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Written in fRoots issue 274, 2006


MARENOSTRUM
Almadrava
Som Livre SL 0675-2 (2005)

From Portugal comes this short burst of chugging, bouncing, danceable, rhythmically varied south-European music.  Marenostrum, a trio of lead singer, guitarist and mandolinist José Francisco, bassist and accordionist Paulo Machado and drummer Janaca, is from the coastal town of Tavira in south-eastern Algarve, and as the album title implies their lyrics often relate to the sea, as a poetic influence and perhaps the route to other musics. Their largely band-composed songs and tunes lurch cheerfully between the rhythms of southern Portugal and influences from Cape Verdean music with touches of African, klezmer, Latin and Andean.
      Much of the character of this, their second album, comes from the contributions of the other musicians including Guinean guest electric guitarist Mamadi and, particularly, the combination of accordionist Emanuel Marçal and trombonist Victor Afonso. Though these two appear on most tracks and are a key part of the band’s sound and arrangements here, it seems they don’t perform with it live.
      With several of the sort of tracks that might be picked up by world music radio DJs or downloaders, things go pretty well for a while. But those who buy the CD on the strength of that might find it a little disappointing. After just twenty-four minutes we’re at the penultimate track, a Cape Verdean traditional tune given a somewhat Andean treatment featuring flautist Sérgio Mestre, a friend of the band since its inception twelve years ago, who died in 2003 and to whom the album is dedicated. The piece, like most here, lasts a couple of minutes or so, but then the track runs on in silence, presumably in tribute, for a couple more, prompting the assumption the album has finished, though the piece is hardly a closer. Neither is the actual final track that follows, a slight two-minute last waltz of echoey space-synths and guitar from the core trio. And that’s it – just half an hour including silence.


© 2006 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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