Mona Gadelha História

The new CD from the Brazilian singer and songwriter Mona Gadelha has just arrived. Is the third album from the artist with fresh Brazilians sounds. Its starts with an old Carnaval march, "Bloco da Solidão", written by the duo Evaldo Gouveia/Jair Amorim and recorded by Maysa and Altemar Dutra. The track was produced, arranged and played by the piano player from RIO, Fernando Moura, with percussion played by Marcos Suzano, and drum´n´bass grooves. It's sounding like a Jazz tune. The record goes on with a strong influence of electronic music resources such as samplers, loops, noises, effects, texture that melts with Brazilians songs, bossa, samba, jazz and rock (played in Ballad stile from the remake of "A Última Guerra", from Samuel Rosa, Lô Borges and Rodrigo Leão)
Besides recording a carnival classic she also did a new version for the standard eternized by Billie Holiday "Love me or Leave", which in the Portuguese version written by Fernando Cali Pereira called "Suspense", was transformed into a d&b samba-song also produced by Fernando Moura.
To reach the multisound feel that she wanted, the Singer counted with the talent of five producers: Fernando Moura, Alexandre Fontanetti(the producer of her first cd), Alvaro Fernando (produced a few tracks from her second CD), DJ Mau Sacht, Paulo Bira and also with Italian DJ and Producer Roby J.C., that did the 13 th track, the remix "Saint-Denis-Ceará - Panaphonic". "It was outstanding to work with all these producers", says Mona. "From each one of them I took suggestions, partnerships and new experiences".
The tracks produced by DJ and guitar player Mau Sach ("Saint-Denis-Ceará", "Na Estação" and "29 Beijos", with house groove and Brazilian percussion was rescued from Moraes Moreira e Galvão) brings the producer signature.
With the new CD, Mona settles her work into the contemporary MBP, containing a mix of rhythm and styles, in an album that it's full of feminine characters - with her fantasies, dramas, discoveries and adventures. The work is a result of her attachment with the songs and her traveling around Europe (she went twice to Midem, performed at Germany and went to Womex, in Spain). In Paris, she meet a songwriter from Ceará, Valdo Aderaldo, from whom she recorded "Saint-Denis-Ceará" (partnership with Celso Gutfreind), that became her video, one electronic diary from her trip to France, edited by the VJ and Director Fabiana Prado (the same from Mona's first video, "Cinema Noir").
"Tudo se Move", title inspired by the work of a Polonius Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, count with the participation of great musicians in the 13 tracks, such as piano player Fernando Moura, Lelo Nazário e Jether Garothi, the percussion players Marcos Suzano e Alvaro Fernando ( producer and author of two tracks from the CD - "Felicidade pra Mim" and "Escuro"), the bass players Caco Faria and Paulo Bira (producer and author of "De Onde Você Vem?", from the repertoire of Nomad, pioneer reggae band from São Paulo), the guitar-violin players Alex Fornari, Edu Gomes and Alexandre Fontanetti (producer and arranger of "A Última Guerra" and "Louca,Nua").
As songwriter, Mona signs partnership with Moura (in "Tudo se Move" and "Noturna", one ballad lounge with French accent), Ricardo Cunha (in the bossa not very common "Louca,Nua") and Sergio Cruz (in the dance tune "Na Estação").
Since the release of her second CD ("Cenas & Dramas"), Mona have her own label, latter on develop also into a cultural producer company, the Brazilbizz Music. Her first album, release by Movieplay had some hits played in Brazilian radios like "Cinema Noir", "Cor de Sonho" e "Imagine Nós". With the invitation to join a compilation in Spain ("Músicas do Caribe e da América Latina" - FNAC), the Singer started to focus also in the international market as well, performing in Germany cities in 2002 (She sang to 1500 people in a public space).
In her second CD, "Cenas & Dramas", Mona showed matureness in her work and already having electronic resources, such as the track "O Amante", acid jazz with a drumming sequencer. On "Tudo se Move" she definably incorporates the electronic beats as a Standard for the whole Record, always having as bases, the stiles that character her work like Rock, MPB and jazz.
The album "Tudo se Move" will be release by the label Brazilbizz Music, from which the Singer is associate, with distribution by Tratore.

Mona Gadelha released her second album, "Cenas & Dramas", in the end of 1999, by her own label, Outubro Produções. In Oct, 2000 the record company Eldorado started to distribute the CD. One month latter the track "Johnny vai pra Guerra?" got into the Spanish Fnac Collection "Música do Caribe e da América Latina". The Luxury edition, came with a book of rhythm and a review from each artist, but only distributed to the European market.
"Cenas & Dramas" shows the Singer´s ripening but still with the song´s theme of her first solo CD (Movieplay - 1996), striked by ironic, existencialistic, lyrical, romantics lyrics. The diference was in the sound, made by the singer and the two musicians producers, both drummers, Alvaro Fernando and André Magalhães and pre-production of Paulo Bira Brioschi. The references are the eletronic sounds and distorced guitars. Still, the blues, the MPB and Rock remained present at the singer-songwriter´s work.
Unquiet, curious and unprejudice, Mona is always searching for new textures for her songs. The songwriters that she records with, are the ones that writes like she does, allowing the singer to swing around the verses, like in "Ouvindo o Coração", a blues written by Edvaldo Santana and Gildo Passos, and "Duro", by Fernando Cali Pereira.

