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DOWNLOAD: Sue Jorge & Almaz - Everybody Loves The Sunshine (MP3)

Seu Jorge @ Terminal 5 - July 30, 2010

"When Seu Jorge sauntered onstage at the Trocadero [in Philly] on Wednesday night, he seemed to have taken the crowd by surprise. It's not like an artist of his stature to forgo an opening act and start playing at 9 o'clock sharp. Nor is it like Jorge to begin a show without the sunny samba and bossa nova grooves of his native Brazil, but rather with a brooding downer filled with dissonant guitar and anguished wails.

Then again, Jorge's always been a bit difficult to pin down. The singer-songwriter from Rio de Janeiro has made successful turns at acting in widely acclaimed films such as City of God and Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic - the latter of which Jorge scored using nothing but David Bowie songs translated to acoustic guitar and Portuguese. Now he's touring with his new band Almaz, in support of their self-titled debut album of bilingual, pan-genre cover songs.

The familiar South American rhythms soon returned to the mix, however, leaving the biggest surprise one even Jorge might not have foreseen: the sparse crowd. With only a couple hundred fans in attendance, the venue left plenty of wiggle room for dancing and cavorting on the floor.

To Almaz's credit, they responded to a lackluster turnout in the best way a band can: by making fools of everyone who wasn't there...

...Using its new album as a template, the band mostly served up covers of everybody from Krautrock progenitors Kraftwerk to famous jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers, through the colorful lens of Brazilian psych-soul. Though even the show's most obscure selections were a delight to hear, highlights included a take on Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust," a medley of Jorge's own material, and a wonderfully laid-back inversion of Michael Jackson's "Rock With You."... [Philadelpha Inquirer]

Continue reading "Seu Jorge & Almaz on tour, played Terminal 5 (pics, setlist)"

Seu Jorge @ Central Park SummerStage

Brazilian musician & actor Seu Jorge will be playing at Terminal 5 on Friday, July 30th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday (4/14) at 11am. General sale starts Friday at noon (which is when the Dirty Projectors show just announced at the same venue goes on sale too). The NYC show is the only announced Seu Jorge date at the moment.

Jorge's roles in films like City of God and The Life Aquatic have helped his popularity in the US. He also has a part in the Brazil-produced Tropa de Elite 2, "the follow up to the acclaimed 2007 film that followed Rio's Special Police Operations Battalion, or BOPE, in their fight for control of the favelas against militias and drug gangs, and indeed of the force itself," due in Brazil this August. You can see an interview (in Portuguese) with Seu Jorge about the film and music clips below...

Continue reading "Seu Jorge playing NYC's Terminal 5 and in Tropa de Elite 2"

Tickets go on Ticketmaster presale (password = BOWBYRNE) @ 9AM for the recently added David Byrne show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC (2/28). The February 27th show is sold out.

In other David Byrne news, he's been writing about a recent trip to Brazil on his blog. For instance...

Paulinha throws a party at the house in the evening. There is a room with rotating fans set up for dancing (I do) and 2 Baianas on a patio making acarajé and abara (the steamed rather than deep fried version of the bean cake). A bartender makes caipirinhas and batidas out of fresh maracuja (passion fruit).

Arto Lindsay is here with his wife. I haven't seen him in years. He's been in Salvador for a number of years, but now he's moving to Rio as there will be more work there. Good to see him.

We leave around two and we hear that, at four AM, just as the party was winding down, Seu Jorge and Beth Carvalho (the singers) show up -- both of them with their entourages. The bartenders rolled their eyes as if to say "now the party will start all over again".

He also wrote an interesting blog post about the battle between Bratz and Barbie (Bratz lost).

The above picture is of the Deluxe version of David Byrne and Brian Eno's new album.

All tour dates HERE.

N.A.S.A., and their worldwide debut The Spirit of Apllo, is an ongoing creative collaboration between two lifelong music aficionados, Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes.

