Chico Buarque 

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• Chico Buarque

  Chico Buarque is a true artist. Not only is he a well accomplished guitarist and singer, but he is also a poet and dramatist. His creativity clearly shines through his music and his ornate compositions are likely to sweep his audience off their feet.

  The bossa nova rhythm that Chico Buarque plays on his classical guitar is immediately entrancing and gets the audience’s feet tapping and their head bobbing to the beat. Chico Buarque plays quick and complex chord progressions on his guitar and sings in a mellow, soothing vibe that makes you feel like you are on the beach with the breeze in your hair. Although most of his songs are in an upbeat style, he also is able to write heart wrenching ballads such as “Calice”. A large backing band accompanies Chico when he performs live. He usually tours with a piano player, a drummer, a bass player, a saxophone player, and a clarinet player that all help him create an elaborate polyphonic sound with intricate rhythms.

  Unlike a fair amount of bossa nova musicians who stick strictly to cover songs, Chico Buarque composes the majority of his own material. His poetic abilities are lucidly presented through his lyrics and deal with tense issues such as rebellion and politics. His album Construcao is a highly political album that contains songs such as “Deus Lhe Pague”, which conveys a strong disdain for military dictatorship.

  Chico Buarque and his band perform with great precision and are able to accurately reduplicate the sounds that Chico so masterfully produced on his albums. His live performances show him going through a wide amount of his songs, and draw from selections from most of his discography. Chico Buarque is a true pleasure to see perform live and he is an absolute must to see for any serious bossa nova fan.

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  by wjmcc