Audition Disco Iroko

Audio Transcribed

Hello, this is Fernando Alabê, musical director of Iroko – Disco dos Nossos Baluartes, Volume One. Nossos Baluartes is a project that emerged from the play Bom Dia, Eternidade, by the group O Bonde, in which Luiz Alfredo Xavier, Jair Cacau, Maria Inês, and Roberto Mendes Barbosa form a band that performs both the dramaturgy and the soundtrack of the show. 

Given the beauty created for the stage, an album was produced with fourteen tracks that poetically narrate the journey of these four baluartes (pillars of culture). This is the journey you will experience when listening to Hiroko – Disco dos Nossos Baluartes, Volume One. 

Bio:

Luiz Alfredo Xavier, Jair Cacau, known as Cacau Batera, and maestro Roberto Mendes Barbosa—three highly experienced musicians—and singer Maria Inês, who, due to family restrictions, became a hairdresser for over fifty years. Upon retiring, she joined the Choir of the Faculty of Medicine at USP for ten years but stepped away for another ten. In 2023, she was invited to share her story as part of the narrative in the show Good Morning, Eternity.

• Cacau Batera is a remarkable instrumentalist and one of the finest performers. He showcased his rhythmic artistry while supporting artists such as Jerry Adriani, Tim Maia, Johnny Alf, and Jamelão. His talent extends to singing in the style of the "crooners" of the past, with a voice that embodies the excellence and elegance of the great singers of Brazilian popular music.

• Luiz Alfredo Xavier was a collaborator of Zé Ketti and Jamelão, among many others to whom he lent his theoretical musical knowledge, transcribing lyrics into sheet music and thus contributing to their harmonization, ultimately becoming a musical partner. As a proofreader at Ricordi Publishing House, he played a crucial role in the musical education of generations over more than sixty years. A singer, composer, guitarist, and bassist, he was part of the first band that accompanied Os Originais do Samba when the group was still called Os Sete Crioulos da Batucada.

• Maria Inês is a singer by resilience, as she was prevented by her family from pursuing her dream of singing, which she had begun at age 15 in talent shows. Forced to abandon her artistic career, she dedicated herself to the craft of hairdressing for fifty years. After retiring, she joined the USP Choir, where she sang for ten years before stepping away for another ten. Now, she returns to the stage for the play Good Morning, Eternity.

• Roberto Mendes Barbosa, a maestro, choir conductor, singer, and composer, graduated from Mozarteum and has dedicated himself to choirs and philharmonic bands across São Paulo. He also works as a scene musician for theater productions.