Ricardo Bacelar

“Paracosmo” is an authorial album by the Brazilian musicians Ricardo Bacelar and Cainã Cavalcante. The album, that was released on physical and digital formats on May 28 in Brazil, the USA. and Japan, brings seven new instrumental compositions, which were created during uninterrupted recording sessions.

The project features two videoclip versions: “Vila dos pássaros”, presented last April 30, together with the first single, and “Paracosmo”, arriving today on YouTube. Both videos were directed by Lucas Dantas.

The record also counts the debut of Ricardo Bacelar’s Jasmin Music label. The label’s goal is aimed towards recording and releasing quality music, having as its focus both Brazilian and international markets. For this, a recording studio has been setup—Jasmin Studio—which is becoming a reference due to its unique combination of technology, equipment and acoustics. The acoustics and design projects were made by the American company WADG Walters-Storyk Design Group, signed by Renato Cipriano. The studio’s technical direction and design principles were signed by Daniel Reis, combining Dante Audio Network and Dolby Atmos System, featuring the 3D audio technology.

Ricardo Bacelar and Cainã Cavalcante have been friends for some years, but had never played or recorded together before Paracosmo. It was during a casual meet up that the album came to be. “When we started to play, it was like the songs were already made. Free improvisation, sincere melodies, imagery coming like sound; it was all there, in that place full of hope that is the Paracosmo” , says Cainã Cavalcante, narrating the composition process and the vibe the album acquired. “The record brings a very strong load of spontaneity; we started to play and the songs flowed naturally. They are like songs in an instrumental formal. It’s been a nurturing process where the music blossomed very quickly”, says Ricardo Bacelar, who played the acoustic piano, keyboard and percussion, while Cainã played the guitar and bass guitar.

“Paracosmo” features seven unreleased instrumental compositions: “Vila dos pássaros”—selected as the album’s first single, “Paracosmo”, “Valsa do cansaço”, “Lyle”, “Manoela”, “Berceuse” and “Caminho dos mouros”. Some compositions were created in a “song style” format, with well-defined melodies. “Vila dos pássaros” represents the so-called “baião” fused with a beautiful guitar sound, which reminds of the Brazilian northeastern region. “Paracosmo” shows the levity of the “song style” combined with a light percussion and a piano solo that stretches out over the music. “Valsa do cansaço” is a passionate moment which places all the Brazilian songbook in a dramatic waltz, with Portuguese fado elements. “Lyle” is a tribute to the American pianist Lyle Mays, who passed away in 2020. It follows A joyful melodic line which carries jazz elements. “Manoela” is a proof of love to Ricardo Bacelar’s wife and it is a ballad-base song running across unexpected pathways. With a sad and gloomy melody, “Berceuse” is like a lullaby. “Caminho dos mouros”, which closes the album, is a moment of pure experimentation and freestyle interpretation, where Ricardo and Cainã transcend informality and walk through atonality and experimentalism, creating a rich mosaic of moods and sound textures.

The album’s introduction, written by Bacelar, explains the project’s concept: “Paracosmo is an imaginary place, the result of pure creativity. A corner filled with extreme subjectivity of concepts, where everything is possible. Musicians _create_ these portions of dreams to place there their vital energy, that seeds out amongst sounds and permeates the silence—places where music is found”. Most of the photos in the record’s booklet were taken by Ricardo Bacelar. The images were captured in Ecuador, in a scenery which holds the ambience of a fantastic and utopic site.

“In a certain way, ‘Paracosmo’ also takes us to an imaginary universe. During this time when many of us are locked in our homes, due to the pandemic, the album is an invitation to the creation of our own private world, where music drives and transcends us”, says Ricardo Bacelar.

Ricardo Bacelar is a pianist, composer and producer. During many years he was a member of the Hanoi Hanoi rock band from Rio de Janeiro, having experienced a lot of fame and commercial success. During his solo career, he launched five records and recorded with many notable musicians, such as Belchior, Erasmo Carlos, Luiz Melodia, Adriana Calcanhoto, Ednardo, Lulu Santos, Amelinha and others. He’s been twice amongst the most played jazz musicians in the U.S.A. and has been touring in Europe and Japan. He launched five solo records. His last two works, “Sebastiana” (2018) and “Ao Vivo no Rio” (2020), featured amongst the Top 50 songs played in jazz radio stations is the USA.

Cainã Cavalcante is a guitar player and a composer born in 1990, in Fortaleza. Nowadays, 30 years old and with eight albums released, he is considered a prodigy Brazilian guitar player. He participated in several concerts throughout Brazil and Europe and recorded with many well-known musicians, such as Placido Domingo, Dominguinhos, Belchior, Fagner, Maria Gadú, Elba Ramalho, Chico César, Yamandu Costa, Hamilton Holanda, Roberta Sá, and many others. Cainã is making the arrangements for the launch of his latest project, “Sinal dos Tempos”, through which he interprets the work of Aníbal Augusto Sardinha, “o Garoto” (1915-1955), a genius Brazilian musician and composer, considered a pillar for Brazilian music by Tom Jobim, Radamés Gnatalli, Raphael Rabello and others.