germannu: germannu
Francisco Espregueira
We travel back in time, more precisely to 1984, to present an undiscovered masterpiece of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB), released by Notes On A Journey. Germannu, the self-titled album from Manoel Germano Filho, is a soulful and uplifting record that includes three fantastic original compositions, translating everyday stories from Germannu into sound. Result of the collaboration between the artist and the composer, arranger Jorge “Jóia” Olímpio, whose crucial help gave the right direction to the pure diamonds that Germannu presented to him, this debut dated of 1984 is full of joyful colors, mixing American and Brazilian ingredients.
Born into a family of cocoa farm owners in the state of Espírito Santo (reflected in the lyrics), Manoel Germano’s musical journey started at the tender age of 15 and despite several detours, including studying agriculture and a death in the family pulling him back to farm work after his graduation, he always found a way to come back to his musical path. Germannu is an example of perseverance, both from the artist and Notes On A Journey.
The invaluable work from the Berlin-based label would be much harder without its collaborators. Jürgen von Knoblauch - a longtime member of Jazzanova and Sonar Kollektiv, amongst others - met Júnior Santos, a musician, drummer and Brazilian music aficionado, when buying records from him. Júnior convinced Jürgen to buy a record by Celso Rubinstein - which led to a previous reissue - and the merge between their knowledge and collecting attitude was fruitful enough that Júnior and Jürgen decided to work on more reissues. This Germannu record is their first complete collaboration, with more on the way. Sadly, Germannu is no longer with us, but the lasting groove of his music remains eternal and continues to bring a special kind of joy to those that hear it. Available in vinyl, for the collectors.