Blubell & Black Tie A classic rock from The Who joins a standard one from Cole Porter. An anthem from Edith Piaf’s repertory converses with a ballad originally released by Michael Jackson. It all flows into a samba from Nelson Cavaquinho, from the Mangueira community. It doesn’t matter the origin, the time or the style; in the first CD that puts together Blubell and the Black Tie trio (comprised of Mario Manga, Fábio Tagliaferri and Swami Jr.), all songs receive the same elegant treatment, with acoustic sonority and well created melodies and harmonies. “The idea was to take a repertory from several areas and make a selection with a chamber ensemble. It’s a chamber pop, as Blubell defines it”, says Swami Jr. “It’s a CPM album: Cool Popular Music”, states Manga. More than that, it’s a work that unveils a great sound identification between artists from two different generations. At one side, there is a confident young lady with a remarkable voice tone. At the other side, there are three musicians with an extensive curriculum of works in Brazilian music. Blubell & Black Tie was produced with resources from the Cultural Action Program of São Paulo State (Programa de Ação Cultural do Estado de São Paulo, ProAC). Blubell is the stage name of Isabel Garcia, a singer and composer from São Paulo. After starting her career as a member of independent bands, making special performances in concerts from Funk Como Le Gusta and working in advertising jingles, her debut album was Slow Motion Ballet in 2007. However, it was in her second album, Eu Sou Do Tempo Em Que A Gente Se Telefonava (2011), recorded in collaboration with the jazz quartet À Deriva, when she showed a more personal and defined style, singing songs exclusively composed by her. In 2011, Blubell was invited to participate in the Cordas na MP Project, at SESC Pinheiros, directed by the violist and arranger Fábio Tagliaferri. For the first time, she sang with Mario Manga, Swami Jr. and with Tagliaferri himself. “I was raised listening to their songs, although I didn’t know Música Ligeira. We got along very well and there was a great connection – personally and musically speaking”, she says. Música Ligeira, to which Blubell refers, is a multi-instrumental trio that, during the ‘90s, produced an elegant and fun music. The group was created from a duo comprised of Mario Manga and Rodrigo Rodrigues, who presented short musical skits on the comedy TV show TV Mix, directed by Fernando Meirelles at TV Gazeta. Manga alternated between guitars, mandolin, cello and mouth percussion, while Rodrigues played the harmonica, sax, tambourine and guitar. Both sang. The great repercussion of the duo on TV led them to stage, and they soon became a trio when Tagliaferri arrived to sing and added the viola, guitar and acoustic bass guitar. Wearing their typical sunglasses, the members of Música Ligeira used to play from João Gilberto songs to Stevie Wonder songs, besides of Beatles, Chico Buarque and Paul Simon. There was always humor in the arrangements, with funny musical jokes that entertained the audience and yielded loyal fans for the group, like Caetano Veloso and Arnaldo Antunes. The 16-year trajectory of Música Ligeira was suddenly interrupted in 2005, when Rodrigo Rodrigues passed away, victim of leukemia. Without their partner, Manga and Tagliaferri decided to terminate the group. Therefore, now that they are back together in Black Tie, making a new trio with Swami Jr., it is natural to make comparisons. “After all, we have this Música Ligeira style to play”, explains Tagliaferri. However, there are many characteristics that differentiate both works. The instrumental part is reduced and there is a chamber tone: Manga playing the guitar and cello; Swami playing the bass and seven-string guitar; and Tagliaferri playing the viola. The arrangements, always created by one of the three musicians, have also received special attention. “This CD is more classic. At Música Ligeira, we used to create the arrangements while practicing. Now we have everything written. Besides, the repertory has our own compositions: one is mine (‘Here’, in partnership with Rodrigo Rodrigues) and another one is Blubell’s (‘Blue’)”, says Fábio Tagliaferri.