Djavan,
originally uploaded by alexdecarvalho.

Djavan is a leading contemporary singer in Brazil, along with Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Jorge ben Jor, Chico Buarque de Hollanda and Vinicius de Moraes.

On January 15th Djavan gave a fantastic live performance at the the Sugar Loaf, at the Noites Carioca event. About 2,000 people gathered on the Morro da Urca, the first stop on the way to the Sugar Loaf, to watch Djavan perform his greatest hits. Afterwards, the amphiteater turned into a nightclub with  a DJ playing techno, house and remixed samba.

The nighttime view of Rio was breath taking. In particular, the view of the Christ on Corcovado as the moon set beside it was amazing. Noites Carioca runs on weekends during the summer months and is one of the best options for going out in Rio.

Update: Djavan will hold a concert at Cite de la Musique in Paris on the 26th of March … don’t miss it! Maria Rita, a great female MPB artist, will also sing at the Cite de la Musique on the 20th of March.

Can the French Salsa? You bet they can! Check out Ocho Y Media … they’ve come out with a great first CD and they give regular concerts. You can check their schedule here: Ocho Y Media.

“Prochains concerts de la OCHO Y MEDIA (voir aussi www.ochoymedia.com, site ochofficiel !)”

My friend Fred Bianquis, an entrepreneur, is a leading member of the band.

“Apres avoir travaille de nombreuses annees comme pianiste classique, interpretant les grands maitres, je me suis mis a frequenter le monde de la creation musicale. Et c’est precisement dans ce nouvel univers, que j’ai, comme compositeur, pris mes plus recents envols. C’est un honneur pour moi de jouer mes propres compositions ici, a l’Ambassade du Bresil, a Paris. J’esp�re que ce sera la premi�re de nombreuses repr�sentations dans la Ville des Lumi�res.” Luiz De Simone

This is big news, comparable to U2’s release of How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb on their site.

Via blogalvillager.

Rollywood Smart,
originally uploaded by alexdecarvalho.

This nice looking Bollywood style Smart i-move caught my eye at the SLIN-expo today. It integrates an iPod in a custom cradle and other high-tech features, including Bluetooth. They call it the Rollywood. The exterior and interior decoration is designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for Smart Fortwo cars.