Customer Reviews

Transversal Do Tempo

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4 star:		(1)
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Elis was a genius. She was the greatest singer I have ever heard in any style or type of music. If you only own one recording of hers, it should be Transversal Do Tempo. This is a collection of live tracks from shows in Rio in 1978, and it finds her at the height of her creative and interpretive powers. This is one of the greatest music recordings I know of, period. It will bring you a lifetime of pleasure. It has gone in and out of print over the last few years, so grab it now while you can! Also try to get "Elis(1974)", and "Elis Regina In London". I am astonished at how little Elis is known in the USA. She had a rare ability to appeal to the masses as well as sophisticates, and is one of the greatest artists I know of.

This is a very emotive live album. Quite differently from her earlier releases, here Elis shows a commited attitude, since most of the songs talk about the social problems of Brazil. This is not a cheerful samba or bossa nova record. Instead, it is composed by thrilling bluesy ballads as the stunning "Sinal fechado" and "Meio termo" and chilling brazilian-flavoured rock tunes as "Cartomante", "Deus lhe pague", "Corpos" and "Construção", where Elis sings violently, dennouncing the miseries of her country and of the human being. It also includes a portuguese-spoken version of the standard "Fascination" (here "Fascinação") which Elis sings very beautifully.

This one really grows on you: first impression, I thought it was ok, now I know it's great. The songs are not, perhaps, the easiest ones; they're not haunting from the start, but you'll end up addicted to this music. A fine balance is reached between 'calm' and 'violent', but the music never grows soft or agressive. Beautiful, typical seventies-sound. And Elis is superb!

Maybe it was the most political of Elis Regina's shows although she had always been around the hot bubbling against ditactorship from those times in Brazil. This album is a very-good-in-sound live recording of the show. Cesar Camargo Mariano is the master arranger on this album. Very great!