Woman on Top - Music From The Motion Picture
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Free Music Notes for Woman on Top - Music From The Motion Picture
Free Music Review: great!
Hit: 5 Stars
Great Brazilian music! Romantic, fun and great dance music. See the movie too!Free Music Review: Great music!
Hit: 5 Stars
Great CD to add to one's Bossa Nova collection. I highly recommend this.Free Music Review: women on top - beautiful music
Hit: 5 Stars
Women on top is a very wonderful album. I enjoy this music.Free Music Review: Cool--a Getz/Gilberto for the late 1990's
Hit: 4 Stars
OK, Woman On Top was anything but one of Penelope Cruz's best movies. However, the soundtrack, most of which is buried in the background, or is played during her character Isabel's cooking show, is another matter altogether. Lovers of Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto's Grammy-winning classic Getz/Gilberto will probably take a shine to the songs of mellow Latin bossa-nova and samba rhythms, highlighted by acoustic guitar, flute, and strings. I shall concentrate on the highlights of this Getz/Gilberto of the 1990's.Paulinho Moska sings the most songs here, including the first two. The guitar and bongos of "A Flor E O Espinho" sets the leisurely "Girl From Ipanema" pace. His soft mellow voice is comparable to Joao Gilberto. Chirpy and spright enough to do a light dance or merely to lie back and take in, "Falsa Baiana" has a nice flute solo in the middle that defines the sound of the album.
Maria Creusa's lovely lilting voice is indeed reminiscent of Astrud Gilberto, that girl from Brazil who sang about that girl from Ipanema. She sings a medley consisting of "Obsessao", "Nao Me Diga Adeus" "Pois E", and "A Flor E O Espinho", the latter which was done earlier by Paulinho Moska. The lush strings arrangement enhances the exotic beauty of her voice, which like Astrud, is enough to make me "go ahhhhhh", to use a reference to Astrud's song. Has Maria done any other albums?
Moska returns for "Nos Bracos De Isabel", a song with the same rhythm as "Falsa Baiana", highlighted by guitar and light percussion, and flute. It sounds like something to be played on a spring day, or sitting out on the backyard patio drinking double mochas, enjoying the trees coming up.
Geraldo Azevedo's "Berekeke", which starts slow before getting into light swinging rhythms, features an exotic string instrument. His voice has the same qualities as Moska's, but there's a more robust timbre to it.
Dori Caymmi has a more bass register and his guitar only track "E Doce Morrer No Mar" is by far the softest and most melancholy of the lot. It's still worth listening to, though. As if to counteract it, the next tune is by Paulinho Moska, whose "Sonho Meu" is a samba tune that is what "Ipanema" might be if slightly speeded up.
"Cinzas" has a slight streets of Paris influence with the accordion playing, and the viola adds to the slow dance pace and Paulinho Moska's voice. To supplement the reflective loneliness of the song, is the guitar instrumental "Chao De Estrelas" by Baden Powell.
Another sprightly song here: "Voce" is the other song performed by a female artist, only this time it's a duet with a male. Norma Bengeli has an Astrud Gilberto-like voice, and Cyl Farney could double as Joao, but the strings here are extra lush and I can envision both Gilbertos doing this on the Getz album. Definitely a romantic highlight and good first date tune.
For closure and keeping up with the Brazil theme, the album closes with the 50's classic instrumental "Brazil" performed by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra, which along with Carmen Miranda's numbers and Desi Arnaz, helped bring Latin music to the forefront of the music scene back then.
Either this or Getz/Gilberto will be a satisfactory introduction to bossa-nova and samba jazz. What stops me from giving it the full five is the lack of variation in vocals or style, however relaxing, plus of course the Getz/Gilberto album, which set the standard. However, don't be fooled by the chili pepper held by Penelope Cruz on the album cover. This stuff is cool.
Free Music Review: Fun Soundtrack
Hit: 4 Stars
This is the soundtrack to "Woman On Top", a movie featuring Penelope Cruz and Murilo Benicio. It's really a testament to Brazilian music; Bossa Nova, Samba and some original themes. The extremely talented Moska (Paulinho Moska) among a slew of other talented Brazilian artists and musician, from Lenine to Dori Caymmi.
This is a very romantic album and, as indicated by the very first song "A Flor E O Espinho" (Flower or Thorn). It's a slower, yet a bit of a sad song, but the album picks up with Moska's rendition of "Falsa Baiana" - a nice take too. Lenine's "O Ultimo Por Do Sol" follows appropriately, with terrific guitar and his amazingly rich voice. Wonderful song, 'walking alone'... terrific. Maria Creusa's heartfelt "Obsessao" is also a classic. Other songs on this that I enjoyed were Dori Caymmi's and Baden Powell's tracks and Cyl Farney/Norma Bengell did a great job with "Voce". Meanwhile Xavier Cugat's "Brazil" is and always will be timeless, a mid-late 50's track. BossaCucaNova remixed Moska's "Falsa Baiana" here and it was pretty much their sound of 2000 or so, when they had Brasilidade on the horizon.
I think this soundtrack was very well put together and the musicianship was exceptional. I won't rag on the movie... we thought it was light and fun. Murilo Benicio was hilarious. Me and my girl have jokes about the IMO cheesy "Nos Bracos De Isabel" and the way he sang it, walking about with an entourage of musicians. If you like this soundtrack, then you will probably love the soundtrack to "Next Stop Wonderland", which features work by Claudio Ragazzi, Vinicius Cantuaria and Bebel Gilberto among others. And you may like some of Paulinho Moska's work, Marcos Valle's tunes on the Far Out label (or the Brazilan Love Affair series) and of course, some of the classic Bossa Nova from Getz/Gilberto, Dori Caymmi, Joyce & Tutti Moreno, Baden Powell and Sergio Mendes older works.