Banzeiro

Dona Onete - 'the grande dame of Amazonian song' - returns with further tales from the river Amazon on her sophomore album Banzeiro. Whether she's championing gay rights, singing about the delights of indecent proposals or praising a former lover for his 'crazy ways of making love', Banzeiro is defined by Onete's honest reflections on life, love, sex as well as her delight in the everyday pleasures of life in the Amazon, whether that's spicy seasoning, salty kisses or fishy-smelling water. Formerly a history teacher, folklore researcher, union representative, culture secretary and children's author - "I never thought I would be a singer" she claims - Onete recorded her debut album Feitiço Caboclo at 73. A cult figure in Brazil and an ambassador for Amazonian culture, the music she sings is a unique mix of rhythms from native Brazilians, African slaves and the Caribbean - epitomised in the joyous carimbós that are her trademark. In the early eighties Onete quit teaching to campaign for workers' rights and following retirement in 1990 she became her region's Municipal Secretary of Culture from 1993-1996, a role she embraced: "I helped local musicians and local culture that people didn't value. I brought my culture to the fore". In the early 2000s Onete's second husband encouraged her musical side and it was whilst singing at a friend's party in 2006 that she was overheard by a local band. Initially rejecting their offer to sing with them, she was eventually persuaded and soon became a local celebrity known for her risque lyrics. A debut album, Feitiço Caboclo, soon followed and her contemporary take on the music of Para was a critical success with Onete touring Brazil playing to crowds of thousands: "Traditional carimbó songs are about nature and tradition - I modernised it by singing about love and sex and taking influence from samba and pagode". International critics were next to fall for this sassy, saucy and sexy septuagenarian with Les Inrocks making the album one of their top 5 'world' releases that year. European festival performances followed in 2015 - including a main stage spot at Womad UK - with a US tour taking in Chicago, Cleveland and New York in September 2016. "Sometimes, when you think you've given all you've got, you realise that, in fact, you have a lot more ahead of you", she opines.