Song:Amor Em Paz
Album:Obrigado Brazil
Even folks like myself who don't know much about classical music should be familiar with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. He likes to explore all kinds of music. On the 2003 CD Obrigado Brazil, he explores Brazilian music with the help of several special guests including the great Brazilian singer Rosa Passos. The album won a Grammy and was very successful. Yo-Yo Ma was born Oct. 7, 1955 in Paris, France. His mother was a singer and his father was a violinist and music professor. The family moved to New York City when Ma was five years old. He first studied violin and wanted to play bass but settled on cello. He first appeared on TV with Leonard Bernstein at age eight. So Ma was a child prodigy. He toured with orchestras while attending Harvard and made his recording debut after he graduated in 1978. It was in the 90s that he started recording outside classical music. I'm sure many folks first heard Ma in films like Seven Years in Tibet and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In 1999, Ma recorded an album of Astor Piazzola tango music. That album was very successful so in 2003 he decided to explore Brazilian music. Amor Em Paz was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. The singer is the excellent Brazilian Rosa Passos who likes to mix jazz with bossa nova. The piano solo is by British classical pianist Kathryn Stott. Other guests on the CD include Cuban clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera and Brazilian musicians Egberto Gismonti on flute, Sergio Assad and his brother Odair Assad on guitar and Cyro Baptista on percussion. The album is available on CD and DVD. It won a Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album. Fans of Brazilian music should check it out. Yo-Yo Ma continues to record classical music and explore other types of music with his group The Silk Road Ensemble. Here's Yo-Yo Ma featuring Rosa Passos and Kathryn Stott performing Amor Em Paz on the 2008 Chinese TV special Yo-Yo Ma's Brazil.
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