita means to the Brazilian musical market, think Norah Jones," for instance. This edition also is enhanced, including a delightful video for "Cara Valente" and links to Rita's website, where additional tracks were available for download.] AMG.

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Maria Rita - Elo 2011

Maria Rita quickly became a huge critical and popular success in Brazil (being Elis Regina's daughter certainly didn't hurt), but after releasing three albums and two DVDs in less than six years, she probably felt it was time for a break. By 2011, however, she was under mounting pressure from fans and her recording company to record a successor to 2007's Samba Meu. Cue the stopgap album Elo, made of songs Maria Rita had been performing during the first decade of her career, but which have never made it to her albums (the only previously released track is "Coração em Desalinho," featured on a popular TV soap opera.) For this record, Maria Rita re-creates the intimate setting of her appearances at Sao Paolo's Tom Jazz club in 2010, as she is joined only by the trio of pianist Tiago Costa, bassist Sylvinho Mazzuca, and drummer Cuca Teixeira. In this respect, Elo is much closer to the singer's first two records of acoustic jazz, bossa, and vocals, rather than the more expansive Samba Meu. To put it succinctly, this is a Brazilian nightclub chanteuse album in which Maria Rita offers her take on well-known songs by the likes of Djavan, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, and Rita Lee. The general response in Brazil was more sympathetic than enthusiastic, for the following reasons: first, since some of Brazil's greatest singers have already recorded these songs, Maria Rita was inviting direct comparison with the canonical versions (often a battle that simply cannot be won), and secondly, albums by Brazilian female singers are usually judged almost as concept albums by virtue of their choice of repertoire and general intent. Compared to her previous work, Elo lacks the weight of an artistic statement. Maria Rita remains of course a class act, and this album is superbly played and sung, but it is more pleasing than revelatory. Fans of the artist, however, will find here many an insight into the different sides of Maria Rita's artistic persona, and are also rewarded with the inclusion of three songs that had not been previously recorded by any other artist: "Pra Matar Meu Coração" (Daniel Jobim & Pedro Baby), "Coração a Batucar" (Davi Moraes & Alvinho Lancellotti), and "Perfeitamente" (Fred Martins & Francisco Bosco). AMG.

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Maria Rita - Segundo 2005

Maria Rita took the MPB world by storm in 2003 with her debut album, winning all kinds of awards and crossing over abroad in light of her mammoth success. The beautiful and beautiful-sounding young lady is the daughter of one of Brazil's most (if not the most) legendary vocalists, the late Elis Regina, and if that alone weren't enough to make her a star in waiting, her father is César Camargo Mariano, one of the country's top arrangers, producers, and pianists, and her namesake is Rita Lee, yet another MPB legend. Add to that a close musical partnership with Milton Nascimento, who penned "A Festa," the opening track of her debut album, and you can see why the MPB world was eagerly awaiting her recording debut.

Born September 19, 1977, in São Paulo, Rita began singing professionally at age 24. Her debut album, Maria Rita, released domestically in late 2003 and internationally in 2004, spawned two big hits, the aforementioned "A Festa" and "Cara Valente." On the heels of the album's blockbuster success -- both critical and commercial -- Rita released a similarly self-titled DVD that captures her 2004 live performance at Bourbon Street in São Paulo. Among the awards won by Rita in 2004 were Latin Grammys for Best New Artist and Best MPB Album. Rita's second album, Segundo (2005), was even more popular than her first (selling over 700,000 copies in Brazil alone), if not as critically acclaimed. A live DVD, Segundo ao Vivo, followed in 2006. Rita's third album, Samba Meu (2007), was a change of style: a collection of acoustic sambas.
Segundo is the second album by Maria Rita, following up on her enormously successful debut album from 2003. Rita undoubtedly is a very talented singer with a great voice. She proved it on her first album and proves it again on Segundo. But after all the huge expectations built up by large sections of the media before this release, you can't help but find it something of an anticlimax. Not that Segundo is a bad album, because it isn't. But it isn't all that great either, especially compared to the work of many other, much less famous Brazilian artists and singers. Dominated by a rather sparse, slightly jazzy MPB sound, Segundo sounds very similar to the previous album, though there is actually less stylistic variation between the songs this time around. However, a couple of tracks stand out from the rest due to their quality. "Caminho das Águas" is a very cute, nice, and gentle piano ballad. The excellent "Mal Intento," sung in Spanish, was written by the famous Uruguayan composer Jorge Drexler. Rita's version of O Rappa's "Minha Alma" also functions very well indeed. Segundo is a tasteful, fine, and classy album, but far from the masterpiece many people would have it be.   AMG.

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