CANÇÕES DE BEURIN

"Canções de Beurin" can be considered a true masterpiece. It is the first album of this band from the independent music scene of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, but it's not the impression you take listening to it. Amazing arrangements, incredible flute and guitar solos, and the use of many instruments is what you get in this great progressive folk- rock album. There's a clear influence of Jethro Tull there, but Calix achieved to create its own style.

All the musicians are great, but 2 of them are really impressive: the lead singer Renato Savassi, who also plays mandolin, acoustic guitar and flute, and the guitar player Sânzio Brandão.

The album has 12 wonderful tracks, most of them composed by the band, except "Kian", a song from another Brazilian Prog Rock band, Sagrado Coração da Terra, and a great version of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana".

Brasil has an impressive musical tradition (folk and classic) and a good taste for rock and prog. This culminates in great bands like Bacamarte and Sagrado. Calix is a lesser known group but they have made a good album entitled "Cancoes de Beurin" (13 songs). The first track is a fine one: very melodic and lush with omnipresent play on the flute along vocal harmonies, mandolin and sensitive piano. The final part contains a beautiful guitarsolo. The other songs also sound pleasant, varied and elaborated. They features references from Pink Floyd (Gilmourian guitar), Jethro Tull (flute work like Ian Anderson), Marillion, Dire Straits and Queen but Calix keeps an own face: up-tempo rock with swirling flute and fiery guitar in "Alem do vento" and "No more whispers", R&R with slide-guitar in "Novidades", mandolin, flute and tablas in "Pra hoje um sol", straight rock with heavy guitar, organ and flute in "Nao se lembram do que sao" or powerful Hammond organ and fiery electric guitar in "Lancas". The version from Carls Off his famous piece "Carmina Burana" (entitled "O fortuna") is strong featuring ominous piano and a bombastic choir sound. A very tasteful and varied progrock album from Brasil.

01. Dança Com Devas The flute of the beginning near the mandolin and everything more warns knell that begins. The vocal ones of Reborn one are very good and the best of everything . in Portuguese. The refrain is captivating and quite 'obscure', it gets a beating thinking who is Have to . After a more calm part the letter contudente does effect again on the minds, the instrumental thing is completed. Distinction for the beautiful ground of guitar of Sânzio, and the beautiful parts intrumentais of the band, principally flutes. The cither in the end is completed to the tone of the song.

02. Além Do Vento The beginning is already promising with the band doing conventions and with Marcelo's bass when one of Geddy Lee is giving (laughters), the vocal melody of the verses is sensational, the vocalizations, the letter. What a good music! The 'straight' part of the verse contrasts perfectly with the conventions principally of flute, Rufino's keyboards, bass and André's battery. It trims with one undoubtedly with international easy transport, much better than great band of the 70 years cultuada.

03. No More Whispers The riff is well a Rock and roll (the guitar in this track is), the vocal in English, by the way the only ones of the disc, are not bad, far from that, the charm is just they they sing in Portuguese. Of the way for front they surprise us with a reggae with flute and completely (laughters)

04. Kian Quite serious noisy, low guitar, the flutes in an incessant one to sing. This song has a strange letter (I do not know well which the language) written by the Marcus Vianna (the own thing), this track has a sonority 80's, nothing that discredits the final product.

05. Canções De Beurin An instrumental acoustic perfect section, the climate is completed, the letter is marvellous. Section of pianos also completed. Summarizing to the best of the disc and to miss out the best music already written this way, without exaggerations.

06. O Sonho After a furious introduction of completely broken piano, a guitarrinha goes flat without stopping, and the base completely pop (in the good sense of the thing) is very good. One almost ground of bass well soul takes the band to ground of guitar, which to vary is very quite tipsy.

07. Novidades Piano and flute give the base for a well withdrawn bass, a percussion of light one and the duplicated vocal ones. Sensational letter, pianos more still. And captivating and clever refrain in his words. The band in general writes very well (I am not sure of the one who is the composer himself of the letters, but the credits are in the txt of the letters near the archive).

08. Pra Hoje Um Sol The percussion is an oriental influence certainly, I think what Moroccan. Meanwhile the flutes and pianos do a melodious bed for the vocal thing. In the general one a simple song.

09. Águas Man! This piano is sensational, soon a sound of waters running, and the guitar repeating the piano. When the vocal thing enters it gives me the impression of which he is aso feet of a river singing for the nature. The bass is sensational in the second part, next to those guitars typical 'Echoes' of David Gilmour. The second part is a total Wine glass! It is the sound itself of the band (that is difficult a band to get right away), a mixture of Jethro Tull with a very little of Genesis and Camel, but with guitars more rock, heavier. The letters are all sensationally very well writings and the very quite sung melodies. The band has that progressive sound that I adore what is that part of the music where all the instruments touch the same thing in unison. Very good!

10. Não Se Lembram Do Que São The guitar totally Rock and the flutes give a giant contrast, still more when the two make everything joined. Again the vocal melody perfectly well fitted in the melody of the music and with the chosen words. Another distinction of the band there are the vocal ones duplicated now by the singer himself Renato, it prays for his two 'bit players' of voice Marcelo and Rufino.

11. Lanças You launch, it has a keyboard that remembers Floyd in the tin, but in pursuances a few sounds of cither enter and we think that it the question is other one with oriental influence. That it swims! Joyful mistake. It is prog/Rock instrumental of the good ones, with the band entering with great easiness for many changes of time and without losing one's momentum.

12. O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) A Sensational and surprising version of one of the acts of the opera Carmin Burana (of Carl Orff). You certainly know this act, but certainly if surpreenserão with the musicality of the group.

Very good Brazilian Progressive/Folk Rock group from Minas Gerais, formed in 1996 with gifted flutist/singer Renato Savassi as the main figure, featuring also Sanzio Brandao on guitars, Marcelo Cioglia on bass/vocals, Andre Godoy on drums and Rufino Silverio on keyboards.After a single released in 1998 the local fame of the group started to grow, leading to the full-length album ''Cancoes de Beurin'' a couple of years later, captured at Polifonia Studios in Belo Horizonte between October 1999 and January 2000, released privately by the group.

This is definitely some well-arranged Folk/Symphonic Rock with rich, lush arrangements, centered around the beautiful flute work of Savassi, surrounded by a great group of musicians, who create a majestic and energetic sound.BACAMARTE and PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI are the closest comparisons I can think of, as the album illustrates images from Brazilian Folk with a few Western, JETHRO TULL-esque moves with 70's-styled Symphonic Rock, based on Silverio's tremendous keyboard passages with lots of organ, synths and piano textures.The tracks are full of smooth, professional interplays between flutes and keyboards, some incredible folky melodies and plenty of sensitive vocal lines, mostly sung in Portuguese.However Calix were clever enough to throw in a couple of groovy rockers with English lyrics and non-accented vocals, closer to US and European bands with heavier guitar parts and powerful organ next to the endless flute interventions of Savassi.''Cancoes de Beurin'' keeps a great balance from the start to the very end, no instrument is buried in the mix and there are tons of electrified moments next to the more acoustic parts, while elements from Jazz and Blues can also be found in the most pleasant tunes of an album, that can be both romantic and musically intricate at the same time.

File along compatriots POCOS E NUVENS.Nice, elaborate Progressive Rock with Folk and Classical interludes and some lovely flute exercises.Strongly recommended to all fans of intricate and sophisticated music...3.5 stars.