In memory of Reginaldo Laurindo Da Silva aka Antônio Regis aka Regis Moreno São Paulo – ★ 13.06.1951 – † 06.09.2022

Featuring Höröyá, Chico César, Clarianas & Banda Jardes

First release in the Cities of the Diaspora 7 inch vinyl series. São Paulo is in the spotlight with a single featuring two great bands.

On side A, the Afro-Brazilian group Höröyá with “Todo Lugar é Sertão” from their third album Pan Bras’Afree’Ke Vol. 2. In this single Höröyá welcomes Chico César and the group Clarianas who values caboclo songs of Afro-Northeastern-Indigenous origin. Recorded between São Paulo and Bamako, the single follows the concept of Höröyá’s last two albums, Pan Bras’Afree’ke Vol. 1 and 2, in which the group brings together artists from Brazil and West Africa such as Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso.

In “Todo Lugar é Sertão”, the group Höröyá welcomes the lyrics and voice of singer-songwriter Chico César and the Clarianas choir, a musical group formed by three women whose focus is the ancestral woman’s voice in the popular music of Brazil. The levadas of African instruments are present, such as the kamele ngoni of Adama Koeta and the djeli ngoni of Barou Kouyate, musicians from Mali, and also Brazilian instruments such as the zabumba and the berimbau.

The music unites the sound of two regions with many similarities, the Sahel (a region close to the Sahara desert) and the Brazilian Sertão, in an incredible sound proposal of unusual instruments heard together, united by the simple and profound poem of Chico César. André Piruka, frontman of Höröyá.

On the B-side, the single features Banda Jardes and pays tribute to the musical career of Reginaldo Laurindo Da Silva, aka Regis Moreno, composer and performer of one of Brazil’s most iconic samba rock songs, “Grilos Da Vida (Nego Vem Sambá)”. Regis Moreno sadly passed away last September. The song was previously released in our Bugiganga Tropical series, Vol. 1 (sold out) and it has been remastered for this album.

Having emerged from the poor black peripheries of the city in the district of Guaianazes in the east side of the city, Reginaldo could fill with his band Banda Jardes big concert halls in the 1980’s. We at Tropical Diaspora Records had the immense privilege to know Reginaldo and his music firsthand. The song that represents like few others the true spirit of samba-rock with its distinctive guitar take. Reginaldo had the opportunity to enjoy with us the renaissance of his music and further collaborations were planned. Today it is no longer possible. A beautiful soul is gone. So generous that he has left us to enjoy the soundtrack of our lives; these are the Grilos da Vida.

Cities of the Diaspora Vol. 1 anticipates our forthcoming 12 inch vinyl release of the latest album of Höröyá Gri Gri Bá, led by André Piruka with West African musician