While N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and contains a number of superstar artists from both coasts of the U.S., it is about as far from a tension-building geographical showdown as a record can get. Rather, The Spirit of Apollo was born with the righteous goal of bringing people together through music and art, and that is exactly what masterminds Sam Spiegel (Squeak E. Clean) and Ze Gonzales (DJ Zegon) have done.

Unexpected collaborations abound on the seventeen track release. Tom Waits growls over Kool Keith, Karen O taunts while Ol' Dirty Bastard gives shoutouts to Wu Tang and N.A.S.A from the grave, and David Byrne, Chuck D and others expound on the evils of "Money." In spite of the range of performers, the pairings seem organic, inspired and make perfect sense on the first listen, never coming off as ironic or impulsive.... [RCRD LBL]

Continue reading "N.A.S.A. - 2009 Tour Dates (LPR), David Byrne/Chuck D video"

Thievery Corporation, Seu Jorge, Bebel Gilberto and Federico Aubele all play the same show at Central Park Summerstage in NYC on June 26th. They're calling it "The Outernational Festival", and tickets go on sale Saturday. All Thievery Corporation dates below....

Continue reading "Thivery Corporation - 2008 Tour Dates (Summerstage)"

Seu Jorge (Brazil) is returning to tour the U.S. this summer. He'll play Webster Hall in NYC on June 25th. According to Wikipedia, "his new album 'Brasil America' is due to be released this year." All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Seu Jorge - 2007 Tour Dates"

David Byrne @ Pop Montreal | OCT 05, 2006 (CRED)

David Byrne's latest streaming radio show contains songs by many of the artists he has playing Carnegie Hall in February. In March, David will make a speaking (and hopefully singing) appearance at SXSW in Austin this year:

Byrne returns to SXSW in 2007 with a special presentation. "Record Labels: Who Needs Them?" examines the state of affairs among purveyors of recorded music. From his perspective as artist, label owner and musical enthusiast, Byrne will discuss the options available to artists in an age where retail and radio infrastructure is shrinking, and digital technology has changed how music is recorded, distributed and promoted. Byrne's manager, David Whitehead, will also speak and facilitate the session.

Continue reading "David Byrne's freak folk radio playlist -- "playing" SXSW"

I said I would post the rest of the pics of Seu Jorge @ Summerstage. Here they are....

Continue reading "Seu Jorge @ Summerstage - the rest of the pics"

more pics on the way....

Jehro is touring with Seu Jorge. Jehro is not playing with Seu Jorge at Central Park Summerstage, but he is playing by himself at Mercury Lounge on July 2nd. All Seu Jorge and Jehro tour dates below...

Continue reading "Jehro + Seu Jorge | Tour Dates"

On March 30th Seu Jorge is opening for Cesaria Evora. On April 27th he's headlining Irving Plaza. All dates below...

Continue reading "Seu Jorge now has 3 upcoming NYC shows"

New Yorkers don't have to wait until July to see Seu Jorge, or go to Coachella, or to Bonnaroo. He'll play the Beacon Theatre on March 30th with Cesaria Evora. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Seu Jorge playing NYC in March 2006, Touring"

I picked up a copy of "The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions Featuring Seu Jorge" today. If you saw The Life Aquatic, heard the Life Aquatic soundtrack, or read one of my old Seu Jorge posts, you probably already realize that this CD contains acoustic David Bowie cover songs in Portuguese. There are 14 songs to be exact, and I didn't realize until after I bought it that the iTunes version has a bonus track. A few of the songs are on the regular LA soundtrack too.

