Maria Rita [DVD]

"Maria Rita" is the self-titled video of the Latin Grammy-winning singer's already legendary live performance at Bourbon Street in Sao Paulo, Brasil. In front of a sold-out audience of adoring fans, she delivers a powerhouse, scintillating performance. Maria Rita (Mariano) is the awesomely talented daughter of the late super-diva Elis Regina and, make no mistake about it, she appears to have inherited the full genetic DNA vocal capabilities of her mom and the sensibilities of her dad, pianist /arranger Cesar Mariano. But she has her own unique sound and uses Ella Fitzgerald as her major vocal influence. (It's uncanny how you can hear Ella's influence through the Portuguese lyric on the bluesy Rita Lee song "Nao Vale a Pena" ("It's Not Worth It"). The 2004 Latin Grammy nomination press releases refer to her as the "Brazilian Jazz Singer".

Singing barefoot at times, with her sculpted mop of curly black hair, unique dresses, and using alot of "body english", this DVD captures MR as a revelation of sound, motion, and stage presence. Songs by her "musical godfather" Milton Nascimento, rock queen Rita Lee (who is Maria Rita's namesake), and others are delivered using a bluesy, bopping, jazz-oriented quintet of exceptional musicians who also appear on the CD. Marco da Costa, the drummer, arranged both the CD and DVD.

The most powerful performance for me is Milton's "Encontros E Despedidas", delivered as a jazz waltz, with Marco da Costa dropping Elvin Jones-like bombs on his drumset in the background. This is the single direct nod in Elis Regina's direction and MR's soaring, wordless obilgato on the bridge will stick in my mind forever. The humorous "Pagu" was a surprise hit in Brazil and she delivers the "anti-cosmetic" feminist message wonderfully on stage. The bossa nova "Cara Valente" (Brave Guy) and the Latin Grammy winning "A Festa" (The Party) -which is the Milton Nascimento-take on Richie Valens' "La Bamba"- are splendid performances which made the Brasilian Hot 100 charts. On the rocking "Lavadeira Do Rio", MR is a singing-dancing dervish, working up a sweat. The classic bolero "Dos Gardenias" is hauntingly sung in dead-on Spanish. And "Tristesse" is a wonderful solo adaptation of her duet with Milton Nascimento, off the "Pieta" CD, which won a Latin-Grammy in 2003. Actually, all performances are really wonderful, the stage presentation and lighting are perfect, and the DVD special features are exceptional.

It's all sung in Portuguese and Spanish, but "if you don't mind, it won't matter". The raw emotion, musicianship, presentation, and beautiful voice will carry you away to that wonderful evening in Sao Paulo. I speak no Portuguese and I really enjoy this DVD.

This DVD, "Maria Rita", has already gone Platinum in Brazil, 42 weeks on the charts as of September 2004. The CD "Maria Rita", upon which this DVD is based, reportedly nearing 1 MIllion CD sales, is certified Diamond status (past Triple Platinum) and has won the 2004 Latin Grammy for "MPB Record of the Year". Maria Rita is music royalty and has created a sensation in Brazil and Portugal. With the new Maria Rita fans and the old Elis Regina fans joining ranks with her, can the rest of the world be far behind? She's hot!! "Ra Ta Ta..."

I have to confess: I only got Maria Rita's first album after watching the cover of the CD and noticing she looked very much like her mother,the wonderful late brazilian singer Elis Regina, but after the first few bars of the first song I discovered that Maria Rita's music is very enjoyable and really it doesn't matter the obvious references to other brazilian historic music figures.

This DVD is a perfect complement of the album, and shows the mood of a typical Maria Rita gig: a very festive atmosphere underlinded by the undeniable charisma of the singer.

The material in this DVD includes the live performance of all but one of the songs on the album plus 2 extra tracks: "Tristesse" and "Vero". Also includes a feature that allows you to play each track with an intoduction by Maria Rita, a separate interview with the singer, biographies of her band members, a "making of" feature and the beautiful video clip of "Cara Valente"

The future looks very bright, from jazz to samba to bolero, this lady really delivers!

... Sultry, jazzy, underlying urbanesque beats, Maria Rita exudes passion in her performance, and has a refreshing style. Minimal acoustic instrumentalization is clean, yet full of body and rich. The camera pleasantly focuses on her as she meanders gently to the rhythms barefoot "a testament to her youthful comfort" ... bonus footage is welcomed as it provides insight to the interesting personalities of herself and others in her production. The Bonus Video "it is a beautiful mosaic highlighting the diversity of Brazil"

Video quality is rather good, and sound is more than satisfactory...