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Grupo Fato's 20th anniversary CD

January 15, 2014 – The innovative band Fato from Curitiba, Paraná, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the release of the group's seventh album later this year. Keyboardist and vocalist Grace Torres sent us a sneak preview of the release.

Produced by Pedro Luís, the new album (yet to be named) features guest appearances by vocalists
Grupo Fato in the studio.
L to R, standing: Sérgio Monteiro Freire, Zé Loureiro Neto, Priscila Graciano, Daniel Fagundes and Ulisses Galetto; sitting: Victor França (recording engineer), Grace Torres and Pedro Luís.
Bárbara Kirchner, Neuzza Pinheiro, João Cavalcanti, Pedro Luís and Lenine. It also includes other very special guests: César Munhoz (based in the US), Rodrigo Campello (Rio de Janeiro) and Yuri Queiroga (Recife). And from just around the corner, curitibano musicians Gabriel Schwartz (flutes), Ozéias Veiga (trumpet) and Alonso Figueiroa (accordion) join the celebration.

Grace Torres said about the album: “It's going to be a big party with a lot of great people! Instead of producing a retrospective album, Fato moves foward, making new music and interacting with artists from many places of Brazil.”

The music of Fato defies classification. The one-of-a-kind band is noted for its eclectic sound, mixing all sorts of musical elements from throughout Brazil. Percussion plays a prominent role, especially the tamancos or wooden clogs worn by the musicians who tap out elaborate syncopated rhythms in unison. The clogs are a nod to the culture of Paraná,
Tamancalha.
Tamancalha
where they are worn in the traditional dancing of the fandango. The sound of the clogs is a hallmark of Fato's music.

The difficulty of playing instruments while simultaneously tapping intricate rhythms on the clogs led percussionist Zé Loureiro Neto to invent a new percussion instrument, the tamancalha. Six clogs are fastened together over a wooden box with two levers that one person can move up and down to produce the sound of several dancers. You'll hear the tamancalha in the track Grace sent us, especially near the end.

The members of Fato are Grace Torres (keyboards and vocals), Ulisses Galetto (bass and guitars), Daniel Fagundes (vocals and guitars), Priscila Graciano (drums, percussion and vocals) and Sérgio Monteiro Freire (electric guitar, saxophones and vocals).

Here's a sneak preview of Fato's forthcoming CD. The song “Raiz” features lyrics by Neuza Pinheiro and music by Ulisses Galetto. Personnel on the track are: Priscila Graciano and Bárbara Kirchner (vocals), Pedro Luís (guitar), Yuri Queiroga (loops and synths), Ulisses Galetto (loops and bass), Grace Torres (keyboards), Zé Loureiro Neto (tamancalha) and Priscila Graciano (congas). Note that this is not the track's final mix. (If you don't see the audio player below, please update your browser. The file might take 30 seconds or more to load, depending on the speed of your internet connection and CPU.)



Website: www.fato.org




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