Sergio Ferraz Review

 

Sérgio Ferraz is a violin player and composer who was born in the city of Garanhuns, in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil.

Sérgio Ferraz is one of the pioneers in the employment of the electric violin in Brazilian music.

 

In 1980 he began to study at the “Conservatório Pernambucano de Música” (Music Conservatory of Pernambuco), and in the following decade he integrated the group “Alma de Água” (“Soul of Water”), that has toured around Brazil and the U.S.A.

 

In 2001 Sérgio Ferraz founded the instrumental outfit “Sonoris Fabrica”, which released an eponymous CD.

Meanwhile, Ferraz has also contributed with important Brazilian writer “Ariano Suassuna” (founder of the 70’s cultural movement known as “Movimento Armorial”, which had the goal of promoting the Brazilian northeastern traditional culture); and played with “Quarteto Romançal” – an Academic-oriented group conducted by “Antônio Madureira” (acoustic guitar player linked to the “Movimento Armorial”, and founder of the legendary “Quarteto Armorial”, which had the aim of elevating Brazilian folkloric northeastern music to the level of classical chamber music).

 

In 2012 Sérgio Ferraz composed the “Concerto Armorial” (“Armorial Concert”), performing it as the main violinist with the “Orquestra Sinfônica Jovem do Conservatório Pernambucano de Música” (Young Symphonic Orchestra of the Music Conservatory of Pernambuco).

Sérgio Ferraz made presentations at the “Garanhuns Jazz Festival” (2013) and has performed live around Brazil. The discography of Sérgio Ferraz consists of three albums, all released independently: “Segundo Romançário” (2010), in duo with Antônio Madureira; and the solo works “Dançando Aos Pés De Shiva” (“Dancing at Shiva’s Feet”, 2010) and “A Sublime Ciência & O Soberano Segredo” (“The Sublime Science & The Supreme Secret”, 2013).

 

Ferraz has also composed and recoded one track for Brazilian Heavy Metal band “Hate Embrace”, which was featured on the band’s CD, entitled “Sertão Saga”.

As a composer born and raised in Northeastern Brazil, Sérgio Ferraz has been initially influenced by the traditional music of that region. But he has also been positively contaminated by foreign kinds of music, like Jazz, Minimalist, Indian, Arabian, and Iberian, which have endowed his sound with a cosmopolitan quality that is not frequent among other Brazilian musicians.

 

Although that northeastern tradition is quite recognizable on his pieces (e.g. on the rhythms provided by Jerimum de Olinda), that heritage is not as strong as on the work of Brazilian musicians such as “Airto Moreira”, “Hermeto Pascoal”, “Zé Ramalho”, “Alceu Valença”, “Geraldo Azevedo”, and “Antônio Nobrega”. The traditional roots of Ferraz are diluted, blurred, metamorphosed, and electro-electronically texturized by means of synthesizers, travel on worldwide geographic coordinates, and reach the frontiers of Progressive, Psychedelic and Space Rock. This may lead the listener to compare the music of Sérgio Ferraz with iconic violin-oriented bands and names, such as “Jean-Luc Ponty”, “Mahavishnu Orchestra”, “Curved Air”, “Eddie Jobson”, and Brazilian “Sagrado Coração da Terra”, “Quaterna Réquiem”, and “Wiermann & Vogel”, but they also differ a lot of the sonority of Sérgio Ferraz (who feels comfortable under his own tag of “Brazilian Northeastern Fusion”).

 

The album on focus here - “Dançando Aos Pés De Shiva” (“Dancing at Shiva’s Feet”) - has 12 instrumental tracks, featuring the violin on long solos accompanied by a few keyboards and synths, but sustained by different kinds of percussive instruments.

The predominance of minimalist sounds, introspective moods, and exquisitely elaborated arrangements is perceived all along the record.

 

“A Última Batalha Na Terra” (“The Last Battle On Earth”, 6:01) opens the album combining Brazilian Northeastern rhythms and bass sounds with mysterious Arabian melodies and psychedelic atmospheres, creating a tension that contrasts with the tranquility of “Chuva Cinza” (“Gray Rain”, 5:39) and “A Segunda Chuva” (“Second Rain”, 3:43) – two Neo-Classical pieces, backed up by pianos, that deliver nostalgic and romantic themes on the violin (recalling “Wiermann & Vogel”, “Quaterna Réquiem”).

Also “O Amor, O Saber, O Poder” (“Love, Knowledge, Power”, 3:23) has gorgeous violin tunes, superposed to relaxing watery sounds (recalling “Sagrado Coração da Terra”). “Festa da Colheita” (“Harvest Celebration”, 5:45) brings traditional violins and keyboards, and contemplative moods of ancient times, contrasting with the contemporary-sounding “Antes Do Sol Vir Até Mim” (“Before The Sun Comes To Me”, 6:16), an amazing World-Music piece that combines elements of Pop, New-Age, and Jazz-Fusion harmonies, recalling “Jean-Luc Ponty” and “Mahavishnu Orchestra”.

 

A few tracks are experimental, featuring violins that blend the Northeastern Brazilian style with Oriental modes: “O Grande Vishnu” (“Vishnu, The Great”, 7:03) is ambient-cosmic; “As Três Transformações do Espírito” (“The Three Changes of the Spirit”, 4:51) is tense and exotic; and the triad consisting of “Encontrando a Flor de Lótus” (“Finding the Lotus Flower” 0:34) + the title track “Dançando Aos Pés De Shiva” (“Dancing at Shiva’s Feet”, 7:53) + “A Solidão do Guerreiro” (“The Solitude Of The Warrior”, 0:37) features a somber composition that becomes gradually clear, having violin prelude and postlude in Northeastern and Baroque styles, respectively.

 

The album ends with an electronic version of “The Last Battle On Earth” (5:28) that shows how Sérgio Ferraz is connected to the modern trends, for it recalled me of Russian Trip-Hop band “Ole Lukkoye”. Brilliant, unique and amazing, Sérgio Ferraz is highly recommendable for fans of Brazilian Northeastern Music and for Progressive & Fusion fans of “Jean-Luc Ponty”, “Curved Air”, “Eddie Jobson”, “Sagrado Coração da Terra”, “Quaterna Réquiem”, “Wiermann & Vogel”, who are looking for violin-oriented music with a different and exotic focus.

 

Band members and collaborators involved in Sérgio Ferraz are: Sergio Ferraz - Electric Violin, Piano, Synthesizers; Jerimum de Olinda – Percussion (Tambourine, Djamber, Jar, Caxixi, Cajon, Tin-Can, Speaking-Drum, Cymbals, Whistles, Congas, Pau-de-Chuva). Live line-up: Gustavo Ferraz – Bass; Benone Alexandre – Drums. Produced by Sérgio Ferraz, Executive Production by Bebeth Andrade Lima. Sound Engineering by André Oliveira; Pictures by Chico Porto; Graphic Layout by Saulo Bernardino & Victor Poggi; Artistic Direction by Gustavo Burkhardt.

All songs were composed, arranged and performed by Sérgio Ferraz. You can visit Sergio Ferraz at MySpace page too...

 

(Comments by Marcelo Trotta)