Marta Dias – Quantas Tribos (BigBit , 2016)
Quantas Tribos is an album by superb Portuguese singer and composer Marta Dias. It’s a beautiful album of Afro-rooted and Portuguese music that highlights Marta’s voice as well as duets and great interplay with male vocalist Costa Neto.
Marta Dias has family roots in Sao Tome (West Africa). The lyrics are poems by five leading poets from Sao Tome and Principe: Alda Espirito Santo, Conceição Lima, Fernando de Macedo, Francisco José Tenreiro and Maria Manuela Margarido.
Most of the music was composed by guitarist Osvaldo Santos and features a tasty mix of masterful guitar, percussion, nostalgic accordion and exquisite fretless electric bass. Jazz vocal wizard Carmen Souza appears as guest on one song.
The lineup on Quantas Tribos includes Marta Dias on vocals; Osvaldo Santos on classical guitar; Yuri Daniel on bass; Ruca Rebordãao on percussion; João Frade on accordion; and Costa Neto on vocals. Guests: Carmen Souza and Kalaf on vocals.
Marta Dias’ earlier albums include YUÉ (União Lisboa, 1997), Aqui (Farol Música, 1999) and Ao Vivo no CCB (Movieplay, 2003).
Buy Quantas Tribos
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.