Raphael Gimenes Raphael Gimenes & As Montanhas De Som

Brazilian Folk Jazz in a dreamy psychedelic fusion"Raphael Gimenes & As Montanhas de Som" is the debut album by the Europe-based Brazilian singer, guitarist, and composer. It was recorded between 2014 and 2015 in Aarhus and in Aalborg, Denmark. The music in it blends Brazilian folklore with classical music, ambitious harmonies with psychedelic effects, and African-Brazilian rhythms with classical guitar. Raphael"s music is atmospheric, elegant and at times melancholic. It is a concept album, in which different stories about longing, love, hardship, and hope, flow into one another, like a theater play with its different acts.The opening track, "A Serra das Russas", is inspired by the folk music of the Brazilian northeast, and deals with his past struggle as an immigrant. "O Ultimo Jacarandá" has complex time signatures and harmonies, paying tribute to the rich but endagered nature of Brazil.Gimenes composed, arranged, and co-produced the music on the album. The album is produced with a clear reference to the sound of the 60"s and 70"s, which can be heard in the overdubbed vocals among other things. More than anything, it tells Gimenes" own story - the story of a young man who left his country as a teenager, and now rediscovers his homeland through his music.The album"s core band, As Montanhas de Som (The Mountains of Sound), is formed by international musicians, who each contribute to the music with their different backgrounds. The Danish string group "Who Killed Bambi" colors some of the tracks in epic fashion, while the effects created by Gimenes" bird whistles and percussion instruments lead the listener deep into the Brazilian mountain ranges and rain forests.