After a tour through Europe, the Minas Gerais singer Paula Santoro returned to Brazil on the morning of Friday, October 2nd, bringing with her an almost finished album. This work, titled “Alunar,” was recorded during the last fortnight of September, at the invitation of jazz pianist Germán Kucich, an Argentine musician residing in Madrid, Spain.
The album “Alunar” features songs by composers belonging to Clube da Esquina. The title track, “Alunar,” originally performed by Milton Nascimento in a 1970 recording, is the first work resulting from the collaboration between Lô Borges (1952 – 2025) and his brother Márcio Borges.
Milton Nascimento is also revered in an unreleased song included in the repertoire of “Alunar.” This composition, called “Nave,” is a partnership between the Minas Gerais singer, composer, and guitarist Leo Minax—who has lived in Madrid for approximately thirty years and plays with Germán Kucich—and lyricist Chico Amaral. It was through Minax that Kucich learned about Paula Santoro.
The recordings for “Alunar” were made at the Camaleon Music Studio, located in Madrid. The band featured Marc Pinyol on drums and Toño Miguel on bass. Percussionist Tiki Cantero will join the lineup later, recording his percussion in January in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
With a total of 12 tracks, the album rescues the melodies of Minas Gerais composers, incorporating the sound of jazz, which is already characteristic of the involved instrumentalists. Besides “Alunar” and “Nave,” the repertoire includes titles such as “A página do relâmpago elétrico” (Beto Guedes and Ronaldo Bastos, 1977), “Cravo e canela” (Milton Nascimento and Ronaldo Bastos, 1971), “Fazenda” (Nelson Angelo, 1976), “Novena” (Milton Nascimento and Márcio Borges, 1978), “Paixão e fé” (Tavinho Moura and Fernando Brant, 1977), “Pão e água” (Lô Borges, Márcio Borges, and Roger Mota, 1978), “Pensamento” (Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant, 1986), “Saídas e bandeiras” (Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant, 1972), “Um gosto de sol” (Milton Nascimento and Ronaldo Bastos, 1972), and “Viver de amor” (Toninho Horta and Ronaldo Bastos, 1976).
The official release of the album “Alunar” is scheduled for the first half of 2027.