London-based Brazilian drummer and music producer Naná Rizinni presents her new album "Maracujá Azedo" ("Sour Passion Fruit")

Produced during lockdown and featuring musicians from all over the world, such as keyboardist Jason Lindner (known for his work with David Bowie and jazz artists such as Donny McCaslin and Mark Guiliana), bassist Ana Karina Sebastião and saxophonist Filipe Nader, “Maracujá Azedo” started being written in São Paulo, where Rizinni is originally from, and was finished in London, where she currently lives. The album is the result of a new perspective regarding Rizinni’s approach to drums and was released by Brazilian record label Umbilical.

Rizinni's drumming skills made her a sought after player amongst Brazilian and international acts such as Tiê, Jaloo, Johnny Hooker, Ana Cañas, Paulo Miklos, Lucy Alves or Vive La Fête. After focusing on producing and working as a session drummer for a few years, Naná felt the call for starting a new solo project. This was reinforced by a period of intense drum studies under the supervision of Brazilian master Lilian Carmona, who Naná reached out to in 2016 and whose influence would come to elevate her perception of the instrument and its potential as a compositional tool.

The forced confinement due to the Coronavirus pandemic was the trigger to begin working on a new album: "I wanted to keep myself busy with something productive, something that would motivate me and keep me focused on something other than the world outside". Social distancing constraints determined the production process, which Rizinni addressed on her own in her small studio in São Paulo.

Remote music collaboration is one of the many new realities the pandemic brought, and "Maracujá Azedo" made the most out of it. The list of guest musicians is huge: on bass, Fábio Sá, André Whoong, Ana Karina Sebastião and Cleanto Neto; on synths & glitsches, Jason Lindner; on piano, Vitor Arantes, Rafael Montorfano and Bruno Venturim; on saxophone, Filipe Nader and Anderson Quevedo; on trumpet and flugelhorn, Amílcar Rodrigues and Fernando Goldenberg; on percussion, Lenis Rino and Guga Machado; on synthesizers (and as a co-writer of one of the tracks), Pedro Rangel.

Besides composing, producing and playing drums, Naná Rizinni is responsible for the synthesizers, electronic programming and sound effects which define the singular aesthetic of this work. Her own voice becomes yet another instrument by the means of layering and aggressive processing, but the lyrics stay rich in irony, sensitivity and disturbing images: "there’s an invitation to walk through some of my sensitive experiences, such as fear, tensions, reliefs, melancholy, euphoria and hysteria during times never experienced before - and to bring the listener closer, as if to say we’re on the same boat”.

If Rizinni was to choose a wide enough umbrella for a bold proposal like this, that would be contemporary jazz, but the drummer from São Paulo also states "I've always found quite uninteresting the need to categorize an album or an artist; I always was and still am being built by different stories, influences and experiences; music is subjective and unexpected".

Daring musical visions like the one presented in this work are very much encouraged by the independent record label Umbilical, who didn’t hesitate when signing the album for their catalogue. "In addition to her musical approach, which evades impositions and embraces spontaneity, we also felt strongly identified with Naná's energy, always enthusiastic about turning the most unusual ideas into reality", adds Magí Batalla, label’s music producer and responsible for mixing "Maracujá Azedo".