Da Cruz

Hearty songs for confusing times: DA CRUZ (Bern/São Paulo) stands for frenetic, urban, afro-brazilian music in an attacking position against hatred, blindness and political short-sightedness.

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DA CRUZ - the band around the afro-brazilian singer Mariana Da Cruz  take you to a modern Brazil, a country staggering between revolution and resignation. The band has translated all the anger and joy, all the hope and despair into extremely danceable songs. The songs confront hidden racism, the rift between political elites and the common people, the revolt against economic injustice – and, of course, some of them are just about love in these hard times. 

Da Cruz directs an electro-acoustic trip from the subversive communities of Lagos to the favelas of Rio and the townships of Johannesburg, with occasional stopps in the smoke-filled recording studios of Kingston Town and poorly ventilated clubs of London. Blending Baile Funk meets Afrobeat, Dub, MPB or Hip Hop.

After enthusiastically acclaimed shows at festivals like Montreux Jazz Festival, Brasil Summerfest New York, Montreal Jazz Festival, Lisboa Mistura, and concerts in the hip cities of the world, DA CRUZ was pre-nominated 2019 for 30 Prêmio da Música Brasileira and was decorated with the title "Album of the Year" in some magazines.

Over the years Da Cruz has gained an excellent reputation in the global music scene. Each of its six records has made the Top 10 of the American college radio charts. Newspapers like "The Independent", magazines like "Rolling Stone" and radio stations like BBC 6 Music, KEXP and Radio France International have followed and praised Da Cruz's activities. This is even more remarkable, as Da Cruz has remained an independent artist since its beginnings. Every Da Cruz record has been produced in their own studio and released on their label - except for the 2011 album "Sistema Subversiva", which was released by the US-Label „Six Degrees Records“ (The Dø, Bebel Gilberto, CéU).

Mariana Da Cruz grew up as the seventh child of a cotton picker and a cook in Paranapanema, a provincial town in the state of São Paulo. Records, concerts, music lessons; none of that was affordable. But even then, music was an escape for her – Mariana absorbed it through a small transistor radio in her children's room.

As a teenager, she already sang in a club in the next big city, Campinas, where she was training to be a teacher: bossa nova, MPB, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben – all the classics – it was her basic research. But it was curiosity that first drove her to Lisbon in the early 2000s, and later to Bern, where she lives today.

“It was also this curiosity that spurred me on to search for a new, self-sufficient expression,” says Mariana Da Cruz. ”For music that is both timeless and modern, that is offensive it and yet targets the heart, that has style but is not dictated by fashion. It is also music that meticulously observes and names social upheavals.”

An important driving force behind their music is the examination of Marianas African roots. Whereby the situation here – as for all Afro-Brazilians – is somewhat complicated: “We know that our ancestors came from Africa, but we don't know where from. You can't do any research there,” explains Mariana Da Cruz. “We have traveled a lot in recent years in search of this trail, were in Burkina Faso, in Bahia, Rio – and all these experiences and impressions flow into my music.”

"Da Cruz is the collision of various elements that seem incompatible at first glance," explains Mariana Da Cruz. Mariana’s background is traditional Brazilian music (Bossa Nova, MPB), while her musical companion, producer and music journalist Ane H., scraped his soul with bands like Swans or Suicide, danced to Fela Kuti, and was the singer of the industrial pioneers Swamp Terrorists.

The core of the band also includes Bernese guitarist Oliver Husmann and the former Swamp Terrorists drummer Pit Lee.

WHAT OTHERS SAY:

 „Some of the most upbeat music I’ve ever heard“ (Okayplayer/Questlove USA)

„Tropical New Wave“ (BBC 6 Music)

 “The live act of the season.” (Musikch, Switzerland)

“This music often sounds attacking and angry, sometimes melancholy - much like the mood in Brazil, which is swaying between resignation and revolution.” (Taz / Germany)

„This music is wet and heavy, dark and sparkling, sensual and gloomy.“ (Les Inrocks, France)

 „If anyone has the rhythm to take a nation to the future, it's definitely Da Cruz.” (PopMatters, USA)

“Da Cruz is the best that Switzerland has to offer in music.” (Tracks, Switzerland)

„Urban Brazilian Music“ (KEXP, USA)

„Da Cruz makes the future feel alright. Fourteen tracks shed cynicism and frustration and illuminate the human potential.“ (Nanobot Rock Reviews, USA)

„What more could you want“ (The Independent, UK)

“Restive and angry!” (Le Monde France)

“CD of the Week” (USA Today)

“A trip around the world that invokes Brazil at every stage, this is a new ode to the discovery of the riches of the biggest country of South America.” (Radio Nova Paris, France)

 “A completely funky world tour of the most frenetic urban rhythms.” (Télérama, France)

“Da Cruz introduces sounds and rhythms from the African diaspora into Da Cruz's glistening, seamless blend of Brazilian and European dance and club music.” (All about Jazz / USA)

"Da Cruz is so versatile and inspired, playing with references and styles to deliver a score that is both powerful and personal." (Que Tal Paris, France)

 “Da Cruz dives with us in the heart of the Brazilian urban and modern culture.” (Afriscope, France)

 „Dancefloor songs, for which the brain does not have to be switched off.” (Global Sounds, Germany)

 „Very urban“ (Rolling Stone, Germany)

 “Da Cruz are establishing themselves more and more as their own music genre.” / “With a stunning feeling for sheer entertainment.” (Soultrain, Germany)

 “The soundtrack for a country, tumbling between resignation and revolution.” (Soulguru, Germany) 

“I'm black, Swiss and proud, you hear Mariana say between the lines. A very self-confident and stylish album.” (Sound & Image, Germany)

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