TRACKS: 1. Rebel Rebel 2. Life on Mars? 3. Starman 4. Ziggy Stardust 5. Lady Stardust 6. Changes 7. Oh! You Pretty Things 8. Rock N' Roll Suicide 9. Suffragette City 10. Five Years 11. Queen Bitch 12. When I Live My Dream 13. Quicksand 14. Team Zissou

DOWNLOAD (MP3s via Sucka Pants)
Seu Jorge - Life On Mars
Seu Jorge - Rebel Rebel

"Had Seu Jorge not recorded my songs acoustically in Portuguese I would never have heard this new level of beauty which he has imbued them with" - David Bowie

Previously
Seu Jorge @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC | pics (part 3)
Seu Jorge @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC | pics (part 2)
Bowie in Portuguese vs. The Cure in French (accents)
Seu Jorge | Tour Dates
Arctic Monkeys remind David Bowie of Action

The Seu Jorge show at Bowery Ballroom on September 11, 2005 was like a play in multiple acts. The first and 6th were solo Jorge covering Bowie in Portuguese. The 2nd and 4th were Jorge and band playing Seu Jorge songs. The 3rd was an interactive stand-up percussion routine featuring the members of Jorge's band. The 5th was Jorge standing for the first time as he recited a mix of Portuguese and English spoken word to a background of music. I couldn't really understand what he was saying (except for a bit about New Orleans and 9/11), but the actor was able to make it moving nonetheless. Given the many parts of the performance, I couldn't help but separate the pictures into multiple posts. This is part three.

Listen to three Seu Jorge songs in the Onion's media center

Continue reading "Seu Jorge @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC | pics (part 3)"

Two nights before my pre-CMJ show at Tonic, Seu Jorge from Brazil played the first of two nights at Bowery Ballroom in NYC (September 11, 2005).

The crowd was a mix of world music fans that included Portuguese speaking Brazilians and people curious to see the guy that sings David Bowie cover songs in Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic. Nobody was disappointed with what they saw/heard, though the Portuguese speakers had a slightly different experience. They actually knew what Jorge was saying (during and between the songs).

He opened with two solo Portuguese Bowie covers, played a full set of his music, and closed with three more Bowie songs. The whole thing was magical. The band never stopped smiling, and in turn neither did the crowd. They even helped break the though-shall-not-dance curse that seems to plague Bowery Ballroom. People were moving. I swear.

Continue reading "Seu Jorge @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC | pics (part 2)"

SEU JORGE @ BOWERY BALLROOM - Sept 11, 2005

* Above photo of Seu Jorge covering a song by David Bowie in Portuguese last night at Bowery Ballroon in NYC. (full photo set coming soon)
* One night earlier Nouvelle Vague (French for new wave, Portuguese for bossa nova) were covering new wave songs with French accents at Joe's Pub.

NOTE: Jorge is at Bowery Ballroom again tonight (Sept 12). Go!!

Previously
Arcade Fire & David Bowie MP3 Audio & Video

"Seu Jorge (b. June 8, 1970) is a Brazilian musician and actor. He appeared in the critically acclaimed movie City of God, and then played Pele Dos Santos in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, for which he provided much of the soundtrack in the form of Portuguese covers of David Bowie classics." [Wikipedia]

"Seu Jorge has released two albums. In 2001 he released Samba Esporte Fino, a classic brazilian pop album very influenced by the likes of Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento. His album Samba Esporte Fino was declared the Album of the Year in Brazil. It was released outside Brazil under the name: Carolina in 2002. In 2005 Seu Jorge, released his second album Cru which was celebrated and critcally acclaimed in Brazil and Seu Jorge was celebrated as the new superstar and renewer of Brazilian Samba-style pop" [Wikipedia]

On June 13th, 2005, Jorge played S.O.B.'s in NYC. Popmatters was there: "Seu Jorge only confirmed his warm accessibility to New York City when he strolled onstage at S.O.B.'s (Sound of Brasil). Warmed up solely by a Favela Chic-style DJ (current Brasilo-hip hop, like Marcelo D2, to CTI fusion jams), Jorge greeted the capacity audience by singing enthusiastically to the DJ's final samba selection, immediately prompting a support chorus from the Brazilian expats in the house."

Jorge is back in NYC on September 11th & 12th for two shows at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are on sale. All tour dates at Aeki Tuesday.