Mona chose the Augusta Theater (SP) to present her second album repertoire, joined by a 5 piace band, with musical direction by André Magalhães, Jessica and Rômulo Cavalcante´s scenario and lights by Rodolfo Ribeiro. The show had a few diferents formations and was presented in São Paulo (Sesc Pompéia, Crowne Plaza Theater, São Paulo Cultural Center, Sesc Ipiranga, Sesc Baurú, Presidente Prudente and many others) and with a huge stile, at the Dragão do Mar Cultural Center in Fortaleza, the city where she was born, she performed in open air for 3 thousant people.
Adept of beatnick generation writers, in some shows, the singer reads a bit of Claudio Willer´s poems; author of the translation of Allen Ginsberg and one of the most important representative of the beat culture in the country.
The "Cenas & Dramas" album, as well as the first, was well received by critics such as Luís Antonio Giron, Carlos Calado, Marcelo Fróes, Vilmar Ledesma, Kiko Ferreira, Floriano Martins and many others. Some of the songs like "Mais um Romance", "Crepúsculo de uma Deusa", "Por Tudo o que For" (Lobão and Bernardo Vilhena) and "Ouvindo o Coração" were included at regulary programming of segmental network.
Comming up a bit of the singer´s history that was the "rock queen" back in the 70´s/80´s in Fortaleza, responsible, along withthe singers Lúcio Ricardo and Siegbert Franklin(also a guitar player), for the introduction of rock and blues in the Ceara state scenario. This fact is mantioned in the Marcelo Dolabela´s book "ABZ do Rock Brasileiro".

Mona studied comunication in Fortaleza, city where she was born. Started singing her own songs in local rock bands such as "Kaleidoscópio" and "Emoções Perigosas". With the last one she recorded a single and toured in the north of Brazil.
When she gradueted, she moved to São Paulo in the end of 1985. Back then journalist was her principal activity. She wrote about fashion, marketing, business, advertising and tourism.
Although music was in her second plan, she meet the guitar players from São Paulo Sergio Cruz and João Alberto, that latter on became her band mates.

While she didn´t come back to her music career, in 94 she droped the journalism and went to work as executive producer of independents labels. The next year she decided to produce her first CD, along with the guitar player Alexandre Fontanetti, Vladimir Ganzerla (co-production) and Rosely Lordello (executive production), released by Movieplay records in the end of 1996.
Well received by the critic, some of the tracks were included in the programming of the Brazilian radios (in São Paulo the songs "Cinema Noir", "Imagine Nós" and "Cor de Sonho"; in Rio"Cinema Noir", in Fortaleza "Cor de Sonho", "Blues Diário" and "Ingazeiras" and in Recife "Sete Vidas"). "Cinema Noir" (my friend Jack) presented Mona to São Paulo, and had a good air play at the Musical FM Radio Station. The radio released a collection called "A Gema do Novo" with this music. The singer performed at the main Brazilian cities such as Rio(Sergio Porto Theater and Hipódromo UP), Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Recife, Curitiba,João Pessoa, Santos, Campinas, Baurú, Presidente Prudente, Sorocaba, São Carlos and many others.

During the year of 1997 until July of 1998, Mona toured at several Brazilian cities to show her songs of the first CD show, having rock, blues and popular brazilian music as her main influences. She also released the "Cinema Noir" Video (directed by Fabiana Prado and Marcelo Timtim), exhibited by MTV, Channel 21, X Cine Ceará, TVC and by Spanish, Mexican and Portuguese cable TV´s.
In August of 1998 she went to studio to record her second CD, produced by André Magalhães (Aquilo Del Nisso), director of Zabumba Studio and Alvaro Faria (a VU Studio associate). Recently the music "Crepúsculo de uma Deusa" was inclued at the álbum "Pra Lua Tocar", of the singer Eliana Printes, and got into the top 10 in many radios around the country, especially in Rio. It´s been recorded also by Ione Papas ("Cinema Noir"), Ana Torres ("Pessoas", with partership by Flávio Paiva), Karla Karenina ("Cor de Sonho") and Lívia França ("Cor de Sonho").
Since she back to music, Mona developed admirators by her work. Spread all over the country they find her in the internet, listening to the radio, on the stage were she performed, in special publications. Were these people that made the song "Duro" get into the pop top 10 of the Submarino site.