Results tagged “ceu”

First things first--the sun also rises, the splendor is in the grass, and CéU has a second show tonight at the Triple Door (8 p.m., tickets: $28). We stumbled across her last time she was in town, touring for her debut album, which ended up nominated for a Latin Grammy. Listening to her is listening to how a Brazilian hears music, from electro-samba and afrobeat, to soul and R&B. (Last night she opened with the electro-jungle of "Espaçonave" and covered "Takes Two to Tango" from Ray Charles's Duets album.) You'll never mistake the Brazilian sound, but the loops and spikes of electronica and rubberband bass lines from funk make it an alleyway you've never wandered down before.

That said, while 25-year-old Brazilian Céu [myspace] is what's known in some circles as a "smokin' hottie," the metaphorical orgy we're talking about includes the whole band: Bruno Buarque (percussion), Lucas Martins (bass and guitar), Serginho Machado (percussion), Guilherme Ribeiro (keyboard), and DJ Marco. Yep, whole band, or we just -- well, no need for ultimatums. We walked in expecting Brazilian samba, and we got so much more: soul and R&B, "afrobeat" and "electrojazz," two genres we treat with quotes to indicate: "existence, our shocking ignorance of." They are good words, though, so we'll use them. On ballads, Céu might sound a little like Sade (okay, with more vocal agility); but "Concrete Jungle" [listen at myspace] sounds like Jimmy Cliff singing with a '70s funk back-up band. She kept encouraging the Triple Door audience to get up and dance and if there had been any room to do that, this crowd just might have. We kept coming back to the bass lines the tunes hung on, the physicality of the percussion, that glorious electric organ sound. There was even a sing-along encore. Céu, come back soon.