Mawaca – Nama Pariret (Mawaca/Ethos Music, 2023)
Mawaca, an iconic group from the São Paulo scene, recently released their eighth album. Nama Pariret is a journey to female songs from various parts of the world, in a powerful and intimate record.
Nama Pariret is based on the essence that constitutes the grounds of the group, founded 27 years ago by female vocalists. Shedding light upon a repertoire sung by minority groups, Mawaca singers lose the powerful instrumental group that has always accompanied them and tackle vocal gems from diverse locations, unveiling women’s recent and ancient demands.
Gathering songs handed down through oral tradition in arrangements that create a dialog with contemporary times, the six singers, who also play percussion, take the listener on a beautiful and charming vocal journey along Mediterranean, African and Eastern, and Brazilian traditions. This is the result of extensive research carried out by the group arranger and music director, Magda Pucci. Significantly, they are ancient songs that allow the pursuit of multiple vocal techniques, exploring vocal timbre, and creating unique sound aesthetics.
Nama Pariret brings two concepts that permeate these singers’ performances: nama means vital force for the Dogon people in Mali, and pariret is used to refer to beauty for the Ikolen-Gavião native people from Amazonia.
Several songs constitute Nama Pariret: Occitan chant Tant Deman; Mongolian mountain theme “Gada Meilin” connected with a Brazilian Northeast song “Boi da Beira’; pygmy vocal polyphony “Babanzele”; the protest song of Southern-Italian tobacco workers “Fimmene” in connection with Brazilian tobacco stem handlers “Destaladeiras de Fumo” from Alagoas; Eastern-like Sephardic melody “Los Dos Amantes”; “Sabrali sa,” an anthological song by the Bulgarian peasant women that greatly inspired Mawaca at its beginnings, as well as “Käppee” by Värttinä. There is also one song composed specially for the project named “Nama Pariret” by Rita Braga, one of Mawaca’s singers.
The singers play instruments such as different kinds of frame drums, bells, cajón, home objects, castanets, and Italian tamburellos to mention just a few. Their performances have an intimate environment filled with the many subtleties capable of voicing the diverse women of the world.
Seeking to expand these narratives and bring these songs to diffusion, they released a music video for the song “Gada Meilin” and a songbook with the scores from the album, available for free and that can be checked along with the songs, in a complete dive for listeners.
Buy Nama Parire.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.