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The Life Acoustic
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The Chicago Social, The Life Acoustic >>
The Life Acoustic
Brazilian phenom Seu Jorge returns to Chicago
With all due respect to Bill Murray, he wasn’t nearly the most watchable actor in Wes Anderson’s 2004 film The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. That honor would go to Seu Jorge, the Brazilian singer-songwriter who Anderson cleverly placed in the movie to sing Portuguese covers of classic David Bowie songs such as “Rebel Rebel” and “Life on Mars.” But as all world music fans and hipsters know by now, there’s a lot more to Jorge than the Bowie gimmick. A popular singer-songwriter in his native Brazil, Jorge visits the Metro on June 28 and Millennium Park (with Malian duo Amadou and Miriam) on June 29 in support of his latest release of original songs, 2005’s Cru, which translates to “raw.”
While Cru has met with strong reviews and is far from boring, the album is a good deal more subdued than Jorge’s concerts, such as the energized show he put on at the Empty Bottle for last year’s World Music Festival. The reason, he says, is because Cru was made largely for a French audience—as the French have been the most eager listeners outside Brazil to embrace his music. “If I had made it for the American public it would have been more like a show,” he says. “The French are a theater-going public, dancing less and listening more. In America, the people like to listen, but they also like to dance. So the shows need to be a bit more lively and animated. And I like to have fun with the audience.”
Returning to Chicago with three percussionists, a bassist and taking on electric guitar duty himself—the same line-up he brought to the Empty Bottle—the shows promise to be just as rollicking as Jorge’s reputation. One can easily imagine how Jorge—who took another memorable turn on the silver screen in the popular Brazilian film City of God in 2002—might translate such Cru tunes as the groovy “Tive Razão” (“I Was Right”) and driving “Chatterton,” a remake of the Serge Gainsbourg classic, into spirited live jams.
“I think some of my success in Brazil is due to the fact that I have had success outside of Brazil,” says the philosophical Jorge. “Music is a good profession for adventurous types. You get in a plane and after 12 hours you’re in a different city playing a concert. I don’t mind the quantity of spectators. I make music independently of whether it’s for 10,000 people or 200. Sometimes 200 people understand better than 10,000 do.”
Seu Jorge plays the Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., on June 28. Call 312.559.1212 or visit www.ticketmaster.com for tickets. On June 29 he plays Millennium Park as part of the free Music Without Borders series. The concert begins at 6:30PM. Call 312.742.1168 or visit www.millenniumpark.org for more information.
—by Matt Lee 06/01/06
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